By Allison Roorda
Community Post
The Minster Lady Wildcats emerged from their win at Wapakoneta optimistic, but a close game against the Delphos St. John's Blue Jays ended with a 24-8 run that won the game for the Blue Jays, 58-46.

“I'm proud of my girls for the way they played and took the game right at them,” Minster head coach Nann Stechschulte said. “We just didn't come out at the right end.”
Lauren Ranly was the first to score points when she got fouled on a jump shot and made the two free throws. Jodie Quinter sank a layup next, and Erica Fullenkamp shot three points from the top of the key. Stephanie Knippen next shot an easy jump shot for St. John's first two points, putting the score at 7-2. Austi Weitzel next intercepted the ball on a St. John's possession and made a breakaway layup. The Blue Jays came back when Sarah Clark sank a three-point basket. Victoria Recker made a two-point jump and Kerri Watercutter drove the lane for the final two points of the quarter, leaving the score at 15-12 for Minster.
The second quarter remained scoreless for the first three minutes of the period before Zefiryn Bryan sank a layup for the Blue Jays and got fouled in the process. Her extra point tied the score at 15. Weitzel answered with a three-point jump from the right side, followed by a two-point jump. Brittany Miller made three points from the top of the key, but Kara Monnin sank a three of her own from the right side. Clark made a layup, and Quinter made one last point from a free throw to end the half with Minster holding a four-point lead, 26-22.
“Minster's played extremely good basketball,” commented Delphos head coach Dan Grothouse. “We knew at the end of the regular season when we played them at home that it wasn't going to be easy.”
Minster opened the second half with a layup by Watercutter. Knippen answered a two-point jump, keeping the lead down to four points. Lindsy Reindel sank a two-point jump shot and got fouled, adding an extra point from a free throw. Quinter sank two points off her own rebound, and Bryan successfully broke through Minster's defense for two points. Watercutter shot a three-point jump from the left side, and Delanie Wolf sank a two-point jump to increase Minster's lead to six points. Bryan made a layup, but Weitzel added three points to the Lady Wildcats' score. Clark threw a three-point in the final seconds to end the period with a score of 38-34, Minster.
The final quarter proved to be the turning point of the game. Quinter began with a foul on Bryan, who made her two free throws. When the next Lady Wildcat possession failed, Recker took the ball for St. John's and sank a layup, getting fouled in the process. Her extra point put the Blue Jays ahead by one, 39-38. Quinter sank a two-point jump, and Watercutter added a free throw shot to bring Minster back in front. But Reindel sank a two-point jump to tie the score again. Quinter's next layup was immediately answered by another basket by Reindel. Clark made the next basket for the Blue Jays to put St. John's ahead, but it was Quinter who answered this time with a layup to tie the score again at 45. St. John's then made a sudden break with a two-point jump by Miller, followed by a breakaway layup by Bryan when she intercepted a Minster pass. Reindel received a pass under St. John's basket for a two-point jump to bring the Blue Jay lead to six points with 1:30 remaining in the game. Clark sank a three-point basket from the top of the key. Foul shots wrapped up the rest of the game as Recker and Miller each made one shot from the line. Quinter got fouled under Minster's basket and sank one free throw. Watercutter fouled Clark, who made two shots to end the game as time ran down. The final score, 58-46 for the Blue Jays, sent Delphos St. John's to complete districts at Van Wert and closed out the season for the Lady Wildcats.
“I'm really proud of our kids how we hung in there,” Grothouse said. “Our kids are resilient enough when they saw the chance to make a little run at the end there, we ended up making that run and were able to take the lead.”
“We were 38-31, and they went on a 27-8 run at the end,” said Stechschulte. “I thought we played a pretty solid game up to that point.”
Bryan and Clark led individual scoring with 13 points each. Quinter was on top for the Lady Wildcats with 12 points, followed by Weitzel with 10.