SPENCERVILLE- There wasn’t one heartbeat beating harder than Spencerville fans on Friday night when they survived LCC 52-51 on Friday night. The atmosphere goes to Wapak on Tuesday night as the Bearcats battle MAC foe St. Henry.
“Playing LCC was a tough test, but I hope that makes us a little more battle tested than playing a lesser opponent.” Said Spencerville Head Coach Kevin Sensabaugh.
The Bearcats have some history against the Redskins as they are 9-11 against them since 2007. Spencerville was able to get the better of St. Henry back on December 20th with a 64-50 victory.
Guard play was big for Spencerville that night as Will Sensabaugh had 27 for the ‘Cats while brother Owen Sensabaugh had 17 in the victory.
“Both teams are a whole lot different than the first time we played,” commented Sensabaugh. “They are a lot better than they were, they have their basketball legs under them now. But I think we are better too. We are much better defensively now than we were then.”
If Spencerville wants to keep moving down the tournament trail they will want to do similar to what they did on Friday which was balanced scoring. Will Sensabaugh led all scorers with 23 points against LCC followed by Jude Stemen with 10 points, Owen Sensabaugh with nine and Grady Smith with seven.
“It’s important for us to get contributions from everybody to beat anyone in the tournament,” said Sensabaugh. “All of our guys are going to have to be locked in.”
St. Henry finished the regular season at 16-6 following a late start to basketball season after winning a state championship in football. After a 1-2 start they have won 16 out of their last 20 games. Key wins against WBL foes Shawnee, Wapakoneta, Van Wert, and Bath has shaped this season for the young Redskins.
Austin Zimmerman and Jack Huelsman were first team all MAC selections this season. Zimmerman, the 6’5 sophomore, had 17 points in the 64-50 loss to Spencerville. Zimmerman also had 14 points in the 76-48 win over Perry while Tate Boeckman had 14 points in the win against Perry as well.
It’s the second straight year that the Bearcats will play a district semifinal game against a team that won a state championship in football as Coldwater upset Spencerville in the district semifinals last year in Wapak.
“That’s what happens when you play MAC schools,” explained Sensabaugh. “Nothing we can do about it, just concentrate on what we can do to win.
“The atmosphere is going to be awesome,” said Sensabaugh. “Both towns support their teams well. Looking forward to it.
Coach Sensabaugh gave his keys to the game against St. Henry.
“Keys to victory in every tournament game are going to be: 1. Take care of the ball 2. Rebound the basketball 3. Execute your stuff.” Concluded Sensabaugh.
If you can’t make it to the game tune in to Zsports 3 as Nate Stidham and Shane Falke will have all the action with the pregame show at approximately 7:15pm followed by tipoff at 7:30pm following the first game at Wapakoneta which features New Bremen against Marion Local at 6pm.
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