Category: SOC2

Eastern Brown 62 , Minford 40

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Results

TeamTOutcome
Eastern Brown60Win
Minford42Loss

Eastern Brown 62 , Minford 40

By Paul Boggs

In one word, it all quickly — unfortunately — for the Lady Falcons “unraveled”.

That’s because Minford, facing undefeated Eastern Brown, managed to play right with the Lady Warriors for the opening 20 minutes and 40 seconds — and even led 10-7 following the opening quarter before the Warriors won the second stanza 17-11 to lead 24-21 at halftime.

Still, the Lady Falcons — spearheaded by Maddie Slusher’s pair of three-pointers and driving deuce in the opening two minutes and five seconds of the third quarter — forged three ties, before five consecutive points put Minford ahead at 34-32 at the 3:20 mark.

After that, though, as Minford coach Shane Davis stated, “the wheels fell off.”

Did they ever — as Eastern ended the final 11:20 with a massive 30-6 run to win going away.

Within that 24-point difference, the Lady Warriors went off for 21 unanswered points — only halted briefly when Minford’s Livi Shonkwiler scored with 5:23 remaining, but she injured her ankle and left the game.

It was Shonkwiler’s only points, and Davis didn’t know the severity of her injury immediately afterwards.

The Warrior onslaught spree stretched to 28-2 before Minford’s Makenzie Watters split a pair of free throws with 3:07 left, as Eastern’s largest lead grew to 62-37 — before Falcon freshman Sydney Mougey made a game-ending three-pointer in the final few seconds.

“They went on that big run and our wheels just fell off,” said Davis.

The Lady Falcons’ largest problem, by far, was turnovers against Eastern’s full-court pressure over the final three quarters.

“We played them tough, but they stayed in the press the whole time and we just turned the ball over trying to throw the ball over top of it,” said Davis. “I don’t think they did anything different other than just more bodies to rotate in. We have to get some of these younger girls comfortable handling the ball against pressure, so we can rotate more in and not have the same girls out there as much constantly facing full-court presses.”

Slusher scored 16 points through three quarters to pace the Lady Falcons, as she made three threes — including one from the corner just 17 seconds into the second quarter for Minford’s largest lead at 13-7 — and 3-of-5 free throws.

Ally Coriell scored seven points on three baskets and a foul shot, while the Watters sisters — Makayla (two field goals and 1-of-2 free throws) and Makenzie (one field goal and 3-of-6 free throws) — finished with five apiece.

In addition to Shonkwiler and Moguey’s fourth-quarter field goals, Hannah Tolle tallied a basket in the first.

Camryn Pickerill, whom Minford shut out in the opening half, poured in 15 second-half points with three trifectas and 6-of-13 free throws.

Her back-to-back treys gave Eastern a 40-34 lead and the rout was on.

Rylee Leonard landed 11-of-12 foul shots and four field goals for 19 points, as Eastern attempted 30 free throws while Minford shot too fewer (17) than the Lady Warriors made (19).

The Lady Falcons fell to 3-5 with the loss, as Eastern remains undefeated at 10-0.

Eastern Brown

Class PTS REB AST STL BLK
 00000

Minford

Class PTS REB AST STL BLK
 00000

Details

Date League Season
December 21, 2019 SEO 2019-20

Court

Rio Grande

Lady Pirates cage Tigers to stay perfect

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Results

TeamTOutcome
Wheelersburg56Win
Waverly25Loss

Lady Pirates cage Tigers to stay perfect

‘Burg moves to 8-0 with win over Waverly

By Paul Boggs

 

WHEELERSBURG — Simply put, there was little visiting Waverly could do — and did.

But don’t blame the Lady Tigers here — not when Wheelersburg’s defense was in definite lockdown mode, or as Kaylee Darnell was torching the Lady Tigers’ 2-3 zone.

The host Lady Pirates put the clamps on Waverly, Darnell almost outscored the Lady Tigers by herself, and undefeated Wheelersburg rolled to another Southern Ohio Conference Division II victory on Thursday night by a final count of 56-25.

With the win, the Lady Pirates pushed their perfect record to 8-0 — and to 6-0 and still atop the SOC II.

Wheelersburg, the defending division champion which defeated Minford 44-37 on Monday night for its closest encounter of the season so far, remains one game ahead of the Northwest Lady Mohawks (7-1, 5-1 SOC II) in the conference standings.

Northwest was idle on Thursday with the SOC II’s rotating weekly bye, while Waverly fell to 3-2 — part of 5-2 overall.

For the talented and highly-touted Lady Pirates, most observers thought the senior-less Lady Tigers could possibly pose a challenge — but by halftime in which Waverly scored just two second-period points, those thoughts were long gone.

That’s because the Tigers, after being tied 5-5 with two-and-a-half minutes remaining in the opening quarter, tallied just four points over the first half’s final 10-and-a-half minutes — and the only two of the second quarter with six minutes remaining.

Thus, the Lady Pirates extended a 13-7 advantage after the opening quarter to 28-9 at halftime — which only increased to 45-16 with 28 seconds showing in the third frame.

