 In
crunch time, it’s a good thing to have a senior post
player who knows what to do with the ball when she
gets it in the low post.
That was Perrysburg’s advantage Friday night as the
Yellow Jackets held off Bowling Green, 53-42 in a
Northern Lakes League matchup.
Perrysburg is 9-2 overall and in a three-way tie for
first in the NLL at 5-1. BG is 5-6, 2-4.
Erin Mesker, Perrysburg’s 5-foot-11 senior post,
scored 10 of her game-high 17 points in the fourth
quarter.
“I knew I had to make my shots compared to the first
half when i was having some trouble,” Mesker said.
“So I just crunched down and tried to focus as hard
as I could.
“I feel a little pressure. But I found not thinking
about it is better than thinking about it.”
BG got to within 40-36 on a Hayley Williford
3-pointer early in the final quarter. Mesker
responded with Perrysburg’s next four baskets and BG
managed only a free throws from Jessica Sikula as
the Yellow Jackets forged a 46-37 lead.
Sikula answered with another hoop, but Mesker scored
again and Nicole Delas, who was bothered with foul
trouble the entire game, contributed a hoop and a
three-point play to make it 53-39. Sikula’s
three-point play closed out the scoring.
“Their experienced post player stepped up in the
final minutes. We did our best, but we have
inexperience in places and that was the difference
in the game,” said BG head coach Jeff Nichols. “We
worked on taking away the outside shooting of
(Kelsea) Newman and front and double any time Mesker
touched it in the post. We really worked hard on
rotating our zone, so when she got it, we had two
bodies flying at her.
“In the fourth quarter, we got caught behind a few
times and we were trying to prevent the outside shot
and we were just too late getting there. When we get
caught behind, she’s going to make plays.”
Perrysburg’s Alyssa Goins scored eight points in the
first quarter as the Yellow Jackets led 13-9 after
eight minutes. Perrysburg increased its lead to
25-19 at the break helped by 3-pointers from Lindsay
Matolyak and Newman. Williford scored five points in
the second quarter for BG.
“In the locker room (at halftime), we were like
let’s get going, get the game over, and try as hard
as we can,” Mesker said.
Five different players scored for Perrysburg in the
third quarter as the Yellow Jackets took a 38-31
lead into the final eight minutes.
Then, Mesker’s strong finish closed things out.
“We’ve always struggled here. They’ve always played
us pretty well here,” Perrysburg head coach Todd
Sims said. “It was a pretty good effort from the
middle of the third quarter through the fourth
quarter. By in large, we didn’t play well. We’ve
played better.”
Mesker was the only Yellow Jacket in double figures.
“She’s our go-to person,” Sims said. “She’s got to
realize that other teams know she’s the go-to person
now inside. She’s getting double-teamed and she’s
going to be get most of the other teams game plan.”
Sikula led BG with 15 points, including 12 in the
second half, and Williford added 13.
“I’m really pleased with the kids and proud of our
effort,” Nichols said. “We gave them all they could
handle for the biggest part of 27, 28 minutes.
Perrysburg has an important game Tuesday at
Northview. Northview defeated Perrysburg, 62-36 in
the season-opener.
“We’re going to Northview now with one (league) loss
and we still control our own destiny as far as the
league goes. That’s what we’re looking for,” Sims
said.
Perrysburg won the junior varsity game, 55-10. Becca
Tudor scored 19 points for Perrysburg. Haley
Glandorff scored nine points for BG.
PERRYSBURG 53, BOWLING GREEN 42
PERRYSBURG
A. Goins, 4-0—8; Matolyak, 0-2-0—6; Delas, 2-1—5;
Newman, 0-2-0—6; Mesker, 8-1—17; Moser, 2-0—4; K,
Goins 0-0—0; K. Tudor, 0-1-0—3; Knights, 1-0—2;
Treece, 1-0—2. TOTALS: 18-5-2—53.
BOWLING GREEN
Sikula, 4-7—15; Williford, 2-3-0—13; Vazquez, 0-0—0;
Hoehner, 1-4—6; Hanna ,0-0—0; Kopp, 0-0—0; Stoner,
2-2—6; Stanish, 1-0—2; Milligan, 0-0—0. TOTALS:
10-3-13—42.
PERRYSBURG 13 12 13 15 —53
BGHS 9 10 12 11 —42
Junior varsity: Perrysburg, 55-10. |
