SPENCERVILLE-Sixth year head coach Greg Ekis had his team ready to go on Tuesday night as they hosted the Lady Blue Jays. The Bearcats pulled away in the final quarter to pick up the 57-41 victory, which secured Ekis’ 100th career victory.
“We were pretty excited in the locker room,” said a joyful Ekis. “Anytime you can get a win, it’s fantastic, and this group has worked really hard and couldn’t be more proud of their work tonight.”
Clara Goecke jumpstarted the hosts with five straight points, which included a three from behind the arc. The freshman later added another basket and Goecke finished with seven points in the quarter. Abby Kerner was able to keep St.John’s in the quarter, as her pair of threes in the final minute kept them within 4 at 13-9.
“Clara did a great job for us, especially early,” said Ekis. “She actually had 10 rebounds in our last game, but she shot the ball well to get us going tonight.”
Spencerville was able to extend the lead to 18-9 in the second quarter, but the Blue Jays continued to fight. Myah Boggs scored six points in the quarter to keep the visitors within striking distance. Three pointers from Gabi Croft and Heidi Keller kept the Bearcats ahead at halftime 28-22.
After a Spencerville basket, St, John’s cut the lead to 30-27 in the third on a three pointer by Brooke Altenburger and a basket by Emma Will. Keller was the spark plug for the hosts as she scored eight of the team’s final ten points in the quarter when she drained a pair of shots downtown to stretch the lead to 40-31.
The hosts was able to put the game on ice in the final chapter as the lead grew to 52-31 thanks to a 12-0 scoring run that featured a pair of three pointers from Croft and Keller, as well as four points from Kirsten Wurst. St. John’s was able to halt the run with a basket from Kierstyn Klaus, but the Bearcats were far from done in the quarter.
Wurst added five more points in the quarter, as she scored 9 of her 16 points in the fourth quarter. Kerner added five points late in the quarter, but the deficit was too much to overcome and Spencerville picked up the 57-41 victory.
Spencerville improves to 1-1 on the season and will be back in action next Tuesday when they visit Elida in non-conference action. St. John’s drops to 0-2 and will host Wayne Trace on Saturday.
St. John’s 9 13 9 10-41
Spencerville 13 15 12 17-57
St. John’s (41)
Abby Kerner 14 Myah Boggs 9 Emma Will 8 Ava Hershey 4 Brooke Altenburger 3 Kierstyn Klaus 2 Carolyn Mueller 1
Spencerville (57)
Heidi Keller 18 Kirsten Wurst 16 Gabi Croft 12 Clara Goecke 10 Sydney Lemar 1
B-rockblythe.org 