While Waverly scored 10 points in the third, it only scored six more in the fourth — as the Lady Pirates played strictly reserve-role players over the final eight minutes.

Wheelersburg’s largest lead stood at 56-23 with only a minute and 40 seconds remaining.

The Lady Pirate defense, once again, didn’t allow an opponent to reach 40 points for the sixth straight affair.

It was also Wheelersburg’s third bout of not allowing an opponent to score at least 28.

“Defensively, honestly, we were very good,” said Wheelersburg coach Dusty Spradlin. “They run a lot of different sets, but I thought our kids did a good job of contesting and getting rebounds.”

While Wheelersburg was after Waverly with a traditional man-to-man defense, the Lady Tigers came out in the 2-3 zone.

After a minute and 45 seconds of passing the basketball around it, Ellie Kallner connected on a baseline jumper — before popping one of her two three-pointers.

#
Name
Zoiee Smith
Current Team
Waverly
Leagues
SEO, All Time Leaders, SOC2
Seasons
2018-19, 2019-20
Waverly standout Zoiee Smith, who paced the Lady Tigers with a dozen points including the club’s only three-pointer, scored the next five for the 5-5 tie — but that’s when Darnell started busting the zone, and the Lady Pirates’ pullaway began.

Darnell went off for 23 points for the second time this season — as her first was against Northwest when Wheelersburg scored 44.

On Thursday, she netted nine field goals including five threes, as her back-to-back pair late in the first made it 11-5 with a minute and five seconds to go.

She scored her first deuce with time winding down at the end of the opener, and made it 16-7 with her third three-pointer only 45 seconds into the second stanza.

After Carli Knight notched a field goal for Waverly’s only period points at the 5:58 mark, Wheelersburg reeled off the final dozen points over the final five minutes — with Darnell drilling two more treys to make it 21-9 and 28-9.

For the junior Darnell — who is closing in on the 1,000-point total for her career — she scored at least 15 points for already the fifth time this year, at least 19 markers for the fourth time, and at least 21 for the third game.

She scored three more buckets in the third quarter, and sat out the entire fourth.

Darnell does run the Lady Pirates’ point position, but did attack the zone and found holes in it — and also found spots for set shots.

“There’s an inside to the zone (defense) too, and you have to make sure the ball gets in there some, whether it is off a pass or dribble. And obviously, we shot the ball really well, with Kaylee (Darnell) doing most of it. I think the first possession lasted a long time, but once we settled in, we moved the ball well and got it to an open person,” said Spradlin. “It’s a balance, and we share the ball well with good ball movement.”

But other Lady Pirates got in on the act, as they combined for 11 three-pointers, including one by Alaina Keeney that made it 24-9 — as her third-period three-ball upped it to 33-13.

Keeney and Kallner added eight points apiece, as Kallner — coming back from two first-quarter fouls and not playing in the entire second period — splashed her second trifecta halfway thru the third.

In fact, she was fouled on the shot, but missed the free throw for the extremely rare four-point play.

Makenna Walker with a three for Wheelersburg made it 45-16, as Smith promptly answered for the Lady Tigers.

Annie Coriell, a fellow freshman for the Lady Pirates along with Walker, connected on the final three with 1:40 remaining.

Coriell was one of 10 Lady Pirates, and four freshmen, to dent the scoring column — as Madison Whittaker made her varsity debut and scored three points as well, including the team’s only made free throw on five attempts.

Another freshman, Macee Eaton, added a second-quarter field goal — as did sophomores Lindsey Heimbach and Isabella Hamilton in the fourth and senior Brittani Wolfenbarker for the final points of the third.

Spradlin said the lopsided score allowed his younger Pirates more playing time, and ability to stretch their bench before some more big games coming up.

“When you have not just young kids, but new kids, in key positions, it just takes time. We are just now starting to scratch the surface of what we can be, both offensively and defensively. We have a lot of kids that have talent, it’s just making sure that everybody fits together,” he said. “I think we have come a long way in eight games, and our bench has developed. And our older kids — Kaylee and Ellie (Kallner) — have settled into that leadership role. It’s not about where we are, it’s where we want to be. We still have a lot of things that we can do better.”

Although, on Thursday night, there was little Waverly could do — and did — against the red-hot Lady Pirates.

Wheelersburg was actually playing its eighth game on Thursday — in a span of 18 days due to not playing its first until Dec. 2.

The Lady Pirates play at another one-loss squad for their next tilt — at Ironton on Monday, Dec. 30.

“We started a week late, so we could use a little break before Ironton in 10 days. That’s going to be a tough task,” said Spradlin. “They are big, they are physical and they guard.”

