FINDLAY — Findlay started five seniors, Perrysburg started all underclassmen, but the Yellow Jackets secured sole possession of second place in the Northern Lakes League Buckeye Division by defeating the Trojans, 56-51, Thursday.
Perrysburg junior guard Hayley Griggs, who scored a team-high 17 points with six rebounds and three steals, says her team is used to playing against older players — they’ve been doing it their entire prep career.
“There are a couple of us who have all been here for a while since we were freshmen, so we’re trying to use our experience and get the underclassmen some experience, and we just fight through that,” Griggs said.
Perrysburg finishes the regular season 16-6 overall and 5-3 in the NLL, while Findlay is 15-6 and 3-5 with one non-league regular season game remaining against Ashland Saturday.
Perrysburg coach Todd Sims loved the fight and composure in his girls, not only playing against all seniors, but against two Trojans who will be playing collegiate basketball next year.
“They are really good,” Sims said. “They play six seniors, so they are really experienced team, and they are tall. I love the effort tonight.”
It has not been easy for this group to secure second place in a five-team league that was a combined 57-12 against non-league opponents going into Thursday’s action.
Plus, the only two teams that are not senior dominated are NLL champions Anthony Wayne and the Jackets, so expect both back with their starting regiment next year. The Jackets have had other issues to fight through, too.
“It’s incredible the amount of adversity we’ve faced this season,” Griggs said. “We have girls who quit and transferred, and we’ve had some sick girls, too, so we’re just fighting through that and coming together instead of letting that push us apart.”
Thursday, Perrysburg junior guard Chloe Kilbride had 15 points, six rebounds, and four steals and Perrysburg junior guard Ayla Turk had 13 points and four rebounds.
Griggs and Kilbride combined to make six three-point goals, including three apiece, as the Jackets shot 38% (18-for-47) from the field, 72% (13-for-18) from the free throw line, and committed just five turnovers.
Perrysburg sophomore forward Hayden Siebenaler had eight points and a team-high 10 rebounds and sophomore forward Sophie Mitchell added three points.
However, it did not start so well for the Jackets once Findlay got done with their Senior Night celebration, and then opened a 10-1 lead halfway through the first quarter.
The Jackets closed the initial stanza on a 9-2 run, and Griggs hit a 22-foot three-pointer to give Perrysburg it’s first lead, 19-18, midway through the second.
It was Grigg’s second straight triple, plus she followed that up with a steal and a lay-up. She had all three of her steals in the second quarter, sitting back in a zone and anticipating passes, and then taking the ball the other way for two points.
“Hayley is just a really good player,” Sims said. “She is really good at anticipating and getting tips and stuff like that.”
Griggs ended the half with a defensive rebound, and as the Jackets got out in transition, she fed the ball to Turk, who scored on a lay-up and was fouled, making a three-point play with 2.7 seconds remaining to push Perrysburg ahead, 24-20.
The Trojans never led the second half, but stayed within striking distance. Senior guard Madilyn Stechschulte scored on an offensive putback with 40 seconds remaining, closing the gap to one, 52-51.
Kilbride was fouled six seconds later, and missed her second shot, and in a massive dash to the floor to chase a loose ball rebound, the 5-foot-10 Siebenaler came out the winner, and Sims immediately called time out with a half minute remaining.
“Hayden is quick — that is her thing,” Sims said. “She is very athletic. She is not a huge post player but she is really agile and she’s the kind of post players the other post players don’t like.
“She’s so active. Yeah, she had a huge rebound on a missed free throw right there near the end.”
Griggs and Kilbride closed out the win making 3-of-4 free throws.
Madilyn Stechschulte, who will play at Siena Heights College in Adrian, Michigan next year, led the Trojans with 19 points and seven rebounds.
Senior guard Katelyn Stechschulte, who will play at Ohio Northern University, scored 12 points on four three-point goals and had two steals for the Trojans.
Findlay coach Brian Rosendale said his team played well, just not well enough to win.
“I didn’t think we played soft this week,” Rosendale said. “We had some careless turnovers that hurt us late in the game, a couple fouls and a rebound we did not get. That hurt us.
“The effort was there. We had a chance. We were down one there at the end and we didn’t get a rebound, we had a turnover, but we played well. I give our girls credit.
“They worked their tails off after they beat us up the first time (53-38). I think they came out and showed that we are not really soft, and that is without one my starters (injured senior Aleksyss Arrendondo). She’d probably play but she’s sitting on the bench, but we usually have six girls we rotate in.”
Senior guard Olivia Mangas had nine points and eight rebounds, 6-1 senior post Sophia Myers had four points and eight rebounds, senior guard Zoe McCormick scored four points, and sophomore guard Ryan Boes added three points.
The Trojans shot 40% (21-for-52) from the floor, made just two of six from the stripe, and had eight turnovers, seven of them steals by the Perrysburg defense. The Trojans held a narrow 33-31 advantage off the glass.
