By James Massara

CAREY – For anyone that thought the Northern 10 Athletic Conference championship for girls basketball would be decided in two games between schools separated by just more than 10 miles on Ohio 199, the first matchup between Carey and Upper Sandusky provided everything to be desired in a rivalry.

One point separated the Blue Devils (4-1, 1-1 N10) and Upper Sandusky (5-0, 1-0 N10) when the final buzzer rang through the blue–and-white-clad gymnasium, as the Rams jumped from their bench with a 51-50 victory.

But that was not without Carey having its fair chance to win the game.

Down one with 6.5 seconds remaining in the game, Carey Coach Phil Vaughn called a timeout, and with the ball in front of his team’s bench, got his players a shot at winning the game.

A couple quick passes after the inbound found freshman forward Sadie Arend on the right baseline inside the three-point line for a shot with three seconds remaining. The shot went up and over the basket and a scrum for the ball wasted the final seconds of play.

Neither team found the basket after Carey’s Amber Nash scored with 1:20 left in the game. Upper Sandusky’s final basket came on a basket from the block from Madison McLaughlin with 1:41 remaining.

“We still had our opportunities,” Vaughn said. “A shot here and there from either team and that’s what it came down to. We were looking for our first guard through and maybe a dump into Sydney (Kin), but Upper covered it well, and Destiny (DeFeo) found a gap and found an open player.

“We executed it. Shots just don’t fall sometimes.”

McLaughlin also had the tall task of guarding Carey’s 6-2 senior forward Kin who finished with a team-high 15 points.

Upper Sandusky used a 1-3-1 defense to be able to collapse on Kin whenever she received the ball in the key.

“Everyone we play surrounds (Kin),” Vaughn said. “They played a zone and some of the passes, by the time they got there, there were three Upper players around Sydney.”

Upper Sandusky Coach Brent Fahle said the matchup with Kin was a key to success.

“You know she’s going to get hers,” Fahle said. “There aren’t too many people in northwest Ohio who have a matchup for her. You just want to make it tough on her and whatever she get she earns, and I thought we did a nice job on her defensively.”

Both Kin and Upper Sandusky leading-scorer Megan Hensel, who finished with a game-high 22 points were kept in check in the fourth quarter, Kin scored two points in the final quarter and Hensel was held scoreless.

Both Vaughn and Fahle sang praises to the versatility and play of Hensel being a 5-10 player who can handle the ball and shoot from the outside.

“She was great tonight,” Fahle said. “There’s just no other word to say it. She had a fabulous game and I’m so proud of her.”

After giving a hug to a Carey player, Hensel said there’s much more to the game than just two conference powers fighting for first place.

“It’s the top two teams in the league and we’re rival schools so obviously it means a lot to us, so we’re probably going to take it a little more to heart than others,” Hensel said. “I’ve played with seven of those Carey players on travel teams, so it’s always fun to come out and compete against them because we know we’re going to go at it, talk to each other and make fun of each other, because that’s who we are.

“I love playing against them. They’re all great players and I’m glad they gave their effort, and I think I gave my best effort against them.”

In junior varsity action, Carey defeated the Rams, 52-34. Bridget Mullholland and Alaina Thiel led the Blue Devils with 13 points each, and Reagan Ward led Upper Sandusky with 12 points.

Both teams are in action again Tuesday, Dec. 12 with Carey hosting Mohawk and Upper Sandusky travelling to Ridgedale for a varsity only contest. Both games begin at 6 p.m.

Upper Sandusky-15 13 15 8 — 51

Carey-14 13 8 15 — 50

Upper Sandusky (5-0, 1-0 N10): Shots 18-47; 3-pt shots 6-20 (Abigail Fogle 3, Megan Hensel 2, Alivia Oney).

Free throws 9-15; Rebounds 27 (Hensel 15); Turnovers 9. Scoring: Alivia Oney 3 1 8, Alexis Fogle 2 0 4, Abigail Fogle 5 0 13, Maddie McLaughlin 2 0 4, Megan Hensel 6 8 22.

Carey (4-1, 1-1 N10): Shots 20-51; 3-pt. shots 7-16 (Bry Curlis 3, Destiny DeFeo 3, Sydney Kin).

Free throws 3-4; Rebounds 35; Turnovers 14. Bry Curlis 3 0 9, Destiny DeFeo 4 0 11, Amber Nash 1 1 3, Sydney Kin 6 2 15, Sadie Arend 3 0 6, Taylor Wenzinger 2 0 4, Dana Worst 1 0 2.

JV: Carey, 52-34.