Fulton County Ohio Media

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The Delta Lady Panthers are headed to the OHSAA Girls DIII Regional Tournament for the second time in three years after beating the Elmwood Lady Royals in a heart-stopping, nail-biting, edge-of-your-seat District Championship game that was not decided until a long and improbable shot fell short as the final buzzer sounded.  For the five seniors in the Class of 2021 that took the court to start the game, Ella Ford, Brooklyn Green, Reagan Rouleau, Braelyn Wymer and Brooklyn Wymer, it cemented their legacy as one of the most successful classes of girls’ basketball in the history of the Lady Panthers program.

There was not one point in the game where the Delta faithful had an opportunity to relax a bit and breathe easy.  The contest had four ties and nine lead changes with the largest Panther lead at three points and the largest Royals lead at six points.  Only after Braelyn Wymer was fouled with 2.9 seconds on the clock and the Panthers holding the thinnest of margins at 35-34, did Delta fans think “We just might win this.” 

Wymer calmly walked up to the line, shooed away teammates who had come over to give her encouragement, and swished both shots to give her team a 37-34 lead which would be the final score.  “I just wanted to pretend it was like any other free throw, it was just like practice,” said Braelyn.  “We actually talked about that in practice on Friday.  The coaches said if it comes down to that, it’s just like any other free throws.  Just put them in.”  Of course, they were not like any other shots she had ever taken in her career with so much on the line and the clutch conversions forced the Royals to heave the ball from so far away it never truly had a chance.

The Lady Panthers did not just defeat an ordinary opponent in the Elmwood Lady Royals.  Elmwood was the #1 seed in this District, were champions of the Northern Buckeye Conference (NBC) and had the best player in the NBC in Brooklyn Thrash, a six-foot junior who had broken the school’s all-time scoring record in the game before against the Swanton Lady Bulldogs.  They also had two front line players that measured out at 6’1” which negated a lot of inside scoring.  Delta, seeded at #3 also had to beat the #2 seeded Eastwood Lady Eagles just to face the Royals.

Elmwood held the lead after each of the first three quarters but the margins were always thin at 6-5, 19-17 and 23-20.  Every time the Royals seemed about to pull away, Braelyn would knock down one of her five three-pointers to keep her team close.  She added four foul shots on five attempts to lead all scorers with 19 points.  Overall, Delta saved their best for last by scoring 17 fourth-quarter points.  Green had four of her eight and Rouleau scored five of her six in the deciding period.  Thrash scored 16 points to lead the Lady Royals and Anna Barber added eight.

“It’s definitely bittersweet since it’s our last year, said Brooklyn Wymer.  This has always been a goal of ours since the beginning of the season and now that it’s come true it’s truly great.”  “Doing it together (seniors), twice now, it’s a great feeling,” added her sister Braelyn.

Obviously, it was a very special win for Delta Coach Ryan Ripke who has won a lot of games at the helm for the Panthers and never tires of cutting down nets.  “It was very special,” said Coach Ripke.  “After the District semi-final I told the girls, ‘You seniors won a District title two years ago and we did it by pressing teams from one end to the other for 32 minutes.  We’re a different team and you’ve made this team your own identity.  Now we’re winning different ways.  And I think that’s just special because these five seniors had a rough ending to last season and it’s just very special to come back this year and win a District Championship.

Delta will be facing a familiar foe at Regionals in the Ottawa-Glandorf Lady Titans who defeated the Lady Panthers earlier in the season and enter the game with a 23-2 record compared to Delta’s 17-6.  But there is no other place else this team would rather be.  “We’re looking forward to a rematch,” said Ripke.

Pictured:  Delta Lady Panthers –  2021 OHSAA Girls Basketball District Champions

Down by two points to the Swanton Bulldogs in the waning moments of the game, Brayden Miller of the Ottawa Hills Green Bears scored on a short jumper and the subsequent foul shot with 2.9 seconds on the clock to stun the Bulldogs 34-33 in the final of OHSAA Boys Sectional Tournament.  The Green Bears win sends them to the District Tournament where they will face the Archbold Blue Streaks at Toledo Central Catholic on Thursday, March 4^th at 7:30 pm.

