jmetcalfe@delphosherald.com

ST. HENRY — The St. John’s girls basketball team has struggled mightily on the offensive side of the court in the midst of its 4-game losing streak heading into Thursday night’s Midwest Athletic Conference encounter at St. Henry Middle School Gymnasium.
Make that five.

The Lady Blue Jays (6-9, 1-5 MAC) shot a poor 26.1 percent from the floor (12-of-46, including 3-of-17 beyond the arc) in a 40-30 loss.
“We don’t have the toughness on either side of the court that we need to compete and win consistently. Any of a thousand different ways you can talk about toughness and we don’t have it,” St. John’s coach Dan J. Grothouse noted. “We have to find that toughness, that sense of urgency on both ends of the floor, for us to turn this around. There are times we execute the things we want to do — we intend to do — but then something happens, like the opponent making a basket, and we lose that.”

The Lady Redskins (8-8, 1-5 MAC) shot a comfortable 46.9 percent (15-of-32, 5-of-9 from 3-point land).

The Blue Jays never led in this contest. There were ties of 2-2, 4-4, 6-6 and 8-8 as junior Emilie Fischbach (11 points, 9 boards) scored all four baskets for the Blue and Gold, while St. Henry had three girls score for its points. When Kelly Siefring (12 markers) fired in a 3-ball from the left corner at the 1:55 mark of the opener, the Redskins had an 11-8 lead that they never relinquished.

The second period was the downfall for the visitors as they were outscored 10-2; they scored a measly 2-of-4 free throws by senior Katie Vorst (1-of-2 each at 6:45 and 44.1 ticks) in going 0-for-8 from the floor in the canto. Meantime, the Lady Redskins weren’t necessarily lighting them up but they scored 10 markers, eight by game-high scorer Taylor Clune (15 markers, with 3 treys). When she dropped in a trey from the left wing at 55 seconds, the Lady ’Skins led 21-9. That free toss by Vorst at the 44.1-second mark accounted for a 21-10 halftime margin.

St. Henry continued its upward trajectory in the third stanza, getting out to a 28-14 edge on another Clune trifecta at the 5-minute mark. The Jays put on a rally in those final five minutes of the third, getting within 31-23 on a 3-ball by junior Erica Saine (9 markers) with 51 seconds left.

Try as the Jays might, they just could not heat up enough from the field in the finale to make a serious dent in the deficit they had dug in the second and third periods. The closest they could get was 31-26 on a triple by sophomore Rebekah Fischer at 7:10 of the fourth. The Jays could only down 3-of-13 shots in the final period as their losing skein went to five in a row.

“Our offense has just not had the confidence necessary these last few games. For instance, even though we might not have a lot of turnovers, the ones we have are just unforced because of sloppy passing,” Grothouse added. “You can see our confidence drop as things don’t go our way; we either hold the ball for three seconds before we do anything or we immediately dribble and don’t let things happen as the offense dictates. We know where the other girls are going to be; we just have to execute. Defensively, of their first 15 points, six were layups and one three. When you struggle to score, you have to make up for it in toughness on the defensive end. We somehow have to find that confidence, that urgency, and keep it even in tough times.” Overall, St. John’s ended up 3-of-8 from the free-throw line (37.5%); with 27 caroms, 13 offensive; with 11 turnovers and 11 fouls. They host Lincolnview Tuesday.

St. Henry dropped in 5-of-7 singles (71.4%); nabbed 27 rebounds (4 offensive) as Clune and Kami Siefring had six each; amassed 16 miscues and seven fouls.

In junior varsity action, freshman Rachel Pohlman scored 11 and junior Colleen Schulte 10 as the Lady Jays grabbed a 38-27 victory.
Ellie Stammen and Cala Brockman netted six each for the Lady Redskins.

VARSITY
ST. JOHN’S (30)
Tara Vorst 0-0-0, Emilie Fischbach 5-0-11, Brooke Zuber 1-0-2, Rebekah Fischer 1-0-3, Katie Vorst 0-2-2, Erica Saine 4-0-9, Jessica Recker 0-0-0, Amanda Boberg 0-0-0, Sydney Fischbach 1-1-3. Totals 10-2-3/8-30.
ST. HENRY (40)
Cara Brockman 0-0-0, Kami Siefring 1-2-5, Olivia Stahl 1-1-3, Taylor Koesters 0-0-0, Paige Muhlenkamp 0-0-0, Kelly Siefring 5-1-12, Taylor Clune 6-0-15, Ally Mikesell 2-1-5, Taylor Siegrist 0-0-0. Totals 10-5-5/7-40.
Score by Quarters:
St. John’s    8    2   13   7 - 30
St. Henry    11  10   10   9 - 40
Three-point goals: St. John’s, E. Fischbach, Saine; St. Henry, Clune 3, Ka. Siefring, Ke. Siefring.
——-
JUNIOR VARSITY
ST. JOHN’S (38)
Rachel Pohlman 2-7-11, Emilie Grothouse 1-0-3, Olivia Kahny 0-0-0, Maddie Pohlman 0-0-0, Ashlyn Troyer 0-0-0, Halie Benevidez 3-4-10, Sam Kramer 1-0-2, Samantha Wehri 2-0-4, Colleen Schulte 1-6-8. Totals 9-1-17/20-38.
ST. HENRY (27)
Ellie Stammen 3-0-6, Kenisa Post 1-0-2, Christine Imel 0-0-0, Jacey King 2-1-5, Lauren Grieshop 0-0-0, Savannah Wourms 0-0-0, Katherine Davis 0-0-0, Liz Uhlenhake 0-0-0, Alyssa Siefring 1-0-2, Cala Brockman 2-2-6, Taylor Siegrist 1-1-3, Marianne Lefeld 0-0-0, Alyssa Mescher 1-1-3. Totals 11-0-5/14-27.
Score by Quarters:
St. John’s   10  10   11   7 - 38
St. Henry      6    9    6   6 - 27
Three-point goals: St. John’s, Grothouse; St. Henry, none.