BELOIT West Branch survives Minerva comeback

The Warriors remained perfect in the Northeastern Buckeye Conference with a 38-34 win.
By JOHN BUTERA
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
BELOIT -- The West Branch High School girls basketball team broke out to a huge lead Saturday, then survived a frantic Minerva comeback, beating the Lions 38-34.
Playing an almost perfect first quarter, West Branch (5-3, 5-0 Northeastern Buckeye Conference) used great defense en route to an 18-2 lead.
The Warriors were giving Minerva (6-2, 3-2) only one look at the basket, and often that was far away from the hoop.
By going 8-for-13 from the field and committing just three first-quarter fouls, West Branch had just about everything going its way with runs of seven and 11 points.
Turnovers: The Warriors committed just two turnovers in the first eight minutes.
"We turned the ball over way too many times," Minerva coach Pepper Locke said. "They are too good of a team to do that against."
Minerva had 17 turnovers, including six in the final quarter.
The second quarter was a complete reversal, however, as Minerva threw a shutout at the Warriors, outscoring them 13-0.
The Lions, after going just 1-for-10 in the first quarter, hit their first three fielders of the second quarter, cutting the gap to 18-8 at 6:01.
Cold streak: Interestingly, neither team made a field goal the rest of the half as West Branch had a dismal 0-for-12 shooting effort.
Minerva, meanwhile, added five more foul shots as the Lions went into halftime down 18-13.
"Obviously, after that first quarter we were all thinking the same thing," West Branch coach Chuck Campbell said.
"Minerva is a good team and it is a game of runs," he added. "They made theirs in the second quarter. We knew coming in they were very well coached and we'd have to be at the top of our game."
With West Branch in control 26-20 late in the third period, Minerva got back-to-back fielders from Lindsay Shearer, who led her team with 12 points.
Deadlocked: Sarah Weaver, meanwhile, fashioned a steal in the waning seconds. When she scored with four seconds remaining, Minerva had completed its comeback and went into the final period tied 26-26.
Behind a 3-point shot from Amber Metzgar, West Branch's lone 3-pointer of the game, and a fielder and free throws from Tori Arndt, the Warriors went up 32-28 at 6:59.
Twice, Minerva cut the gap to two, but the Lions failed to tie the score again.
Ashley Armstrong led West Branch with 12 points.