The game was a defensive battle from the outset with the first points put on the board by way two free throws by Swanton’s Josh Vance at the 4:46 mark of the first quarter.  The Bears responded by scoring the next six points, four from senior center Eli VanSlooten, as the Bulldogs struggled to find the range.  Just before the end of the period, Cole Mitchey picked up a loose ball and streaked to the basket to score just as the buzzer sounded.

Ottawa Hills extended their lead to 10-4 before Trent Weigel drained back-to-back three-pointers to tie the score. The Bears got baskets from four different players in the period and Blake Szalapski battled underneath for two scores and the Bulldogs trailed 17-16 at the half.

Andrew Thorton was able to break into the scoring column in the third quarter with five points, helping Swanton take a 23-19 lead.  Ottawa Hills then scored the last six points on two buckets inside from VanSlooten and one from Caden Coy and led 25-23 going into the fourth quarter.

An inside bank shot by Thornton tied the game early in the fourth and another trey from Weigel put Swanton up 28-25.  There were several lead changes before two foul shots by Mitchey gave the Bulldogs a 32-29 lead with 30.5 seconds remaining.  The Bears cut the lead to one, 32-31 with 12.3 seconds on the clock and then fouled Vance on the inbound pass to send him to the line for the one-and-one opportunity.  He was able to make the first shot but missed the second and the Green Bears made the most of the opening when Miller made the tough inside basket while being fouled.

Weigel led the Bulldogs with 12 points, including three shots from downtown.  Thornton added eight points and Szalapski had four.  VanSlooten scored 12 points for the Green Bears.  Miller added seven and AJ George had six.

It was a heartbreaking season-ending loss for the Bulldogs and basketball career ending for Swanton’s four seniors, Szalapski, Thornton, Vance and Weigel.  The Bulldogs finished the year with a 14-10 record and a third-place finish in the NWOAL.  The defeat also brought an end to the outstanding high school cheerleading careers of seniors Jasmin Kenzie and Macie Rochelle. 

Pictured:  Trent Weigel shoots over Eli VanSlooten of Ottawa Hills

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Rebounding from a somewhat sluggish and uncharacteristically sloppy first half that yielded a slim four-point lead, the Delta Lady Panthers outscored the Eastwood Lady Eagles by 22 points in the second half to ride a 53-27 victory into the OHSAA Girls DIII District Championship game at Anthony Wayne High School.  The win by the #3-seeded Panthers over the #2-seeded Eagles sends Delta up against the #1-seeded Elmwood Lady Royals, a 55-39 winner over the Swanton Lady Bulldogs earlier in the evening.

The first five minutes of the game had all the markings of an easy win for the Panthers as they raced out to an 11-2 lead getting points from four of their five starters.  But just as quickly, a rash of Delta turnovers allowed the Eagles back into the game and the quarter ended with the Panthers on top 12-10.

Delta’s ball handling problems continued into the second quarter and Eastwood was able remain close.  Brooklyn Wymer made two free throws to push the lead to 20-16 when the horn sounded to end the first half. 

The Eagles forced another turnover to open the third quarter and hit a three-point shot to pull within one.  At this point, the Lady Panthers began to regroup and take control of the contest.  Braelyn Wymer was fouled attempting a shot from behind the arc and converted all three free throws.  She then connected on a three pointer and when Brooklyn Green netted a deep shot from the corner, Delta had their first double digit lead of the game at 32-21.  Reagan Rouleau drove inside for a lay-up with 8.5 seconds on the clock and the period ended with 34-21 advantage.

The fourth quarter was basically a shooting clinic put on by the Delta Lady Panthers as they scored 19 points, all from the field on baskets by seven different players.  The Panther defense held Eastwood to just six as Delta cruised down the stretch for the win.

Green captured game high scoring honors with 16 points while Rouleau added 13.  Braelyn Wymer scored 10 points and Ella Ford and Brooklyn Wymer had five points each.  Aubrey Haas scored 11 points for the Eagles and Kayla Buehler had seven.