* * *

Waverly 7 2 10 6— 25

Wheelersburg 13 15 19 9— 56

WAVERLY 25 (5-2, 3-2 SOC II)

Carli Knight 2 0-0 4, Michaela Rhoads 0 0-1 0, Raelynn Dale 0 0-0 0, Zoiee Smith 5 1-4 12, Paige Carter 0 0-0 0, Lydia Brown 2 1-4 5, Delaney Tackett 0 0-0 0, Sara Thompson 1 0-0 2, Kelli Stewart 0 0-0 0, Ryane Bond 1 0-0 2; TOTALS 11 2-9 25; Three-point goals: 1 (Zoiee Smith 1)

WHEELERSBURG 56 (8-0, 6-0 SOC II)

Annie Coriell 1 0-0 3, Lauren Jolly 0 0-0 0, Madison Whittaker 1 1-2 3, Brynley Preston 0 0-0 0, Brittani Wolfenbarker 1 0-0 2, Lani Irwin 0 0-0 0, Alaina Keeney 3 0-0 8, Isabella Hamilton 1 0-0 2, Ellie Kallner 3 0-1 8, Kaylee Darnell 9 0-0 23, Lindsey Heimbach 1 0-0 2, Makenna Walker 1 0-0 3, Lexie Rucker 0 0-0 0, Macee Eaton 1 0-0 2; TOTALS 22 1-5 56; Three-point goals: 11 (Kaylee Darnell 5, Alaina Keeney and Ellie Kallner 2 apiece, Annie Coriell and Makenna Walker 1 apiece)

Wheelersburg

# Player Class PTS REB AST STL BLK
Alaina Keeney-80000
Ellie Kallner-80000
Isabella Hamilton-20000
Kaylee Darnell -230000
Lauren Jolly-00000
Lindsey Heimbach-20000
Annie Coriell-30000
Madison Whittaker-30000
Brynley Preston-00000
Brittani Wolfenbarker-20000
Lani Irwin-00000
Lexie Rucker-00000
Makenna Walker-30000
Macee Eaton-20000
 Total 560000

Waverly

# Player Class PTS REB AST STL BLK
Carli Knight-40000
Michaela Rhoads-00000
Lydia Brown-50000
Raelynn Dale-00000
Delaney Tackett-00000
Zoiee Smith-120000
Sarah Thompson-20000
Paige Carter-00000
Kelli Stewart-00000
Ryane Bond-20000
 Total 250000

Details

Date League Season
December 19, 2019 SEO 2019-20

Court

Wheelersburg

Burg wins 44-35 at Northwest in SOC II

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Results

TeamTOutcome
Northwest35Loss
Wheelersburg44Win

Lady Pirates road show success

‘Burg wins 44-35 at Northwest in SOC II

By Paul Boggs

 

 

McDERMOTT — While Lauren Jolly was the birthday girl, fellow Wheelersburg junior Kaylee Darnell was the Lady Pirates’ focal point.

That’s because Darnell, the Lady Pirates’ all-Southeast District Division III first-team selection last season, delivered big baskets — and all the small things — during the visiting Lady Pirates’ hard-fought 44-35 victory over the Northwest Lady Mohawks on Thursday night.

Both teams took the floor undefeated, both overall and in the Southern Ohio Conference Division II, but it’s the defending division champion Lady Pirates entering mid-December still unbeaten.

Wheelersburg, which had the opening-night bye in the SOC II’s double round-robin schedule, raised its record to 5-0 — and to 4-0 and atop the league.

The young Lady Mohawks (5-1) suffered their initial loss in six tries, and are now 4-1 in the SOC II.

Wheelersburg won the game, in truth, on the strength of two runs — a seven-point spurt in the final two-and-a-half minutes of the second quarter followed by back-to-back-to-back-to-back three-point goals in the third frame for what was Wheelersburg’s largest advantage.

While it definitely wasn’t always a work of art offensively, the Lady Pirates did the job defensively — forcing 11 first-half turnovers and stymieing the Lady Mohawks to just 14 points on six field goals and two made free throws.

Wheelersburg coach Dusty Spradlin said that Northwest, despite its youth, “presents so many challenges” — but that his Lady Pirates defended the Lady Mohawks well throughout.

“They have athleticism, they have size, they have length, but I thought our kids did a pretty good job against them,” he said. “We told them they can’t fall asleep. They run some of the dribble-drive that we do. We guarded better as the game went on and guarded well in the full-court. We tried to mix up a few things, whether it was man or zone, and just try to bother them and make them work harder.”

The contest went back and forth for the opening 13-and-a-half minutes, as there were seven lead changes and two ties — with the Mohawks holding leads of 2-0, 4-3, 8-6 and finally at 14-12.

After Ellie Kallner made a steal and Darnell finished with a layup and old-fashioned three-point play to make it 12-8, the Mohawks took their last lead on three consecutive baskets halfway through the second quarter — by Ava Jenkins, Reagan Lewis and finally Valerie Copas.

But the Pirates shut out the Mohawks for the final three minutes of the stanza, as Darnell — who scored five of Wheelersburg’s six first-period points including her three that made it 6-5 — put the Orange and Black back in front for the final 18-and-a-half minutes.

In the final 1:20 of the half, freshman Makenna Walker scored back-to-back buckets for the Lady Pirates off two Northwest turnovers, as her second score gave Wheelersburg a 19-14 advantage entering the break.

According to Northwest coach Dave Frantz, the game boiled down to the Lady Pirates making two runs on his Mohawks.

That was the first.

