Maumee girls earn third seed in tournament, home game vs. Rogers
- Jeremy Schneider
- Feb 7
- 2 min read
By JEREMY SCHNEIDER
IMA SPORTS
Two years ago, the Maumee girls basketball team had a second straight three-win season, and coach Rafael Soler had won a total of six games in his first three seasons.
Jump ahead to today, and Maumee has registered double-digit wins for the second year in the row, sitting at 13-6 with three games left to play this week. The Panthers earned the third seed and a home game against Rogers in the upcoming Division III district tournament as well.
Even though that success may appear to have happened overnight, it was a long, grueling process to get the program to where it is now.
“When you’re in the moment of the season you forget about how well these girls are doing, how hard they worked to get here,” Soler said. “It didn’t happen overnight. I feel like I’m such a better coach than I was even two months ago. I try to keep learning and growing.
“This is a special year, and we want to keep it going as long as we possibly can.”
Maumee will open the tournament with a home game against Rogers (10-9) on Thursday, February 13. The winner of that game moves on to face either Bowsher or Central Catholic in the district semifinal on Feb 19.
With the Ohio High School Athletic Association making sweeping changes to the number of divisions in girls basketball before this season, the Panthers find themselves in an odd district. They’re one of the smallest schools in a district that also features former Division I schools Notre Dame Academy, Bowsher, St. Ursula Academy and Springfield.
Maumee hasn’t won a playoff game in seven years, since beating Clyde, 49-39 in overtime, in 2018.
This year’s team looks to be the team to break that streak. The Panthers are out-scoring opponents 53-42 on average. They’ve won four straight games and five of their last six, with the only loss coming in overtime at Northern Buckeye Conference-leading Oak Harbor.
They have five players averaging at least six points per game, led by Lucy Porter’s 18.2 per game. Porter also averages 9.2 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 4.9 steals.
“These girls are figuring it out,” Soler said. “They are doing it not just for the current moment, but they can see how far we’ve come and it has to start with that next generation, too. They’re being mentors, doing what they need to do to keep this program going.”
Photo courtesy of Pride of the Panthers
Reach IMA at insidemaumeeathletics@gmail.com
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