Pictured:  Brooklyn Green shoots from inside the key.

Swanton Girls basketball Coach Eric Oakes knew that asking his players to match up with the Elmwood Lady Royals was a tall order, given the height advantage that Elmwood had with two front line players listed at 6’1” and a 6’0” shooting guard.  His Lady Bulldogs ably responded well enough to find themselves tied with the Royals early in the third quarter in their OHSAA District III semi-final game at Anthony Wayne High School.  However, in the end, they were unable to overcome the strength of Elmwood’s inside game and lost to the #1 seeded Royals 55-39.

Ironically, Swanton found early success after tipoff by attacking the basket, scoring and drawing fouls.  Averie Lutz and Aricka Lutz each scored on a lay-up and a free throw and Katie Floyd hit two foul shots to stake the Bulldogs to a 9-5 lead at the 4:00 minute mark.  Elmwood responded when Northern Buckeye Conference (NBC) Player of the Year, Brooklyn Thrash, drained a shot from long range, triggering an 18-0 run, stretched between the first and second quarters, to go up 23-9.

Swanton rallied, pulling within nine points, 26-17, by halftime.  The Bulldog comeback continued in the third quarter with the Lutz twins hitting three-pointers and a short bank from Floyd.  Down by just three points, Frankie Nelson knocked one down from deep in the corner and suddenly the teams were tied 28-28.  The Bulldogs had several chances to take the lead but the Royals closed out the period outscoring Swanton 8-3 for a 36-31 advantage heading into the final frame.

Elmwood took full control of the contest in the fourth quarter with both inside and behind the arc baskets.  The Royals lead extended to double digits at 44-34 with six minutes left in the game and slowly grew from there to finish with the 16-point, 55-39 victory.

In finishing their legendary basketball careers, Swanton seniors, Aricka and Averie Lutz, led the Lady Bulldogs on the scoresheet with 15 and 14 points respectively.  Aricka surpassed the 1000-point career mark during the game and Averie ended her career with 950 points.  Floyd and Nelson added four each.

For the NBC Champion Lady Royals, Thrash had 18 points to lead all scorers and became Elmwood’s all-time leading scorer with 1433 points earlier in the contest.  Lainey Bingham and Mackenzie Mareches added 11 points each and Anna Barber scored nine.  Elmwood will now face the Delta Lady Panthers, who defeated the Eastwood Lady Eagles 53-27 in the second game of the night, for the District Championship on Saturday at 2:00 PM at Anthony Wayne High School.

Coach Oakes, his staff and the Lady Bulldogs end another successful season with a 16-9 record and a Sectional Championship.  Along with Aricka and Averie Lutz, the basketball program will be saying goodbye to outgoing seniors Sami Taylor, Maddie Peluso and Emma Operacz.

Pictured: Aricka Lutz scores on a drive inside.

Congratulations to Aricka Lutz on scoring her 1000th career point for the Swanton Lady Bulldog basketball team during tonight’s district game against Elmwood. Her twin sister Averie was not far behind with 950 points.

The Swanton Bulldogs used deadly accurate outside shooting and heavy defensive pressure to take down the Genoa Comets 52-36 in the first round of the OHSAA Sectional Tournament played on Swanton’s home floor. Three seniors, Andrew Thorton, Josh Vance and Trent Weigel, took the court in the Kevin J. McQuade Gymnasium for the final time in their Bulldog basketball careers and did not disappoint the home crowd as they raced out to an early comfortable lead and cruised to a solid victory.

It took almost three minutes for either team to score until Thornton found the bottom of the net from long range to give the Bulldogs a 3-0 lead.  The Comets put in a lay-up to pull within one point but they would never come that close again for the rest of the contest.  A jumper from Vance, a steal and lay-up by Mitchey and short bank shot by Thornton propelled Swanton to a 10-0 run to close out the first quarter with a 13-2 advantage.

