Wapakoneta 45 Celina 25 By PHIL McLEAN Wapakoneta Daily News Staff Writer CELINA — A 3-point field goal by Emily Steveley gave Wapakoneta the lead for good at the 2:40 mark in the first period Thusday. After a slow start by the Redskins that saw two ties and a single lead change, Steveley’s shot put Wapakoneta on top 11-8 as the Redskins rolled to a 45-25 Western Buckeye League victory. “We started out a little slow, but I think that was because we started in man,” Wapakoneta varsity girls basketball coach Rusty Allen said. “And we knew once we put the match up in we could control the pace.” Two minutes into the first period, Celina was up 6-2. Thirty seconds later Heidi Schlegel tied the game at six. Back-to-back field goals by Schlegel gave the Redskins their first lead of the game. With less than 4 minutes to play, Celina’s Kelsey Waterman knotted the game at eight. The Steveley hit her trey. Celina would chase the Redskins the rest of the way. “We got a key injury early and that took us out of our game,” Celina varsity girls basketball coach Brian Stetler said. Shelbi Nation, a senior who was already wearing a brace on one knee went down hard in the first period and may have injured her other knee. “We just never got back into the flow of the game,” Stetler said. Waterman brought Celina within one 11-10 at the 2:11 mark. From that point until the last 15 seconds of the second period, a span of more than 9 minutes, the Redskin defense did not allow a single Celina point. “We have some good shooters,” Stetler said. “They just didn’t show up tonight.” Allen said they knew Celina had some good shooters. “We wanted to force them to shoot from outside and not get anything in the paint,” Allen said. Wapakoneta went to lockerroom at halftime leading 27-13. The Wapakoneta bench got plenty of work Thursday night as well. Kailey Schneider led the Redskins back to the floor, extending the Redskin lead to 16 points. Ironically, the third was the best period for the Bulldogs on the night. It was the only period Celina won, taking the quarter 7-6. Wapakoneta returned to dominance in the fourth period to even its WBL mark at 1-1. The last Wapakoneta was was 5-1 was in 2006. Allen said he was pleased with the balanced scoring by the Redskins. “We don’t have anything designed for just one player,” Allen said. Schlegel led all scorers Thursday with 14 points. Steveley contributed 10 in the victory. Celina, which is 1-1 in the league and 3-2 overall, was led by Waterman with six points. The Celina junior varsity, 4-1, took the opener 32-21. Wapakoneta, 3-3, was led by Karmyn Schneider who scored a team high 10 point. Wapakoneta will be back in action the Saturday after Christmas, when the Redskins travel to Kalida for a noon start. Box Score Wapakoneta 15 12 6 12 -- 45 Celina            10   3 7   5 -- 25 Scoring Wapakoneta: Bryan 1-0-2, Steveley 4-0-10, Schneider 2-0-4, Steinke 1-0-2, Sawmiller 0-0-0, Golden 3-3-9, Helmstetter 0-0-0, Lowry 2-0-4, Schlegel 5-4-14, Rinehart 0-0-0. Totals 18-7-45. Celina: Francis 1-0-3, Moorman 0-0-0, Hellwarth 0-3-3, Nation 2-0-4, Waterman 3-0-6, Thobe 0-0-0, Welker 0-0-0, Yoder 2-1-5, Schroeder 0-0-0, Mastin 2-0-4. Totals 10-4-25. Three point goals: Wapakoneta 2 (Steveley 2); Celina 1 (Francis). Fouled out: None Technical fouls: None JV score: Celina 32-21

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