Tag: Minford

Lady Oaks win over Minford in SOC II

Results

TeamTOutcome
Oak Hill49Win
Minford46Loss

Lady Oaks win over Minford in SOC II

By Paul Boggs

 

OAK HILL — Minford girls basketball coach Shane Davis had almost the exact same postgame media conversation as a week ago.

Once again, his Lady Falcons were right there on the cusp of a Southern Ohio Conference Division II victory —trailing most of the way before rallying back in the final quarter, but unfortunately not executing in the clutch and coming up just short.

On Monday night, at Oak Hill High School, the Lady Falcons rallied back from an 11-point deficit to the host Lady Oaks —only to lose to Oak Hill 49-46 thanks to turnovers, missed shots and ultimately missed free throws.

The Lady Falcons forged five-point leads of 5-0 and 7-2 in the opening three minutes and 38 seconds, but trailed — or at best tied — for the game’s final 25-and-a-half minutes.

Minford’s definite downfall was its third quarter, in which it scored just four points —and as a result fell behind by 11 points (41-30) for the final 67 seconds.

In the fourth frame, Minford made its comeback by doubling up the Lady Oaks 16-8, including a 12-2 run to open the quarter — and trail 43-42 with just 3:36 to play.

But the Lady Falcons missed five free throws in the fourth and seven for the second half, as one miss would have tied the tilt — while three others would have reduced the deficit to one.

Instead, and speaking of free throws, Oak Hill senior standout Caitlyn Brisker bagged 4-of-6 foul shots in the final minute and nine seconds — with all four coming consecutive to make it a 48-44 Lady Oaks’ lead with just 21 tics to play.

The loss dropped the Lady Falcons to 6-8 and 4-5 in the SOC II, as Davis discussed another frustrating defeat afterwards —similar to what he did after last Monday’s 45-38 home loss against Northwest.

In that affair, Minford made a comeback all the way to a one-point deficit, but — like at Oak Hill — could never gain the lead late.

The Lady Oaks — now 8-6 and 6-4 in the division —completed the season sweep of the Lady Falcons, after winning the first matchup between the two teams in Minford on Dec. 2.

“We had this conversation a week ago. We battled, we’re right there. But we didn’t execute again in the same situations like last week with Northwest,” said Davis. “We missed some shots, we had some turnovers at the wrong times, and missed foul shots that obviously made a difference. If we could have gotten the lead, I think we would have won. The girls give great effort, and I never question that. I mean we are right there. Just have to execute better.”

That included on the final possession, when Brisker made the first free throw but missed the second of a one-and-one situation — and Hannah Tolle grabbed the rebound for the Lady Falcons.

But Minford never got a shot off, as a pass from half-court into the front-court sailed out of bounds as time ran out.

The statistics were indeed close, as Minford shot 36-percent on 13-of-36 while Oak Hill hit for 40-percent on 17-of-43.

Both clubs also recorded 30 rebounds, as the Lady Falcons committed 15 turnovers compared to 14 for the Lady Oaks.

However, free throws were a major issue for Minford —despite making (18) more than the Lady Oaks even attempted (15).

The Lady Falcons tried 27, while Oak Hill made good on 11 —including 4-of-4 in the first half towards a 29-26 halftime advantage.

Brisker, with her game-high 20 points that included six field goals, bucketed 8-of-10 charity tosses —including 6-of-8 in the second half.

None, of course, were bigger than her four straight fourth-quarter makes which made it 48-44.

With Oak Hill leading 45-43, she split a pair of a two-shot situation, then made both of the one-and-one bonus with 21 seconds left —after the Lady Falcons fouled three consecutive times to put the Lady Oaks at the line.

After Minford’s Maddie Slusher sank two freebies with nine seconds left, Brisker split another pair just three seconds later for the 49-46 lead.

“We got to the foul line late in the fourth quarter and made our foul shots this time, which we didn’t at Northwest,” said Oak Hill head coach Doug Hale.

Hale, who has over 500 career coaching victories, captured his 500th all-time win almost a year to the day a year ago — by defeating the visiting Lady Falcons on Jan. 17, 2019.

But Monday night’s triumph was important for the Jackson Countians, which bounced back from a 36-30 loss at Northwest on Thursday (Jan. 9) — that basically ended their hopes of chasing down league-leader Wheelersburg in the SOC II championship race.

