Fulton County Ohio Media

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With just 70 fourth quarter seconds remaining on the clock and the Archbold Lady Blue Streaks holding a seven-point lead, 44-37, over the Delta Lady Panthers, this OHSAA Girls District V Semi-Final game at Defiance High School on Tuesday night, was essentially over.  Until it wasn’t.  An Archbold foul on Keagyn Gillen while receiving an inbound pass sent the Lady Panther to the free throw line, and what transpired from there will forever be etched into Delta High School girls’ basketball lore.

Gillen drained both of her shots, reigniting Delta’s offense.  The Panther defense forced a couple of turnovers and did not allow another Blue Streak basket the rest of the way.  Abby Todd scored from the inside and Anna Lohnman sank three foul shots and a layup to give Delta their first lead since halftime.

“Our girls showed true grit, they showed the reason you say ‘never give up.’  Archbold came in and played tough, they gave our girls a real challenge but thankfully our girls pulled through in the end,” said Delta Head Coch Kelsey Gillen.   From that point the game was all about free throws.  The Lady Panthers were deadly accurate in the game, making 19 of 24 shots from the stripe and in final quarter, hitting 9 of 10 attempts while the Lady Blue Streaks went ice cold, missing all six of their attempts.  Archbold got the ball back with 4.2 seconds left in the game, but their long three-point attempt fell short and Delta had its 47-44 victory.

“We have had trouble with free throws all season, we changed up a pressure free throw drill over the last week in practice.  The girls weren’t thrilled about the drill but they battled through it.  Our free throws saved us in the end.  We made 9 of 10 free throws in the 4th quarter- that was a huge reason we were able to pull off the win,” Coach Gillen explained.

Lohnman led Delta and all players with 21 points.  Gillen scored 12 points and Todd added 10.  Reagan Wendt had 13 points for Archbold.  Molly Harris scored 11 points and Charlee Forward finished with 10.

The win improves the Delta Lady Panthers’ record to 20-4 on the season and sends them to Lakota High School this coming Saturday at 3:00 PM to face the Willard Lady Crimson Flashes for the District Championship.  The Archbold Lady Blue Streaks conclude another successful season with a record of 18 wins against six losses.

Archbold Lady Blue Streaks:  13-9-14-6 = 44   Reagan Wendt (13), Molly Harris (11), Charlee Forward (10), Miley Gericke (8), Klaire Kean (2)

Delta Lady Panthers:  12-13-9-13 = 47   Anna Lohnman (21), Keagyn Gillen (12), Abby Todd (10), Olivia Mohring (2), Addison Wyse (2)

Click on the link above to access photos from the game. Photos are in the jpeg format to allow for editing and can be downloaded and shared for NO CHARGE courtesy of the fultoncountymedia.com website.

Photo: Delta Lady Panthers and their fans