(3-8-20) The Minster Wildcats are headed to Columbus to try and win their 3rd consecutive D IV State Basketball Championship. Standing in their way in the state semifinal game is Fort Frye…who is only making their 2nd state final appearance.
Fort Frye went to state in 2013, losing in the state semifinals to Africentric
The Wildcats beat Green Meadows Conference Champion Wayne Trace in convincing style 65-30 to advance to State.
Minster was led by Midwest Athletic Conference Player of the Year Ivy Wolf (Jr) who had 20 points, seven assists and three steals and teammate Janae Hoying (Jr), who had 21 points and six steals. The Wildcats were 8 of 18 behind the arc.
After the game Wayne Trace Head Coach Bethany DeJarnett told the Times-Bulletin:
“They (Minster) played really well,. It was one of those nights where they couldn’t miss. That is just a very good basketball team and if they play like that, they will be hard to beat.”
Fort Frye moves on to State after a Regional Championship 49-31 win over #2 ranked Portsmouth Notre Dame. After Fort Frye took the lead the Cadets went into a three-man weave to slow down the tempo of the game.
After the win Fort Frye head coach Dan Liedtke told the News-Sentinel about his team going to State –
“There’s more to this than a lot of people think. This has been like a four-year process we’ve been putting together to get here. These juniors, when they were in eighth grade, we took them to a summer camp with our varsity and JV team and it was the first time I got to see them play. We also took Hannah Archer (now a sophomore) with that group. I saw something special in them. It all really started then. As they progressed and came up through, I knew they were a special group. Our goal was always going to be this. We wanted to get there this year.”
The Cadets got balanced scoring with 13 points from Lexie Huck, 12 from Kenzie Dalton, eight from Hannah Archer and seven from Kiersten Kesselring.
The Cadets have proven during its tournament run they can play defense. In the first five games of the tournament Ft. Frye has allowed just 28 points or less in those games.
In the Regional semifinal game win against #4 Berne Union, Fort Frye head coach Dan Liedtke told the Marietta Times –
“They focus on Hannah and look what happens. We have got other players that are going to step up. We knew they were going to do that and we had a good plan for it.”
The Cadet’s have shown that the last two games they can meet that challenge, Kiersten Kesselring led the way with 16 points of her team’s 37 points over Berne Union, while Lexie Huck scored 13 points in the win over Notre Dame.
D IV Tournament Trail – COMPLETE STATE FINAL BRACKET
Fort Frye (25-2) East District #1 seed
2/20 Newcomerstown 
68 – 15
2/22 Toronto 68 – 21
2/26 Beallsville 60 – 26
2/29 Monroe Central 39 – 24
3/5 Berne Union 37 – 28
3/7 Portsmouth Notre Dame 49 – 31
Minster (21-5) Wapakoneta District #3 seed
2/22 Parkway 57 – 23
2/27 Marion Local 54 – 44
2/29 New Knoxville 54 – 45
3/5 Toledo Christian 58 – 50
3/7 Wayne Trace 65 – 30
Stateline Sports Network 