By Cort Reynolds
HARROD__The host Allen East High School girls basketball team used withering second period defense to defeat upset-minded Coldwater 56-47 in the Div. III sectional finals Saturday night in Harrod, authoring their 13th straight victory in the process.
AE improved to 21-2 with the sectional title win, which set up a district showdown between conference rivals boasting a combined record of 41-5.
Meanwhile, Coldwater ended its season 11-13 with the defeat.
The second-seeded Mustangs get a chance to avenge their last loss to third seed Delphos Jefferson in the second district semifinal at the Elida Fieldhouse Thursday night, February 29.
League rival DJ (20-3) beat visiting AE 57-41 on January 4. The Wildcats made it to the district level with a decisive 61-34 win over Paulding Saturday night.
Since that Jan. 4 defeat, the Mustang girls have mostly rolled over their opposition by an average margin of 20.8 points per game, going seven weeks without a defeat.
The Mustangs led the Cavaliers 16-14 after the first period as AE senior post Soraya Jackson scored seven of her career-high 14 points in the opening stanza.
The Mustang pressure defense then smothered the Cavaliers in the second stanza, holding them to just three points while building a 25-17 halftime lead.
AE limited the Cavs to just one basket and a foul shot in the second period.
Cavalier senior Madison Wendel tallied 12 points in the third quarter to keep the visitors within striking distance, down 43-33 heading to the final period.
Senior Savana Brooks scored seven of her 17 points in the third period. She drained three of the six AE triples in the contest.
AE junior guard Rilynn Jones added six of her 16 markers in the final stanza, and she nailed one of her two treys in the period.
“We talked about surviving the first four minutes of the game (since) we knew they had a tournament game under their belt,” said AE head coach Aaron Montgomery.
Coldwater edged visiting Van Buren 46-44 in the sectional first round Feb. 22.
“We hadn’t played since last Saturday so we knew there would be some rust. We just wanted to survive those first four minutes, and we did,” Montgomery continued.
“In the second quarter we started to settle down and play some really good defense. We created some turnovers and took some good shots that just didn’t fall,” he added.
Wendel tallied 15 of her 23 points in the second half to lead all scorers.
Cavalier Rebecca Wenning added 10 points on three triples.
AE sank 12 two-pointers and six trifectas. They converted 14 of 23 free throws (61 percent).
Coldwater made 11 deuces and five triples. The Cavs made good on 10 of 16 foul shots (63 percent).
AE’s only other close games in the streak were a 48-45 win at Jonathan Alder, a 45-40 victory at Crestview and a 44-35 win at Lincolnview.
Jefferson also eliminated AE at the district level last year after edging them in overtime at Harrod during the regular season.
“We know what to expect with Jefferson, we have to contain (Lyv) Lindeman,” said Montgomery of the two-time NWC Player of the Year.
“We have to play defense without fouling and just wall up,” he said. “They are playing some good basketball, but so are we. We have gotten better since the last matchup.
“It will be a tough NWC rematch, very physical and a very good ball game,” he predicted.
Top-seeded Ottawa-Glandorf (21-2) plays Parkway (17-6) in the first district semifinal Thursday in Elida at 6 p.m.
The winner takes on the AE/DJ survivor Saturday in the district finals Saturday, March 2 at 2 p.m. The stingy Mustang defense has allowed just 35.8 ppg in their 13-game win streak, while scoring 56.6.
The district champion goes on to the Div III regionals at Elida.
Coldwater 47 (11-13)
May 1 0-0 3, Knapke 1 2-2 4, Wendel 8 7-11 23, Wenning 3 1-2 10, Steinke 3 1-2 7.
Totals: 11-5/10-16/47. 3-pointers: Wenning 3, Knapke 1, May 1.
AE 56 (21-2)
Jordan 0 1-2 1, Jones 4 6-9 16, Brooks 7 0-1 17, D. Miller 1 1-2 4, Nickles 1 1-2 3, Young 0 1-2 1, Jackson 5 4-6 14, Richardson 0 0-0 0, E. Miller 0 0-0 0.
Totals: 12-6/14-23/57. 3-pointers: Brooks 3, Jones 2, D. Miller 1.
1 2 3 4 F
AE 16 9 18 13 56
Cwtr 14 3 16 14 47
