St. Paul wins Div. IV sectional title

Feb. 21—NORWALK — The COVID-19 pandemic has brought all kinds of challenges to everyone.

High school sports has been no exception, with limited fan attendance and various protocols put in place. But the St. Paul girls basketball team got to experience a small positive out of life in the pandemic on Saturday.

To limit neutral site schools hosting multiple teams, the higher-seeded teams in district tournaments hosted sectional tournament games for at least this season. That meant the Lady Flyers got to host a pair of sectional games — and swept them both.

But even that didn't go as planned.

The weather delayed Thursday's Division IV sectional semifinal vs. Crestline to Friday, which St. Paul won by a dominating 65-18 score.

That led to a quick turnaround, as the Lady Flyers hosted Lucas on Saturday in a sectional title game.

"Playing two nights in a row, it was just another thing," St. Paul senior guard Morgan Baxter said. "This whole year has just been a mess."

But after the Cubs (8-10) hung around for two-plus quarters, the Lady Flyers took control in the third quarter and pulled away for a 57-40 win.

The No. 3 seed in the district, St. Paul (18-4) advanced to Thursday's district semifinal vs. No. 2 Seneca East (18-5) at 5:30 p.m. at Robert L. Haas Gymnasium at Willard High School. The Lady Flyers are in the district round for the seventh time in the last 10 seasons.

The matchup is a rematch of last season's 41-30 win by the Tigers in the same round and venue. No. 5 South Central (12-10) faces No. 1 Buckeye Central (21-2) in the other semifinal game on Thursday.

On Feb. 10, the Lady Flyers hosted Mapleton to clinch a share of the Firelands Conference championship. Ten days later, they cut down the nets for the sectional title on Saturday — officially the final home game for Baxter, Camille Endsley and Danielle Smith.

"It makes some things worth it, and made tonight kind of sentimental with it being our last home game as a sectional championship win," Baxter said. "Everyone has worked so hard to get here, and I'm happy we were able to have a couple nice experiences cutting down a net at home.

"Just trying to work through this adversity is something this team has been about, and I think that's what we were able to do tonight in the second half."

The Cubs trailed 29-26 and had a chance to draw closer early in the third quarter. But after a turnover, St. Paul's Smith sank a 3-pointer from the right wing for a 32-26 lead with 5:41 left in the third quarter. Smith scored again off a Lucas miss just 34 seconds later to make it 34-26.

Maddy McCall extended the lead to 40-30 at the 1:27 mark of the third, and she was just getting started. She scored consecutive baskets in the final minute, the last a three-point lead with 23.4 seconds left for a 45-31 advantage.

Molly Ridge then capped the 18-7 scoring spree by rebounding an Endsley miss and banking in a shot from in front of the free-throw line just before the quarter buzzer to put the Lady Flyers up 47-33.

"In the third quarter, we challenged them to make a run, to make a decision on taking control," St. Paul coach Vicky Mahl said. "And that's what they did. It's one step closer to the goal, and now we start turning around and working for a very good Seneca East team. It's one game at a time from here on out. We'll change and fix some things and go from there."

The Lady Flyers led 15-13 after a back-and-forth first quarter, then Baxter broke to the rim off a screen set by Chloe Smith and scored a layup with 7.8 seconds left to give St. Paul a 17-13 lead after one quarter.

It was still just a 19-15 margin with 4:20 left in the first half, until MCall made a free throw and Ridge scored a layup with an assist from Smith for a 22-15 lead with 3:33 left in the half. It was a 27-22 St. Paul lead at halftime.

St. Paul outscored the Cubs by a 10-7 score in the fourth quarter for the final margin.

Smith led a balanced St. Paul scoring attack with 15 points. McCall had 14, followed by Endsley with 12 and Baxter with 10.

Mahl was pleased with her team's ability to focus both nights.

"You take every day as it comes — that's what we've had to do with COVID this year," she said. "We go into each day knowing it could be our last, and I tried not to play up the fact that it was the last game on this floor for the seniors, but they knew that. We told them to just focus on the fact that they were playing for something important, and the first step of where we want to go."

As for the Tigers, Baxter is familiar with them not only from last year, but as a former AAU teammate of standout Jessica Bowerman. The District 6 Coaches Association Player of the Year averages 14.2 points, 8.7 rebounds, 5.1 assists and 3.2 steals per game.

"We just we need to go in there and play like us and start out strong," Baxter said. "We have to try to remember to focus on what we've done all year."

Mahl said the Tigers are a quick, strong defensive team with nice size around Bowerman.

"I think we'll match up OK," she said. "It will be another good game I'm sure, but we'll have to get after it from the start."

LUCAS (8-10)

S. Grover 5-2—12; R. Lane 1-0—3; J. Grover 3-1—7; T. Sauder 3-1—7; T. Harvey 1-1—3; K. Nolen 3-2—8. TOTALS 16-7—40.

ST PAUL (18-4)

Morgan Baxter 3-2—10; Maddie Jaworski 1-0—2; Camille Endsley 5-2—12; Molly Ridge 2-0—4; Danielle Smith 5-2—15; Maddy McCall 5-4—14. TOTALS 21-10—57.

Lucas 13 9 11 7 — 40

St. Paul 17 10 20 10 — 57

3-point FGs: (L) Lane; (SP) Smith 3, Baxter 2