“That’s the most athletic team we’re going to play all year. All five starters and then girls off the bench, they are very quick and well-coached and one of the best teams in the area. But honestly, they had that run at the end of the first half and there in the third quarter. But I can’t say enough about my girls,” said Frantz. “We had a few missed assignments, but all in all we played well and right with them. Just a couple runs that hurt us.”

Spradlin said his Pirates left some points, and some plays, out on the court in the first half.

“At halftime, we talked about we had missed some opportunities. With this group, we have to learn to be a little bit patient. We were trying to drive the lane all the way to the lane every time. On some of those, you stop short and you kick the ball back out. We did that in the third quarter,” he said. “We needed to relax a little bit more, and coincidentally we hit some shots.”

Darnell was Wheelersburg’s spark-plug — going off for a game-high 23 points on four two-point goals, four three-point goals and perfect 3-of-3 at the foul line.

But besides scoring, she handled the basketball here or got a defensive rebound or tie-up there, making all the key plays — whether they show up on the stat sheet or not.

Spradlin spoke of his point person’s wizardry.

“Kaylee has played a ton of ball at all kinds of different levels. Her instincts are what are so good about her. I thought she made a lot of good decisions tonight. She was in the right spot helping us a lot defensively and especially offensively,” said the coach. “She had to work, but she does a lot of good things. She is a catalyst with the ball. She makes people around her a lot better and we try to play off of her.”

Kierah Potts, the lone Lady Mohawk senior, posted a three-point play just 27 seconds into the second half — but Northwest never got closer.

Instead, over the next four minutes until the 3:20 mark, the Lady Pirates popped four three-point goals to make it 31-17 — as back-to-back bombs by Darnell, one by Kallner and another by Walker made it seem like a tidal wave hit.

Kallner converted a pair of free throws for the final Pirate points of the period, as Darnell scored two fourth-frame field goals — along with a pair of foul shots.

Wheelersburg went 5-of-6 from the line in the last quarter, part of 10-of-15 for the entire game.

Alaina Keeney and Macee Eaton added two freebies apiece along with a field goal, as Lani Irwin split a pair in the opening period.

“Offensively, we’re just trying to get better. We still don’t know when to attack, we miss some opportunities, we force some opportunities at times. In the first half tonight, we dribbled so much, and it wasn’t really with a lot of purpose, it was just to dribble. We cut down on some of that,” said Spradlin. “We’re still learning, and those are things that just take time and we have to be patient with them. We get stagnant a lot, but hopefully we will start taking some of those moments out of the game.”

Copas connected on Northwest’s only three-pointer at the two-minute mark of the third to make it 31-22, as its deficit was never larger than a dozen over the final 11 minutes — but never within fewer than five (38-33) points either.

Copas, who paced the Lady Mohawks with 13 points on five field goals and two free throws, converted to make it 38-33 with 1:50 remaining.

Jenkins and Haidyn Wamsley added eight points apiece on four baskets, as Kloe Montgomery split a pair of first-quarter free throws.

While not happy about the loss, Frantz praised his team’s effort against the highly-touted Lady Pirates.

“We’re not where we need to be, but we are getting there. I’m satisfied with the effort, but we have to keep working. In this league, EVERY night is a fight,” he said. “I’m super proud of these girls and they played their hearts out, but we have to keep getting better, and I believe these girls want to do that too.”

Spradlin, conversely, knows everybody is on the hunt for his Lady Pirates, who on Thursday night and spearheaded by Darnell delivered a birthday gift to Jolly.

That being another big road win in the SOC II — just three days after Wheelersburg won a critical conference clash at Oak Hill.

“Winning on the road in this league is so important. It was important at Oak Hill on Monday night for us, and now was even more important tonight,” said Spradlin. “I think our league is really good this year. If you don’t bring your best game each night in this league, you could walk away with a loss. But I think that’s a good thing. It prepares you well.”

* * *

Wheelersburg 6 13 14 11— 44

Northwest 8 6 10 11 — 35

WHEELERSBURG 44 (5-0, 4-0 SOC II)

Lauren Jolly 0 0-0 0, Brittani Wolfenbarker 0 0-0 0, Lani Irwin 0 1-2 1, Alaina Keeney 1 2-2 4, Isabella Hamilton 0 0-0 0, Ellie Kallner 1 2-2 5, Kaylee Darnell 8 3-3 23, Makenna Walker 3 0-2 7, Lexie Rucker 0 0-0 0, Macee Eaton 1 2-4 4; TOTALS 14 10-15 44; Three-point goals: 6 (Kaylee Darnell 4, Ellie Kallner and Makenna Walker 1 apiece)

NORTHWEST 35 (5-1, 4-1 SOC II)

Terah Webb 0 0-0 0, Valerie Copas 5 2-6 13, Haidyn Wamsley 4 0-0 8, Keirah Potts 1 1-1 3, Ava Jenkins 4 0-0 8, Reagan Lewis 1 0-0 2, Audrey Knittel 0 0-0 0, Kloe Montgomery 0 1-2 1; TOTALS 15 4-9 35; Three-point goals: 1 (Valerie Copas 1)

