Behind a stifling defense, Wyoming took control early and never let up on the way to a 54-28 victory over Versailles, the No.1 team in the state Division III poll, in a regional final Saturday at Vandalia-Butler's Student Activity Center.

        Maria McCarthy had game highs with 19 points and 14 rebounds for the Cowboys, who led 26-10 at halftime after holding the Tigers to five field goals.

        “This was the first time one of my teams ever beat Versailles,” Wyoming coach Deb Gentile said. “The prior three meetings, we've been beaten by about 30 points each time.”

        The loss was the first of the season for the Tigers (25-1).

        Senior guard Lindsay Hemmelgarn, the Southwest District's Division III player of the year, finished with 13 points to lead Versailles.

        The regional title is Wyoming's second, the other coming in 1996. The Cowboys advance to the state semifinals at 4p.m. Thursday against South Euclid Regina, which beat Youngstown Ursuline 64-34 on Saturday.

        Jenni McGee scored 12 points and Monica Hoyles added seven for Wyoming (22-3).

        Wyoming jumped out to its early lead behind a matchup zone defense that Versailles couldn't figure out.

        “We started off bad,” Versailles coach Tim Barga said. “We were altering shots and fell behind early. They did a nice job on defense; we weren't used to that much pressure.”

        McCarthy dominated in the first half, blocking five shots. She finished with seven.

        “We switched defenses throughout the game on them.” McCarthy said. “We thought the game would be close, but we knew we would win.”

        McGee scored all 12 of her points in the first half and McCarthy added six, leading the Cowboys' to a 16-point advantage at the half.

        “We ran a new offense that we just installed three days ago,” Gentile said. “We knew they collapse a lot on defense, so we worked the ball into McCarthy early to get Jen open looks outside.”

        Versailles tried to battle back in the third quarter behind a strong full-court press, but a 3-pointer at the quarter buzzer by Hoyles put Wyoming ahead 39-18 and sealed the Tigers' fate.

        WYOMING (54) — Schmitt 0 2 2, Hoyles 2 2 7, Verhaeghe 3 0 6, Harris 1 0 2, McCarthy 7 5 19, Bell 1 0 2, McGee 4 1 12, Loper 1 2 4. Totals: 19 12 54.

        VERSAILLES (28) — L. Hemmelgarn 5 2 13, Barga 4 2 10, Fullenkamp 1 1 3, K. Hemmelgarn 1 0 2. Totals: 11 5 28.

        Wyoming ....... 12  14  13  15—54

        Versailles ....... 4   6   8  10—28

        3-pointers: W—McGee 3, Hoyles. V—L. Hemmelgarn. Records: W 22-3, V 25-1.

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