Genoa’s offense came alive in the second quarter and they were able to match Swanton’s scoring but could not significantly close the gap.   Skyler Jo drained a three-pointer to open the period and Jacob Emerson scored nine of his team-high 16 points, but two treys by Thornton and one by Vance kept the Comets at bay as they could only shave one point off their deficit and trailed 28-18 at halftime.

The Bulldogs essentially put the game away in the third quarter by opening with a 10-2 run.  Hayden Callicotte hit a short jumper from the baseline to start the spurt and Thornton swished his fourth shot from behind the arc and added a lay-up to give Swanton a 38-20 lead with 5:17 remaining in the third.  The quarter ended with a 17-point margin, 40-23, for the home team.

With approximately four minutes remaining in the game, Swanton had extended it’s lead to 21 points at 49-28 and Coach Joel Visser began to empty his bench.  Genoa was able to convert twice from deep late in the game to push the final score to 52-36.

Statistically, Thornton led all scorers with 21 points and Vance added 16.  Callicotte, Mitchey and Weigel each had four points for Swanton.  In addition to Emerson’s 16 points, Jo had eight for the Comets.  The win sends the Bulldogs to Ottawa Hills on Friday to take on the Green Bears for the Sectional title with a 7:00 pm start time.

Pictured:  Cole Mitchey drives the lane for a short shot.

Identical twins Aricka and Averie Lutz, star student-athletes on the soccer field and the basketball court, have signed Letters of Intent to continue their academic and athletic careers at Tiffin University (TU) and will join the school’s soccer program.  In acquiring these players, the Lady Dragons are getting a packaged deal of two players that bring with them their own individual package of grit, determination, work ethic, focus and effort as well as athletic talent.

Their commitment to any sport they play starts at 100% and seems to rise from there.  “They definitely put their whole heart into everything they do, especially when it comes to sports.  Sports drives everything for them,” commented Swanton Girls Assistant Soccer Coach Kersten Davis.  “They are the prime example of leadership when it comes to sports or academics.  They lift up the team so much and they are definitely going to be missed next year but they have left enough of a good example that our girls will be able to take after them.”

The selection of TU will be somewhat of a homecoming for Averie and Aricka as their mother, Angie Belcher, hails from Tiffin and has immediate family, including her parents, still living in the area.  “They’re such homebodies.  They’re excited that they will be near family,” said Ms. Belcher.  “They will have relatives that haven’t seen them a lot will get to see them play and they get to go watch cousins play that go to Calvert (High School).”

As dynamic and successful as this Lutz duo is on soccer pitch, they bring an equally energetic and effective skill set to the basketball court.  “Their effort is second to none,” said Swanton Girls Head Basketball Coach Eric Oakes, describing Aricka and Averie’s work ethic.  “If you have a day off, they text you about shooting or getting extra lifting.  It’s

all season long.  “Their effort on the court, if you’ve ever watched them, they’ve made plays over their career that you don’t see girls make such as diving and taking charges.  At 5’2” they play much bigger.  They’re two girls that just get after it and love to compete in whatever sport they play.”

That effort has not gone unnoticed by opposing coaches who vote on post-season recognition awards.  Both Averie and Aricka have been honored multiple times in both sports.

Averie has been named First Team All-NWOAL in soccer twice and Second Team once and First Team All-District twice and Honorable mention once.  In basketball she was named First Team All-NWOAL once, Second Team once, Second Team All-District once and Honorable Mention All-District once.

Aricka has been named First Team All-NWOAL twice and Second Team once, First Team All-District twice and Honorable Mention once and Second Team All-Ohio twice.  In basketball she was named First Team All-NWOAL once, Second Team once, First Team All-District once and Honorable Mention once and Special Mention All-Ohio once.  In her junior season Aricka also won the NWOAL scoring title.

Team success has also followed the Tiffin University commits. The Lady Bulldogs won the NWOAL Soccer Championship this past fall and advanced to the District Finals before their season ended.  The Lady Basketball Bulldogs recently won an OHSAA Sectional Tournament Championship and have moved into the District Tournament. 

Pictured:  Aricka and Averie Lutz with mother, Angie Belcher and father, David Lutz