Northwest

# Player Class PTS REB AST STL BLK
Terah Webb-00000
Valeria Copas-130000
Haidyn Wamsley-80000
Keirah Potts-30000
Ava Jenkins-80000
Reagan Lewis-20000
Audrey Knittel-00000
Kloe Montgomery-10000
 Total 350000

Wheelersburg

# Player Class PTS REB AST STL BLK
Lauren Jolly-00000
Brittani Wolfenbarker-00000
Lani Irwin-10000
Alaina Keeney-40000
Ellie Kallner-50000
Kaylee Darnell -230000
Isabella Hamilton-00000
Makenna Walker-70000
Lexie Rucker-00000
Macee Eaton-40000
 Total 440000

Details

Date League Season
December 12, 2019 SEO 2019-20

Court

Northwest

Burg burns Lady Oaks

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Results

TeamTOutcome
Oak Hill34Loss
Wheelersburg49Win

‘Burg burns Lady Oaks

Wheelersburg wins at Oak Hill 49-34

By Paul Boggs

 

OAK HILL — Had this been a game of pool, the Lady Pirates put the three-ball in from the corner pocket.

That’s because of visiting Wheelersburg’s eight three-point goals, the Lady Pirates rained in a half-dozen from the court’s corners — and also locked down defensively on the Oak Hill Lady Oaks en route to a key 49-34 Southern Ohio Conference Division II girls basketball victory on Monday night.

Indeed, while Wheelersburg made shots — especially from beyond the three-point arc — the Lady Oaks’ offense only reached double figures for the first quarter, as the Lady Pirates played supreme defense to in turn set up their offense.

But the biggest takeaway, naturally, was Wheelersburg — the defending division champion — winning at Oak Hill, the site of its only league loss last season by a 39-38 final.

Thus, the Lady Pirates exact a measure of revenge — but more importantly remain undefeated on this season so far at 4-0, and 3-0 in the SOC II.

Monday’s win also sets up a colossal early-season encounter of unbeatens on Thursday night, as Wheelersburg will invade Northwest to take on the also-undefeated Lady Mohawks (4-0, 3-0 SOC II).

That was, assuming, that Northwest played — and won — at West on Tuesday, as that Monday matchup was actually postponed a day.

Northwest won at Oak Hill 46-45 in the SOC II opener on Nov. 29 — that being a makeup contest itself in which the Lady Mohawks’ Reagan Lewis landed the game-winning basket with four seconds remaining.

The Lady Oaks, already, are now 2-3 — but perhaps more surprisingly are 2-2 in the league with both defeats coming at home.

Not surprisingly, though, that if Oak Hill and longtime and highly-successful head coach Doug Hale were to lose to anybody on the home court — it would be to the high-quality club Lady Pirates.

“We’re playing against a man (Hale) who has over 500 all-time, almost 600, wins. So he knows what he is doing and he is going to make your team really work for a win. And I don’t know how many times we’ve won here at Oak Hill,” said Wheelersburg coach Dusty Spradlin, in his 18th season leading the Lady Pirates. “Any time you get a road victory in this league, I feel like you’re accomplishing a lot. I’m really proud of everybody’s effort and we were good enough to get a win here tonight.”

In last season’s December meeting at Oak Hill, the score stood tied at 32-32 — before the Lady Oaks went off for seven straight with over four minutes remaining.

Former Wheelersburg standout Abbie Kallner canned back-to-back threes to make it 39-38 with 2:37 remaining, but the Lady Pirates — despite having the ball for the remaining two-and-a-half minutes — couldn’t score.

What a difference a year makes on the exact same floor.

On Monday, after three fourth-quarter threes by the Lady Pirates put them ahead 49-28 with 4:44 to play, the Lady Oaks amounted a pair of baskets by Olivia Clarkson — sandwiched around one by Caitlyn Brisker over the next two-and-a-half minutes.

But over the final 2:15, all Wheelersburg did was dribble, pass, cut and run the three-man weave — and run out the clock as Oak Hill did not foul behind by 15 (49-34).

The Lady Pirates built their lead behind their defense, but also the three-point shot — as Ellie Kallner’s corner triple made it 42-28, before back-to-back corner trifectas by Alaina Keeney and Kallner again gave them their largest advanatage.

Through the first three quarters was more of the same, as Keeney connected on her first to make it 10-6 — before second-stanza threes by Lani Irwin (19-13) and Makenna Walker (27-15) and third-frame treys by Keeney (30-22) and Kallner (33-26) kept the Lady Pirates ahead at a workable distance.

Only Irwin’s off the wing with four-and-a-half minutes remaining in the second period and Keeney’s from the top of the key with 6:22 to play in the third were not from the corner.

Spradlin said his Lady Pirates passed the ball well, executed the offensive sets, and found the open shooters who hit from the side pockets.

“We’ve been preaching sharing the ball and we have kids who can play off the dribble. When you make shots, things look a whole lot better obviously,” he said. “I thought our kids did a good job of finding the open man, and it’s that fine line of balance when you pull on that three and when you don’t.”

Kallner and Keeney made three threes apiece, as Kallner added a first-half field goal and 3-of-3 free throws for 14 points.

Keeney also split a pair of first-quarter free throws to give the Lady Pirates the 7-6 lead — breaking the ties of 2-2, 4-4 and 6-6 and putting the Orange and Black in front for good.

