TONTOGANY — In games as close as Bowling Green’s Division I sectional matchup with Lima Senior, the
losing team is often left thinking what might have been.
That was the case for the Bobcat girls Wednesday at Otsego High School, as BG fell just short in a 60-58
defeat to the Spartans.
Lima out-scored the Bobcats 16-10 in the fourth quarter, advancing to face Perrysburg in a sectional
final Saturday back at Otsego.
“We could all look back and assess the 32 minutes and figure out something that somebody did or didn’t do
that could have been the difference in the game,” BG coach Jeffrey Nichols said. “(Lima) made shots when
they had to. I don’t know how many games they’ve won … but they’re a really good basketball team.
“We’re proud in the effort. We’re disappointed in the outcome. But our kids played hard and we gave
ourselves chances.”
Lima, 8-13 overall, got a game-high 24 points from Indiya Benjamin and overcame 14 turnovers as a small,
yet boisterous Spartan cheering section kept urging its team on throughout the game.
Perhaps the biggest “what might have been” moment for the Bobcats was Benjamin banking in a half-court
3-pointer at the end of the first quarter that put the Spartans up 21-18 after eight minutes.
“Obviously, you can’t defend a half-court heave for three points. There’s a lot of things,” Nichols said
of the difference in the game.
From the opening tip, the game took on a fast-paced, up-and-down feel that didn’t seem to bother the
Bobcats, who only played six players but got contributions from everyone who saw the floor.
Junior Hayley Williford finished with 22 points, including five 3-pointers, while sophomore Haley
Glandorff added 12 points off the bench and junior Marissa Milligan scored all 11 of her points in the
third quarter.
Junior Jenna Stoner had seven points and two steals, junior Alyssa Kopp had a team-high seven rebounds,
and junior point-guard Vivian Vazquez dished out six assists.
Still, the Spartans were able to make the plays down the stretch to keep their season alive.
“We had a matchup problem with them,” Nichols said. “We like to play transition and get the ball up and
down the court, but they’re faster than us, they’re quicker than us.
“We wanted to try to play a more controlled style, but offensively the way we were moving and getting the
ball up there, we didn’t want to kill ourselves by not doing that,” he added. “But in the long run, the
pace favored them a little bit more.”
The Bobcats held their largest lead, 46-40, after a Milligan basket with 2:10 left in the third quarter.
With BG leading 49-44 early in the fourth, the Spartans went on a 14-4 run that was capped by a Airika
Callahan basket with a minute remaining that gave Lima a 58-53 lead.
A layup by Glandorff cut the lead to 58-55 with 45 seconds left, but after Lima made a free throw, the
Bobcats committed one of their 10 turnovers in the game with 28 seconds left.
Another Spartan free throw pushed the lead to 60-55, and a long-range triple by Williford with 1.7
seconds left turned out to be too little, too late for BG.
“We gave up a couple easy baskets inside and then we missed a couple of shots that we had made the rest
of the game,” Nichols said of the fourth quarter. “They made some plays when they had to. The Benjamin
girl is a really good player.”
BG finished the season 11-10. All six of the players who saw time for the Bobcats Wednesday were juniors
or younger.
“I’m very proud of these young ladies. They have turned our program around. It’s their work, their
dedication, their effort and their chemistry that has put us in a position to go into next year with a
lot of positives,” Nichols said.
“We missed our goal by one this year. We wanted 12 wins this year,” Nichols added. “We told them that our
goal next year is 16 (wins) and to finish out some of those close games that maybe this year we didn’t
because of some inexperience.
“I can’t mask the excitement. If we could start tomorrow, we would, because we’ve got them all back.
They’re a little hungry to keep building.”
LIMA SENIOR 60, BGHS 58
BGHS
Glandorff, 5-2—12; Stoner, 3-1—7; Williford, 1-5-5—22; Vazquez, 1-0—2; Milligan, 3-1-2—11; Kopp, 2-0—4.
TOTALS: 15-6-10—58.
LIMA SENIOR
Williamson, 1-0—2; Carpenter, 1-1-1—6; Thomas, 4-0—8; Benjamin, 6-2-6—24; Frazier, 1-1—3; Callahan,
2-4—8; D. Hurley, 3-1-0—9. TOTALS: 18-4-12—60.
BGHS 18 13 17 10 —58
LIMA SENIOR 21 11 12 16 —60