“A big win for the Lady Oaks tonight,” said Hale. “Against Northwest, I thought our effort and our defensive attitude was good, but we just couldn’t make shots. We battled with a really good Minford team tonight, and we knew coming in that it was going to be a battle. I was proud of them that we had the lead in the fourth quarter, Minford took a big punch at us and we held them off, then we punched back at the end.”

The Lady Falcons had to fire back in the fourth —thanks to their third quarter which produced only four points by Tolle on a basket at the 5:25 mark and two free throws just three minutes and five seconds later.

Minford endured two scoring droughts in the canto of at least two minutes and 35 seconds.

Meanwhile, Oak Hill scored the opening seven points of the period — on a Chloe Chambers rebound putback, an Olivia Clarkson corner-pocket three-pointer, and two Brisker free throws.

“The third quarter killed us again,” said Davis. “That was the difference.”

But the fourth quarter featured a Lady Falcons’ rally, as Tolle tallied three straight field goals and Livi Shonkwiler scored five points — including a steal and layup and 3-of-5 foul shots to get within 43-42.

Brisker’s basket immediately answered just 21 seconds later, as Tolle twice split a pair of free throws for 45-43 (2:13 left) and 46-44 (52 seconds left) deficits.

Tolle paced the Lady Falcons with 15 points on five field goals and 5-of-8 free throws, as she scored a dozen in the second half.

Shonkwiler followed closely with 13 points —on four baskets and 5-of-7 foul shots —while Slusher and Makayla Watters added eight points apiece.

Slusher swished two first-half three-pointers for Minford’s only triples, while Watters went 4-of-4 at the stripe along with two buckets in the first half.

Makayla Watters was 2-of-4 at the line.

Slusher’s first three gave the Lady Falcons an early 5-0 advantage just two minutes and five seconds in, as her second trifecta got the guests within three (29-26) at halftime.

In between, the Lady Oaks outscored Minford 29-18, as Brisker scored eight first-quarter points —including a long pull-up two-pointer that capped an 11-4 run to give Oak Hill the lead with a minute-and-a-half left.

The Lady Oaks’ role players backed Brisker up, and that included with Peyton Miller out injured with a broken nose.

In the first half, Brooke Howard had an old-fashioned three-point play and three-point goal, Baylee Howell hit two treys, and six-foot center Chloe Chambers combined for 10 points — in the middle two quarters —on four field goals and 2-of-3 free throws.

There were three ties at 9-9, 11-11 and 14-14, as Brisker’s only points in the second stanza — a field goal only a minute and three seconds in —gave the Lady Oaks the lead for good.

“When they guarded Caitlyn (Brisker) the way they did, we handled that and other players stepped up. Brooke Howard did, Baylee Howell hit a couple of threes, Chloe (Chambers) made some shots around the bucket, and Liv (Olivia Clarkson) battled in there and got a few shots,” said Hale.

Oak Hill held leads ranging from two-to-six points in the second quarter, before extending the advantage to 41-30 following the third.

Minford made its comeback in the fourth, but the end result only led to Davis’ discussion afterwards —which was basically a duplicate from last Monday.

“Same conversation. We’re right there. There were some girls crying in the locker-room. They really wanted to win this game and believed we would win this game,” he said. “It’s frustrating, but we’re very close to getting over the hump.”

* * *

Minford 12 14 4 16 — 46

Oak Hill 14 15 12 8— 49

MINFORD 46 (6-8, 4-5 SOC II)

Ally Coriell 0 0-0 0, Makayla Watters o 2-4 2, Makenzie Watters 2 4-4 8, Livi Shonkwiler 4 5-7 13, Maddie Slusher 2 2-4 8, Hannah Tolle 5 5-8 15, Micah Thacker 0 0-0 0; TOTALS 13 18-27 46 ; Three-point goals: 2 (Maddie Slusher 2)

OAK HILL 49 (8-6, 6-4 SOC II)

Baylee Howell 2 0-0 6,Chloe Chambers 4 2-3 10, Caitlyn Brisker 6 8-10 20, Baylee Howard 0 0-0 0, Brooke Howard 3 1-2 8, Olivia Clarkson 2 0-0 5; TOTALS 17 11-15 49; Three-point goals: 4 (Baylee Howell 2, Brooke Howard and Olivia Clarkson 1 apiece)

Oak Hill

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Minford

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Details

Date League Season
January 13, 2020 SEO 2019-20

Court

Oak Hill

Lady Mohawks hold off Falcons for SOC II win

Results

TeamTOutcome
Minford38Loss
Northwest45Win

 

Lady Mohawks hold off Falcons for SOC II win

By Paul Boggs

 

MINFORD — By now, it’s safe to say that the Lady Mohawks know the drill.