Kaylee Darnell, the defensive stalwart who scored the Lady Pirates’ first six points and gave Wheelersburg the lead at 6-4, paced the guests with 15 points on three first-half field goals and 7-of-10 free throws.

“Our older kids, Ellie (Kallner), Kaylee (Darnell) and Alaina (Keeney) and even Lauren (Jolly) and Lani (Irwin), because they’ve been in our system, I can throw something at them and they do a good job of adjusting,” said Spradlin. “Those are kids that we trust.”

In the Lady Pirates you can trust their team defense, which made seven steals and forced a dozen first-half turnovers by the Lady Oaks.

“Turnovers have been our nemisis all year,” said Hale. “We made too many mistakes to beat a team the caliber of Wheelersburg.”

But even more glaring was the job Wheelersburg did on Oak Hill standout senior scorer Caitlyn Brisker, who only had a field goal in each quarter for eight points — one of which was a rebound putback in the second.

“When you can go out and throw three or four or even five different girls and stay in front of Cait Brisker, you’ve done a heck of a job defensively,” said Hale. “At times, I thought we adjusted to that with other ball-handlers and other strategies on offense, but we couldn’t stay consistent.”

Brisker, already a 1,000-point scorer for her decorated Lady Oak career and who went off for 30 against Northwest, was of course the Lady Pirates’ primary defensive focus.

However, aside from Clarkson’s game-high 16 points on six field goals and 4-of-7 free throws, no other Lady Oak — Chloe Chambers, Baylee Howard, Brooke Howard and Peyton Miller — amounted more than a field goal aside from a split of foul shots by Baylee Howard and Chambers.

In addition, Oak Hill did not hit a single three-pointer.

“Holding her (Brisker) to eight was absolutely huge. I don’t know how many nights you’re going to be able to do that. We forced some turnovers, but we have to know where Brisker is at all the time. She is such a phenomenal athlete and it’s just hard for people to match her athleticism,” said Spradlin.

Oak Hill trailed 12-11 following the opening quarter, but its point total kept dwindling with each passing canto — until it endured an epic scoring drought from the 2:07 mark of the third until the 3:45 juncture of the fourth.

Wheelersburg reeled off 14 unanswered over that same stretch to make it 37-28 after three quarters — and finally 49-28 before the Lady Oaks scored the final six points.

“We had cut the lead to four (30-26) in the third quarter, then they hit a two and get a turnover and a three, and within two possessions they are up nine,” said Hale. “We’re not as deep as they are, they got our legs tired and made threes in the fourth quarter. We were helping on the drives, stopping their penetration, and just didn’t recover in time (to defend three-point shooters).”

The Lady Pirates’ primary first-half run was a 15-4 spurt over the final 45 seconds of the first period and the opening 5:50 of the second.

After Darnell intercepted a pass and scored on a layup just 18 seconds into the second quarter, Oak Hill was never within a field goal again.

The Lady Oaks will face another undefeated on Thursday at Waverly, while Wheelersburg will return to the road for the major division affair at Northwest.

“We’re still learning each other and playing together, but we have kids that want to make plays for us,” said Spradlin. “We just have to take better care of the ball and rebound better, and those are two things we have to do well with Northwest’s length and height which we will face on Thursday.”

* * *

Wheelersburg 12 15 10 12 — 49

Oak Hill 11 9 8 6— 34

WHEELERSBURG 49 (4-0, 3-0 SOC II)

Lauren Jolly 0 0-0 0, Brittani Wolfenbarker 0 0-0 0, Lani Irwin 1 0-1 3, Alaina Keeney 3 1-2 10, Ellie Kallner 4 3-3 14, Kaylee Darnell 4 7-10 15, Makenna Walker 2 0-0 5, Macee Eaton 1 0-0 2; TOTALS 15 11-16 49; Three-point goals: 8 (Alaina Keeney and Ellie Kallner 3 apiece, Lani Irwin and Makenna Walker 1 apiece)

OAK HILL 34 (2-3, 2-2 SOC II)

Baylee Howell 0 0-0 0, Tamron McCain 0 0-0 0, Chloe Chambers 1 1-2 3, Caitlyn Brisker 4 0-0 8, Baylee Howard 1 1-2 3, Brooke Howard 1 0-0 2, Peyton Miller 1 0-0 2, Olivia Clarkson 6 4-7 16; TOTALS 14 6-11 34; Three-point goals: none

Oak Hill

# Player Class PTS REB AST STL BLK
Tamron McCain-00000
Chloe Chambers-30000
Brooke Howard-20000
Caitlyn Brisker202080000
Baylee Howell-30000
Peyton Miller-30000
Olivia Clarkson-160000
 Total 350000

Wheelersburg

# Player Class PTS REB AST STL BLK
Lauren Jolly-00000
Brittani Wolfenbarker-00000
Lani Irwin-30000
Alaina Keeney-100000
Ellie Kallner-140000
Kaylee Darnell-150000
Makenna Walker-50000
Macee Eaton-20000
Annie Coriell-00000
 Total 490000

Details

Date League Season
December 9, 2019 SEO 2019-20

Court

Oak Hill

Lewis lands Lady Mohawks’ winner

vs

Results

TeamTOutcome
Oak Hill45Loss
Northwest46Win

Lewis lands Lady Mohawks’ winner

Northwest knocks off Lady Oaks in SOC II opener

By Paul Boggs

 

OAK HILL — Perhaps Reagan Lewis wanted to make sure that the Oak Hill High School gymnasium scoreboard was working properly on Friday.

