LCC 66 Wapakoneta 45
By WILLIAM LANEY
Wapakoneta Daily News Staff Writer

The Wapakoneta Redskins’ surge occurred in the third period Saturday against the Thunderbirds of Lima Central Catholic.
A 3-point shot by junior guard Jackson Hayzlett from in front of the Redskin bench brought the crowd to its feet with applause and brought the Thunderbirds within a bucket at 34-32.
After a long possession by LCC without a score, junior post player Mike Bogan got fouled on a drive to the basket, he hit the back end of his two foul shots to bring the Redskins to within a point, 34-33, with 2:20 left in the third period.
The Thunderbirds closed out the period on a 10-1 run and outscored the host team 22-11 in the final period as they buried Wapakoneta 66-45 in varsity boys basketball action Saturday, sending the Redskins to 0-8 on the season. The Thunderbirds improved to 4-2.
“I think basically what happened is we wore them down in the fourth quarter,” Thunderbird coach Bob Seggerson said after the non-league game. “Up until that time, they were right in the game and made a nice little comeback in the second half. I thought they played with a lot of spirit and a lot of hustle and that is what you would expect from coach (Scott) Minnig’s team because that is what he coaches.
“People will see that score that we won by 21 points, but I don’t think they would appreciate how well Wapakoneta played in this game,” he said. “But having said that, we had the presence to step it up when they did get close and close out the game.”
Minnig credited his players for their effort on the defensive end until the 2-minute mark in the third period when fatigue set in after playing games on consecutive nights.
“I thought defensively we did a pretty good job tonight (Saturday),” Minnig told the Wapakoneta Daily News. “We fought, we battled up until that point the fatigue wall hit when we couldn’t get a defensive rebounds, we couldn’t get a stop and we couldn’t score either.
“We hit that epic drought that we tend to hit every game because of fatigue,” he said. “We just hit a point in every game where we can’t do the things we have been doing well, we just hit that wall and if I have to pinpoint it then it has to be fatigue.”
The Redskins battled the entire game.
Early on, the Redskins watched a 6-6 tie midway through the first period turn into a 12-6 deficit and then a 15-8 LCC lead before Hayzlett closed out the period with a long-range bomb.
The Redskins closed out the second period with a couple of baskets by Bogan and Helmstetter to pull within 9 points at the break.
Bogan converted a traditional 3-point play to cut the lead to 28-22 to start the third period. After a couple of LCC baskets, Helmstetter drove the lane for a bucket and Hayzlett hit a 3-pointer to narrow the Thunderbird lead to 32-27.
Bogan followed an LCC bucket with two free throws at the 4:05 mark before a Thunderbird turnover enabled Hayzlett to pull the Redskins to within 34-32 with his second 3-pointer of the period.
Seggerson called a timeout to regroup his squad.
After a couple of missed shots by the Thunderbirds, Bogan hit the back end of two foul shots to the Redskins to their narrowest margin this late in a game, 34-33.
Bogan ended the game with 14 points, tied for game-high and leading the Redskins. He also collected 5 rebounds on the night. Hayzlett contributed 10 points to the Wapakoneta cause, hitting 3-of-5 from beyond the arc.
Helmstetter ended the game with 9 points. Jake Lambert led the team in rebounds with 7.
After Bogan’s foul shot, LCC took control of the game.
Regaining the momentum in the third period, Seggerson’s squad outscored Minnig’s squad 8-1 when Minnig received a technical foul. A Thunderbird player when up for a rebound and jumped backward falling over the back of Shane Helmstetter. In the malay, Hayzlett got called for a foul, which prompted Minnig to argue the calls with 16.4 seconds left.
A 1-point deficit became a 10-point deficit within 2:06 of the third period.
Seggerson’s team was led in scoring by 6-foo-1 senior wing Aaron Swinehart, who came off the bench to score 14 points. Freshman wing Ty O’Connor, at 6-foot-2, scored 13 points and collected 7 rebounds for LCC.
Three Thunderbirds scored 8 points — junior guard Desi Kirkman, junior wing Jacob Rigali and sophomore post player Jon Steiger.
Minnig admitted playing from behind is taking its toll on his squad, but he credits his squad for continuing to play hard.
“Playing with a deficit really affects how you approach the game, when you are down 15 in the fourth quarter you have to come down and take a quick shot,” Minnig said, “and if you don’t make the shot then they come down and grind out on offense and get a score and before you know it you are down by 20.”


LCC     15 13 16 22 — 66
Wapak 11   8 19 11 — 45


LCC — Bubba Krieg 1-0-2, Austin Stolly 2-0-5, Desi Kirkman 3-2-8, Nick Zerante 0-0-0, Taylor Cook 1-0-2, Aaron Swinehart 7-0-14, Jacob Rigali 3-2-8, Taylor Royster 0-0-0, Sam Stolly 0-0-0, Ty O’Connor 3-5-13, Brady Patterson 2-2-6, Jon Steiger 4-0-8. Totals: 26-11-66.


Wapak — Ty Bertram 0-0-0, Jackson Hayzlett 3-1-10, Mike Bogan 5-4-14, Shane Helmstetter 4-1-9, Zane Oen 0-0-0, Corey Lotridge 0-0-0, Kody Kohler 0-0-0, Jake Lambert 2-1-5, Jordan Ruppert 1-0-3, Justin Steveley 2-0-4, Tommy Georg 0-0-0, Jacob Heinl 0-0-0. Totals: 17-7-45.


3-pointers: LCC 3 (O’Connor 2, A. Stolly 1) Wapak 4 (Hayzlett 3, Ruppert 1)
Fouled out: None
Technicals: Scott Minnig (W)
JV Score: LCC 49, Wapak 38
Leading scorer: Kaleb Vondenhuevel-8