 

That’s because Northwest keeps playing, and keeps winning, close — really close in fact — road encounters in the Southern Ohio Conference Division II.

 

First it was at Oak Hill on Black Friday, then it was at Waverly to tip off the New Year, and on Monday night it was at the Falcons’ Nest at Minford High School.

 

This time, the Lady Mohawks didn’t need a last-second shot (Oak Hill) or even overtime (Waverly) periods —they simply led wire-to-wire while building an 11-point lead twice, and holding off the hard-charging and host Lady Falcons.

 

Northwest, withstanding Minford’s comeback bid which included slicing the deficit all the way down to a single point with two minutes and 17 seconds remaining, won 45-38 to remain right behind Wheelersburg for the SOC Division II lead.

 

The Lady Mohawks are now 11-1 and 7-1 in the SOC II, as Wheelersburg —which handed the Lady Mohawks their only loss on Dec. 12 at Northwest (44-35) —still sits atop the division at 8-0.

 

With Waverly and Minford making up a game on Jan. 25, the other six SOC II clubs completed the first round of league play —as those half-dozen teams have all played eight conference contests.

 

Minford, meanwhile, entering its affair with Northwest —was part of a four-team logjam with three league losses apiece, seeking to slide up to third-place in the division behind Wheelersburg and the Lady Mohawks.

 

The loss left the Lady Falcons at 5-6 —and 3-4 in the division.

 

But, just like Northwest’s wins at Oak Hill and Waverly, Monday’s matchup at Minford was typical of 2020 life in the SOC II.

 

Rare does a lead get out of single digits, and usually the game goes down to free-throw shooting and/or the final few possessions.

 

For the Lady Mohawks, they went from seizing their largest lead at 27-16 —and later at 33-22 — to their smallest margin at 39-38 over exactly 16 minutes.

 

But in following up a 9-1 run over the final minute and 27 seconds to win at Waverly on Thursday, the Lady Mohawks made it six straight points over the final 2:17 to capture Monday’s meeting in Minford.

 

“This is two games in a row where it’s come down to the wire, but we’ll take a road win in the conference anytime,” said Northwest coach Dave Frantz. “That’s five road wins in the conference for us now, and all of those are huge. This was another typical SOC II game, but our girls stepped up again when they had to step up, and I can’t say enough about them. They work hard and I am proud of them. I thought our effort was great tonight from every kid that stepped on the court.”

 

Once again, as was the case with the triumph of the Lady Tigers, Northwest left the door open for the Lady Falcons with some missed shots near the basket — combined with living dangerously with some passes that Minford either did or almost intercept.

 

However, Northwest is winning the tight ones with defense, as the Lady Mohawks shut the Lady Falcons out over the final 2:17.

 

“We’ve been winning with defense. We still need to finish inside at the basket more and that’s what’s hurting us, but our defensive effort has been good. Minford was shooting the eyes out of it tonight, but our two girls off the bench — Reagan Lewis and Terra Webb — were huge for us on defense,” said Frantz.

 

Leading 39-38 after four straight Livi Shonkwiler points for the Lady Falcons, the Lady Mohawks had an immediate answer —as Valerie Copas connected on a 15-foot corner baseline shot to make it 41-38 just 20 seconds later.

 

It was Copas’ final of eight field goals for a game-high 17 points, as two missed Minford shots sandwiched around a turnover resulted in four final free throws for the Lady Mohawks in the final 18 seconds.

 

Hannah Tolle’s three-pointer to tie it — with under 50 seconds to play — for Minford missed, setting up Northwest sole senior Keirah Potts to be fouled by Shonkwiler with 18 tics remaining.

 

Potts put in both of the one-and-one bonus situation, then Haidyn Wamsley —with 2.2 seconds left —went 2-of-2 to complete her 5-of-6 night at the foul line.

 

Only seven Lady Mohawks played, and one only played in one quarter, but Northwest never relinquished the lead —and six girls cracked the scoring column.

 

Copas, as Frantz said “had a strong shooting game”, canned a three-point goal to make it 7-0, then scored six more baskets for her 17 points.

 

In addition to her clutch corner-baseline shot in the final minute and 57 seconds, she won a loose-ball battle with a Lady Falcon for her final basket of the opening half.

