Sims, who is now Perrysburg's girls coach, was reminded of that day Friday evening as he watched in disbelief as host Northview nailed free throw after free throw after free throw in a 61-56 win at home. The final tally at the line for the Wildcats was 26 of 27 — a staggering success rate of 96 percent.
Northview coach Jerry Sigler, who won his 650th game last week, has never had a team shoot so well from the line in a game. Sims has never coached against a team with such deftness from the stripe.
"Part of our game plan was you can't foul them," Sims said. "We talked about that all week. You cannot foul them."
Northview was a perfect 13 for 13 at the line in the fourth quarter, and its star seniors Miriam Justinger and J.J. Jessing carefully navigated having four fouls down the stretch to lead the Wildcats (10-1, 5-0 Northern Lakes League) to victory in a physical match up that produced 53 free-throw attempts.
Perrysburg (7-2, 3-2) shot 26 free throws — one fewer than the Wildcats — but made just 15. To Sims, that was the biggest factor to the outcome.
Justinger, who is responsible for her team's lone miss at the line, scored 21 points and finished the game on the court after picking up her fourth foul with 3:09 to go. Jessing, who was whistled for her fourth foul midway through the fourth quarter, scored 14 of her 17 points in the second half. She fouled out with 14 seconds left and with her team leading 59-54.
"We've had J.J. and Miriam both foul out throughout this season and I've just played them," Sigler said. "You got four fouls, you have to play them. At some point they have to recognize that they have four fouls and they have to play more conservatively, and they did."
Jessing scored her team's first nine points of the fourth quarter, with five of them coming at the line. Sigler didn't anticipate his senior forward playing because an Achilles injury kept her out of practice all week.
"I told the team that Miriam and I couldn't foul anymore and people needed to step up on defense and box out, and that's exactly what happened," Jessing said.
Kelsea Newman led Perrysburg in scoring with 17 points, and Taylor Knight poured in 13. A 37-32 Perrysburg advantage disintegrated immediately after Newman went to the bench upon picking up her third foul with 2:20 to go in the third. From that point forward, Justinger hit five free throws, and Skylar Rose (11 points) made two, pulling the Yellow Jackets ahead 39-37.
Sims said he was comfortable benching Newman because of Perrysburg's five-point lead. He was displeased with his team in her absence.
"When it's your time to play, you need to step up and play," he said. "That's what teammates do. It's sitting on the bench knowing what's going on and knowing what the game plan is."
Perrysburg's Emily Treece missed twice at the line with 57 seconds left with a chance to cut the deficit to one. After Justinger made two free throws, Knight responded with two of her own with 36 seconds left.
A Jessing field goal on Northview's next trip down the floor sealed the win. She fouled out moments later, but for all practical purposes, she and Justinger managed to walk the high wire with four fouls to will their team to victory.
"You just have to be smart in those situations," Justinger said. "I think we did a great job of staying focused and our teammates stepped up their defense and helped us out."
Contact Ryan Autullo at: rautullo@theblade.com, 419-724-6160 or on Twitter @RyanAutullo