Senecas knock Arcadia out for second straight year

FOSTORIA – Last season it was a streaky Calvert team that knocked out higher-seeded Arcadia in a Division IV district final at Fostoria.Fast forward to Saturday: It was the No. 1 seed Senecas taking on the No. 2 seed Redskins, this time in a D-VII district final back at Fostoria.There were a lot of the same players on both sides, and the result was a little higher scoring, but it ended the same.Calvert senior Alyssa Rishty had her fingerprints all over the victory for the Senecas whether it was assists, points, rebounds, steals or just making the right play at the right time, Arcadia couldn't stop the sensational senior.She ended with 28 points, propelling her team to a comfortable 61-47 win over Arcadia as the Senecas earned back-to-back district titles."We just gotta keep moving on. This game here people thought we were going to win, but we scouted like they were the better team and we have the mindset every game that we're the underdogs like last year," Rishty said. "Going into every game I know I'm probably going to be face-guarded or face some tough defense, but my teammates hitting shots like Kaleigh (Concepcion) did tonight it pulls people off of me, and Megan (Rombach) and Carleigh (Meier) setting picks to free me up and then they roll a lot to make their layups. Then Kate (Coleman) is always ready to get a shot off or drive, so all of my teammates step up and make big plays when I can't get a shot off."Rishty had just three points in the opening quarter as Arcadia (17-8) made things tough on her early, making her get rid of the ball, which actually benefited the Senecas (21-4) as Concepcion swished a pair of triples in the opening period to get them going.That shot-making carried over into the second as Coleman buried a trey to begin the quarter and spearhead an 11-2 run as Rishty just started to break down the Arcadia defense, getting to the rim and even splashing a 3.After a Liberty Voges triple for Arcadia brought it within 23-15 with 3:13 left in the opening half, Calvert ended the half with a 10-2 run as Rishty scored the last five points in the last minute, including a deep 3 with just 2.3 left on the clock."We did a decent job starting out defensively, but you can't lose a kid like Rishty so much," Redskins coach Randy Baker said. "She makes too much happen. You have to help on her. You have to take away the drive, don't reach and make her give it up. We did that sometimes, but sometimes she beat us to the basket and we paid for it."Even though Calvert had all of the momentum at the half, Arcadia didn't make anything after that.The Redskins made a concerted effort to either get the ball in the high post to senior Jade Johnson and let her decide to go to the basket or dish out for a good look or to pass to the runner on the baseline for an open jumper.The strategy worked as the Redskins scored 30 second-half points, but they couldn't get enough stops on the other end to claw back in it.Arcadia went on a 10-4 spurt out of the half behind some Johnson buckets and a Ryleigh Bostic trey to get within 37-27 midway through the third, but then Rishty responded with a three-point play and a pair of free throws to end the momentum. Calvert led 44-33 after three.With 5:03 left in the fourth, Arcadia got within 46-37 after an Elyse Boes jumper, but then Rishty hit a pair of free throws and Rombach converted a huge three-point play to close the door on the Redskins."They're known for their man-to-man defense, we're known for a good defense and last year it was 42-29 and we won, so I told our girls that if we get this into the 50s or 60s, we win this game," Calvert coach Aaron Sheets said. "We knew they had three really good shooters, we wanted to watch them on the perimeter, but Jade their lefty underneath hurt us. Gotta give them credit, they played hard."They were right with us there in the first half, but that 10-2 run for us before the end of the half was huge. One way I knew we could maybe beat them was if we could push the ball and get the score up in the 50s or 60s."Johnson paced the Redskins with 15 points in her final game."It's nice to come back here to get this far. We've a lot of success getting here, and we've been able to get over this hump a few times, but with a small school we have to play with what we got and do the best with what we got," Baker said. "The kids work hard,and I'm proud of all the effort they put in, it makes it fun to coach this team."We'll have a few players back, our sophomore class is our big class. The things is when you get to this point, you have to learn from this if you want to take that next step in how hard you have to work. We'll see what happens."Concepcion continued her hot shooting with 13 points and Coleman ended with nine points. The Senecas now will take on Kalida at Elida Tuesday night at 8 p.m. Calvert 61, Arcadia 47Arcadia (17-8): Liberty Voges 2-0-5; Addy Colman 3-0-8; Ryleigh Bostic 2-0-6; Kate Seem 1-0-2; Lexi Theis 1-0-3; Kate Keefe 0-0-0; Elyse Boes 4-0-8; Jade Johnson 5-5-15. Totals: 18-5-47.Calvert (21-4): Kaleigh Concepcion 4-2-13; Alyssa Rishty 8-10-28; Megan Rombach 2-2-6; Carleigh Meier 1-1-3; Kate Coleman 4-0-9; Mya Steyer 0-2-2. Totals: 19-17-61.Arcadia 10 7 16 14 – 47Calvert 12 21 11 17 – 613-point goals: Arcadia 6 (Colman 2, Bostic 2, Theis, Voges); Calvert 6 (Concepcion 3, Rishty 2, Coleman)Foul shots: Arcadia 5-11; Calvert 17-20Turnovers: Arcadia 13; Calvert 15