Comets, Rockets gear up for girls postseason basketball

        When Oak Harbor was in the Sandusky Bay Conference, Genoa, despite being in another league, was one of its rivals.
 
        After all, the two villages are separated by less than 12 miles and had played against one another in the old Suburban Lakes League for years before the Rockets left in 1986.
 
        And the two teams had their share of big games over the years.
 
        But now, with both teams being in the Northern Buckeye Conference, the rivalry has only intensified with a league title at stake.
 
        Last season, the Rockets won the battle, claiming the NBC title, but the Comets won the war, defeating Oak Harbor, 38-36, on the road for a Division III sectional championship.
 
        As it currently stands, the two teams are tied for first in the conference at 11-1, and if both win out, they’ll share the league title.
 
        The Rockets are 14-4 and have won five out of six games, highlighted by two overtime wins — Maumee (60-55) and Lake (37-33) — and an all-important victory over Genoa, 49-36.
 
        In the win over the Panthers, Oak Harbor rallied from a 14-point deficit in the second half to win.
 
        Junior guard Karder Haas talked about getting the victory.
 
        “We found ourselves down 14 to start the fourth quarter (because) we just weren't playing like ourselves for most of that game,” she said. “Then shots finally started to fall, and Brookelynn (Tabbert) hit the three to take us to overtime. Even though we struggled at the free throw line in overtime, Camdyn (Fauver) was able to make a couple at the end to seal it for us. It was a good league win and we were happy our shots fell when it mattered.
 
        “We have had a great season so far. Everyone has really come together as a team. We are winning big games and we are looking forward to tournament play,” she said.
 
        In the victory over the Flyers, Tabbert had a game-high 12 points as eight Rockets scored. Tabbert hit a jumper with 25 seconds to play in regulation to tie the score, 31-31. The Rockets outscored Lake, 6-2, in overtime.
 
        “Lake was a very uncharacteristic game for us. We still came out stale in the second half, but a win is a win, especially when it's a league win,” said Haas. “Our bench had some key points for us that game.”
 
        Haas had 16 points in the win over the Comets, and Tabbert scored 14, putting the two teams tied atop the conference.
 
        “We’re in a good place. Coming off the Genoa win was big, the kids were really pumped and excited, and the Maumee game went into overtime, which was huge for us in the sense that we were down 14 heading into the fourth quarter, and got it tied at the end of regulation. That showed a lot of character and how determined the girls are,” said Oak Harbor coach Dick Heller. “Then we had to go up against Margaretta, and had a heck of a game against them. We’re knocking on the door with them. I think we’re going into the right direction.
 
        “It speaks for itself, the kind of young ladies they are. They’re committed to do their best on the floor, no matter the situation. They were able to win that game against Maumee. That’s the character they have, he said.”
 
        Tabbert is the point guard, and she is part of a four-guard lineup that includes Haas, Fauver and Effie Schulte. A variety of post players like Sami Tack, Elise Mollison and Haylee Robinson see time in the starting lineup, and the rest of the rotation includes wings and guards like Morgan Lalonde, Laney Schmidt, Kaitlyn Meloche and Kendall Gaines.
 
        Tabbert averages 14.2 points and 6.1 rebounds with Haas putting up 13.5 points per game and Tack averages 5.9 rebounds.
 
        “We want to fight, battle and compete every game – that is our main goal,” said Heller. “We want to out-rebound the other team. Those are our basic goals. We’ve got a chance (to win) the conference, and hopefully do something in the tournament.”
 
Comets on fire, having won eight of past nine
 
        Genoa has won eight out of nine, the lone loss in that stretch coming to Oak Harbor.
 
        The Comets have only lost to Woodmore, Start and the Rockets. One of the key victories for Genoa was the 66-60 triumph over Maumee.
 
        Genoa lost, 64-59, to the Wildcats in the opener, then won six consecutive games, which included the victory over the Rockets. Then there was the loss to the Spartans, which was followed up with another six-game winning streak.
 
        Since then, the Comets are 8-1.
 
        In Genoa’s 56-51 overtime win over Oak Harbor on December 7, the Comets went on a 6-0 run in the first 51 seconds to take control in the extra session. Lucy Schlageter scored four points to start the spurt, and Makenna Moritz made a layup with 3:09 to play.
 
        The game was sent to overtime when Haas made a contested 3-pointer with 13 seconds left in the fourth quarter.
 
        The starting lineup for Genoa consists of guards in Schlageter, Adrianna Williams, guard/forward Addi Moritz and forward Makenna Moritz with West, Emersen Bickel and Kayla Boyd rotating in at the final spot.
 
        Stella Rethman, Keira Combs and Kylie Pennington round out the rotation.
 
        “We just got Kiera Combs back, and she’s been helping us out,” said Genoa coach Glenn Black. “Having her and Kyle Pennington back is nice.”
 
        Black credited his two seniors, Boyd and Bickel, for their leadership.
       
      “It’s been a lot of fun, our kids have taken pride in getting better every day. We’ve enjoyed this, and we hope we can continue this for a while,” Black said. “I’m so happy with Kayla Boyd and Emersen Bickel, our seniors. I’m so proud of those two for how they’ve led this group, their senior leadership has been instrumental for us.”
 
        Black likes to keep the philosophy simple.
 
        “Our focus has been on just getting better every day and preparing,” he said. “If we prepare as best we can and get better, everything else will take care of itself.”
 
        Makenna Moritz, who is 5-9, leads the team with an average of 16.1 points and 9.9 rebounds while her sister, Addi, averages 13.2 points and Schlageter is putting up nine points per game.
 
        Makenna Moritz talked about why the team is playing so well.
 
        “I think we’ve been working a lot harder in practice, and we didn’t end the season the way we wanted to last year,” she said. “Our team looks pretty similar to the way it did last year. Last season’s ending has motivated us.”
 
        There was a tough stretch where the Comets had to play Maumee twice in the same week, defeating the Panthers, 64-22, in the first game before narrowly winning the second contest, 66-60.
 
        Genoa then had to beat Eastwood before facing Oak Harbor for the second time.
 
        “We’ve picked up a couple more wins that we didn’t get last year,” said Moritz. “The first Maumee game went a lot more our way, then there was the closer game against Maumee, which were all in the same week. Although we did have a close game, we were able to come out and finish it.”