Findlay uses defense, rebounding to advance past Spartans

It happened over and over again. Findlay's defense forced a Lima Senior turnover, the ball was quickly passed to Madilyn Stechschulte, and the senior converted the breakaway into a basket. Or, Sophia Myers would grab a rebound and get it to Stechschulte, which led to the same result. "We got a lot of fast breaks, we were pushing it up the court," said Stechschulte, who scored a team-high 18 points in the Trojans 61-29 Division I sectional final win over the Spartans Saturday. "People got rebounds, steals and I was sprinting up the court, wide open, and (Lima Senior wasn't) falling back on defense, so we got some easy buckets in the second quarter and throughout the game." By "people," Stechschulte could easily be referring to Myers, who gobbled up 15 rebounds to go with nine points. "I pride myself on my rebounds, and I'm glad I can get rebounds, so I can push it down the court for Madilyn," Myers said. It should be noted Stechschulte was standing next to Myers when she said that. But Stechschulte was very good Saturday. "She is so physical, she gets to the hole when she wants to, she plays defense," said Findlay coach Brian Rosendale. "She's a sparkplug. We get her going downhill, nobody's gonna step in front of her." Findlay held a 36-29 rebounding advantage, and forced the Spartans into 18 turnovers. The Trojans led 15-5 after the first quarter, then outscored Lima Senior 12-2 in the second to lead 27-7 at the break. Maisey Strawser's layup accounted for the Spartans only points in the second period; Lima Senior shot 1 for 13 from the floor in the stretch. Rosendale said his squad believes in defense and being physical. The Trojans displayed both Saturday. "Our defense is what we hang out hats on," he said. "The girls love playing defense; you can see it out there. People in the stands are yelling 'They're physical!' We play physical. That's what I like about this group." Still, Rosendale said he wasn't completely satisfied at halftime, and told the players they weren't rebounding quite well enough. They also had missed too many layups. "But then in the second half, we picked it up," he said. "Sophia did a good job on the boards, Katelyn (Stechschulte) was trying to box out all night long, and that showed in the second half. We didn't miss the layups, we boxed out and got some rebounds." Katelyn Stechschulte scored 11 points for the Trojans. Mallory Gipson paced the Spartans with 14 points and seven rebounds as Lima Senior bowed out at 11-13. The night was special for Findlay. Not only did it win and cut down a net after the game, but all six of the team's seniors – Madilyn Stechschulte, Myers, Zoe McCormick, Katelyn Stechschulte, Aleksyss Arredondo and Olivia Mangas –- played and contributed. "It was super nice. We're glad we could pull each senior out to recognize them," Madilyn Stechschulte said. "We had six seniors come out, and then we got our whole bench in. Almost everybody scored, or got some stats on the board." The Trojans advance to the district tournament at Lake High School, where they will play at 7:30 p.m. Thursday against Notre Dame Academy, which beat Toledo Bowsher 49-30 Saturday. The Eagles and Trojans – who were each part of the now-defunct Three Rivers Athletic Conference – did not play this season. "From now on, it's a battle," Rosendale said. "We've just got to come out and play defense, and rebound and take care of the ball." "We have a lot to work on," Myers said, "but I'm hopeful for the next game." LIMA SENIOR (11-13) Strawser 2-0—5; Jones 1-0—3; Gipson 7-0—14; Kohlhofer 1-0—2; James 1-0—2; Ingram 1-0—3. TOTALS: 13-42—0-3—29. FINDLAY (17-6) Arredondo 1-0—3; Cox 2-0—4; Saito 1-0—2; McCormick 2-0—4; K. Stechschulte 4-1---11; M. Stechschulte7-2—18; Mangas 1-3—5; Myers 4-1—9; Taylor 1-0—3; Dotson 1-0—2. TOTALS: 24—7-14—61. Lima Senior&emsp;&emsp;5 &emsp;&emsp;2 &emsp;&emsp;10 &emsp;&emsp;12 – 29 Findlay 15 &emsp;&emsp;12 &emsp;&emsp;15 &emsp;&emsp;18 – 60 3-POINT FIELD GOALS: Lima Senior 3-15 (Jones, Ingram, Strawser); Findlay 6-12 (K. Stechschulte 2, M. Stechschulte 2, Arredondo, Taylor) REBOUNDS: Lima Senior 29 (Gipson 7, James 7); Findlay 36 (Myers 15). TURNOVERS: Lima Senior18; Findlay 11.