Well, it does again — and Lewis was responsible for the final number on the Northwest, or guest, side.

That’s because Lewis — the five-foot nine-inch Lady Mohawk sophomore — sank the go-ahead, and ultimately game-winning, shot with four seconds remaining, lifting the visiting Lady Mohawks to a thrilling — and even stunning — 46-45 Southern Ohio Conference Division II girls basketball victory against the Oak Hill Lady Oaks.

That’s correct — maybe an early-season surprise in what will likely be a hotly-contested SOC II.

While it was the league opener for both clubs, it was the Lady Oaks’ opener altogether — and only Northwest’s second bout.

It was also the Lady Mohawks’ second win at Oak Hill in three years, but that one two years ago was a much greater upset than it was on Friday.

As for that scoreboard situation you ask?

Northwest, which won its opener a week ago against Clay, needed two trips to Oak Hill in a matter of five days — because Monday’s matchup between the two squads was postponed when the scoreboard failed to work.

In rescheduling the contest for Friday, Black Friday for a 1 p.m. tip to be exact, it appeared maybe it was too much for the youthful Lady Mohawks — which although experienced were going up against the Lady Oaks, which are considered a consensus favorite to capture the SOC II championship along with Wheelersburg.

However, in a basketball game resembling more of a rock fight, Northwest never batted an eye — and held the lead for the majority of the day, including as much as a 10-point (25-15) advantage with a minute remaining in the opening half.

After the Lady Oaks erased their second deficit of at least six points, the Lady Mohawks went ahead again at 39-34 with four-and-a-half minutes remaining — only to see Oak Hill senior standout Caitlyn Brisker personally clear the Lady Oaks’ third deficit of at least five points, scoring 10 consecutive to give Oak Hill a 44-42 edge with only a minute and 38 seconds remaining.

The Mohawks then made a bad pass on their next possession, which was intercepted by the Lady Oaks’ Olivia Clarkson, who with 49 seconds remaining made the second of two double-bonus free throws — giving the Lady Oaks a 45-42 advantage and after Oak Hill had run almost 45 seconds off the clock in forcing the Lady Mohawks to foul.

But Northwest, after Haidyn Wamsley hit another jumper with 33 seconds left, then got Clarkson to commit to a key turnover — a travel call with 21 seconds showing.

The Lady Mohawks moved the ball into the half-court with 14 seconds remaining, as head coach Dave Frantz then called a timeout to set up a final play.

Lewis got the ball on the left wing, dribbled off a ball screen set by Wamsley as Brisker was defending, and launched a shot from just near the free-throw elbow with four seconds left.

She shot it with confidence and swished it straight through, marking the eighth lead change — but more importantly putting that final number up on the Northwest side of the scoreboard.

Lewis enjoyed a stellar sophomore setter season in volleyball, and Frantz felt she was more than capable of handling a pressure-packed situation at the end of the game.

“I want to be able to have a team, and I thought we did today, where you can’t just deny one person. You can’t just focus on one person. Haidyn (Wamsley) had the hot hand, and of course, they (Lady Oaks) weren’t going to let her take that last shot. But Reagan Lewis is our second person off the bench, and for her to come in with a pressure situation and knock that shot down, I attribute a lot of that to handling pressure situations in volleyball. It just carries over into basketball when you can handle pressure like that,” said the coach. “I’m very proud of her.”

The Lady Oaks, after calling a timeout with one-and-a-half seconds left, actually attempted a very good shot — when Brooke Howard made a great catch of a three-quarters court pass just outside the three-point line.

But Howard hit the rim with the good look, and the Mohawks hung on for a massive early-season SOC II triumph.

“It’s a good team win today against one of the elite teams in the league and the area. These girls are very good kids, but very gutsy kids,” said Frantz. “They play hard, they play their rear ends off, and I just can’t say enough about them. They feed off of each other.”

Speaking of feeding, Frantz joked that he told his Lady Mohawks “not to eat too much turkey” on Thanksgiving Day.

Indeed, Northwest faced on Friday some odd circumstances — with the Lady Mohawks playing an afternoon tilt on a busy Black Friday and making the long morning bus ride to Oak Hill.

“These kids stepped up to all of that,” said Frantz. “The other night when we came up here, I learned something about these girls. There is such a thing as a game face and then there is playing loose. They had good composure before the game, very loose. They knew what they had in front of them, but we also knew that it’s just basketball, so let’s have fun and not make it bigger than it is.”

Although, you can’t ignore the fact that it was a major Mohawk victory — especially when Brisker, the two-time Division III second-team all-Ohioan, blew up for a game-high 30 points.

