GIRLS BASKETBALL
Yellow Jackets struggle before getting by Cougars 31-28
1/10/2014Perrysburg appeared lethargic for the first half of its Northern Lakes League girls basketball game Friday night against visiting Southview.
Perhaps the time off due to the recent storm had the Yellow Jackets struggling as the Cougars led 14-9 at the break.
But Perrysburg (11-1, 9-0 NLL) made a turnaround in the second half to escape with a 31-28 victory.
"I think we just played harder in the second half," Perrysburg coach Todd Sims said. "Sometimes when you feel a little desperate when you're not doing well, you sort of forget about things and you just play."
Sarah Baer paced the Yellow Jackets with a 14 points and was key in Perrysburg outscoring Southview 22-14 in the second half. The 6-foot-1 senior post became more assertive around the basket. and dictated play on both ends of the court.
"We bought our intensity level up and played as hard as we could and started making shots," Baer said, of their comeback.
Baer said the time off due to the school closings may have affected the team.
"It was pretty tough, but we got through it," she said. "We definitely picked it up in the second half."
Allex Brown finished with six points for the Yellow Jackets.
"A win is a win and it's not always pretty, but we'll take it," said Sims, whose team outscored Southview 12-6 in the third quarter to take a 21-20 advantage into the third quarter.
Taryn Stanley scored 10 points to lead Southview (8-6, 5-4). Emily Westphal added seven points and Sarah Klepzig six.
Southview, which fell behind by as much as five points in the fourth quarter, had a shot at tying the score with a 3-point attempt in the final seconds but Jessica Horwitz;s shot was off the mark.
"As far as the game plan, we did everything we wanted to do," Southview coach Tim Nottke said. "We controlled their post players and they didn't get a lot of outside shots.
"We just had a stretch of three minutes in the third quarter, and probably another three minutes in the fourth quarter, where we just couldn't score. There were opportunities there but we couldn't finish."
Keeping the Yellow Jackets' top player in check was also a tough challenge.
"When it came right down to it, Sarah Baer made plays when she had to," he said. "She made a couple of nice plays and that really was the difference."
Contact Donald Emmons at: demmons@theblade.com, 419-724-6302 or on Twitter @DemmonsBlade.