“Today’s game is what the SOC II is all about. Every game is a challenge,” said Oak Hill head coach Doug Hale. “Caitlyn Brisker was outstanding for us, but we were sluggish in a lot of areas and Northwest never gave up when we rallied to take the lead in the third quarter. They made a lot of shots, forced some mistakes by us, and when you don’t play your best game, you find yourself on the short end.”

While Lewis’ shot will be remembered most, Wamsley was the go-to scorer.

She led the Lady Mohawks with 16 points, which included nine points in the opening half — and seven in the fourth quarter.

Before her clutch shot which trimmed the deficit to 45-44, she put the Lady Mohawks back in front just 18 seconds into the final canto — after Oak Hill had outscored Northwest 13-5 in the third, completely erasing its 25-15 advantage which it held only nine minutes earlier.

Wamsley, who drilled both of Northwest’s two threes, opened the fourth with her second trifecta for a 33-31 edge — the sixth lead change of the game.

She then made two free throws for a 37-34 Mohawk lead, as Ava Jenkins’ jumper from the top of the key gave the Lady Mohawks their final advantage of at least five points (39-34).

Lewis and Jenkins both had two field goals for four points, as Kloe Montgomery (five points) and Keirah Potts (six points) posted a pair of field goals as well.

Audrey Knittel split a pair of third-quarter free throws with 24 seconds remaining, as Northwest needed every single solitary point — thanks to Brisker blowing up for her 30, including three fourth-quarter field goals and her 6-of-7 foul shots.

“A lot of Brisker’s points were over on good defense. She is just a phenomenal player,” said Frantz. “She showed that today. We would have her D’d up, but she moves so well with or without the ball.”

Brisker’s 10-point personal barrage in the fourth included nine in a matter of five minutes, as the Lady Oaks’ 11-3 run from down 39-34 to up 45-42 spanned exactly three minutes and 41 seconds.

Brisker also scored 10 in the second quarter, which included both of the team’s two threes, but it wasn’t until the third frame when Oak Hill finally revved up — going on a 10-1 run to take a 28-26 lead with 4:10 to play.

“We got into a little bit of a panic mode, and even though we have some experience, we have still youth out there,” said Frantz.

Chloe Chambers, the Lady Oaks’ six-foot sophomore inside presence, had just two first-half free throws and two fouls — but scored seven third-period points, including three field goals.

However, her final point was a foul shot with only 5:03 remaining.

Peyton Miller made 3-of-4 second-half free throws for the Lady Oaks, as both teams missed six foul shots apiece (Northwest was 12-of-18 and Oak Hill was 13-of-19).

Clarkson rounded out Oak Hill’s scoring with a first-quarter field goal.

Besides Wamsley, Valerie Copas reached double figures for the Lady Mohawks with 10 first-half points, including four field goals with three baseline jumpers.

“That’s something we’ve lacked the last couple of years,” said Frantz. “Wamsley had a couple of threes and Valerie (Copas) and some other girls all hit mid-range shots today.”

Of course, no shot was bigger than that by Lewis — as Northwest walked out of Oak Hill’s gymnasium with not only a win, but respect.

“Respect is something we have to earn, because no one gives it to you. That’s what we’re playing for. We’re not there yet, but I think we earned some today by defeating a very good well-coached team on the road,” said Frantz.

Northwest will return to the road, and return to SOC II action, on Monday at Eastern.

* * *

Northwest 10 15 5 16 — 46

Oak Hill 6 12 13 14 — 45

NORTHWEST 46 (2-0, 1-0 SOC II)

Terah Webb 0 0-0 0, Valeria Copas 4 2-2 10, Haidyn Wamsley 5 4-4 16, Keirah Potts 2 2-4 6, Ava Jenkins 1 2-4 4, Reagan Lewis 2 0-0 4, Audrey Knittel 0 1-2 1, Kloe Montgomery 2 1-2 5; TOTALS 16 12-18 46; Three-point goals: 2 (Haidyn Wamsley 2)

OAK HILL 45 (0-1, 0-1 SOC II)

Baylee Howell 0 0-0 0, Tamron McCain 0 0-0 0, Chloe Chambers 3 4-8 10, Caitlyn Brisker 11 6-7 30, Baylee Howard 0 0-0 0, Brooke Howard 0 0-0 0, Peyton Miller 0 3-4 3, Olivia Clarkson 1 0-0 2; TOTALS 15 13-19 45 ; Three-point goals: 2 (Caitlyn Brisker 2)

 

Oak Hill

# Player Class PTS REB AST STL BLK
Baylee Howell-00000
Tamron McCain-00000
Chloe Chambers-100000
Caitlyn Brisker 2020300000
Brooke Howard-00000
Peyton Miller-30000
Olivia Clarkson-20000
 Total 450000

Northwest

# Player Class PTS REB AST STL BLK
Terah Webb-00000
Valeria Copas-100000
Haidyn Wamsley -160000
Keirah Potts-60000
Ava Jenkins-40000
Reagan Lewis-40000
Audrey Knittel-10000
Kloe Montgomery-50000
 Total 460000

Details

Date League Season
November 25, 2019 SEO 2019-20

Court

Oak Hill