 

Not giving up on the play, Copas wrested the ball away from a Minford player and powered-up at the bucket —dropping the shot in with time expiring to make it 29-21.

 

Ava Jenkins tallied a dozen points on three twos, a second-stanza three off the wing and an old-fashioned three-point play, as Potts posted three first-quarter baskets — while Wamsley made 3-of-4 first-half foul shots.

 

Northwest led by at least four points from the six-and-a-half minute mark of the opening quarter until the 4:19 mark of the fourth, as that advantage actually ranged from four to 11 points over a span of two full periods.

 

However, Minford made the Lady Mohawks work for it — and erased a 33-22 deficit with 5:15 remaining in the third by chipping away with a methodical 16-6 run over the next eight minutes and 22 seconds.

 

Minford coach Shane Davis felt confident about his Lady Falcons’ chances —had they been able to ever take the lead.

 

“That’s what I told the girls. If we could ever get that lead, I could see the look in the girls’ eyes. I felt like we would win,” said Davis. “We had a bad first quarter, but we battled back and never quit. Our effort is always there, but we had a slow first quarter again, and that has happened to us even in games that we’ve won. We hurt ourselves, absolutely.”

 

The Lady Falcons outscored Northwest 9-6 in the third frame, thanks to two field goals and split of free throws by Makayla Watters — and one basket apiece from Shonkwiler and Maddie Slusher.

 

Slusher and Shonkwiler scored again to make it 39-34, as then Shonkwiler simply took the ball from Potts at midcourt —and converted a layup for a three-point deficit (39-36) with 4:19 to play.

 

For her 10th and final points, which ultimately ended up as Minford’s final markers, Shonkwiler sank two free throws two minutes later —but Northwest never allowed the Lady Falcons to gain the lead.

 

“I think we had some good looks, but it was one of those nights we missed a lot of shots,” said Davis. “And you just can’t do that against good teams like Northwest.”

 

Shonkwiler with 10 before fouling out followed Tolle’s 12 first-half points, which included two three-pointers, two two-pointers and 2-of-2 freebies.

 

Makayla Watters with seven on two field goals and 3-of-4 free throws, Makenzie Watters with a first-half deuce and a trey, and Slusher with her four points rounded out the Lady Falcons’ scoring.

 

Although, Minford may have benefited greatly — had it made another shot here or had one less turnover there.

 

“We had a turnover at the wrong time, we missed a shot at the wrong time. They hit a shot at the right time for them. We couldn’t get back on our side tonight for whatever reason,” said Davis. “We battled again, against another good team in our league, but it’s frustrating not being able to pull one of these out. But these girls are still buying in and we always get effort out of them. We’ve been in every game, and eventually we’re going to turn these into wins.”

 

Minford returns to the road, and returns to SOC II action, on Thursday night at Eastern.

 

For Frantz and his Lady Mohawks, their experience at winning close road shows has to count for something.

 

Shouldn’t it?

 

“It (experience) helps, but the courts are the same and the baskets are the same 10-foot from the floor. No matter where, when or how, we still have to play ball and work on things like finishing at the basket and taking care of the ball,” said Frantz. “These girls do play hard and find ways to battle and win, and so it’s on to the next one.”

 

And that next one is against Oak Hill, which Northwest will host on Thursday.

 

Northwest won the first meeting against the Lady Oaks —when Reagan Lewis landed the shot of Northwest’s season with four seconds left to lift the Lady Mohawks to a 46-45 victory.

 

Oak Hill will enter at 7-5 and 5-3 in the division, as every game is a must-win if Northwest wants to win the SOC II championship.

 

* * *

 

Northwest 16 13 6 10 — 45

 

Minford 7 14 9 8 — 38

 

NORTHWEST 45 (11-1, 7-1 SOC II)

 

Terah Webb 0 0-00, Valerie Copas 8 0-0 17, Haidyn Wamsley 0 5-6 5, Keirah Potts 3 2-2 8, Ava Jenkins 5 1-1 12, Reagan Lewis 1 0-2 2, Kloe Montgomery 0 1-2 1; TOTALS 17 9-13 45; Three-point goals: 2 (Valerie Copas and Ava Jenkins 1 apiece)

 

MINFORD 38 (5-6, 3-4 SOC II)

 

Jayden Cartee 0 0-0 0, Ally Coriell 0 0-0 0, Makayla Watters 2 3-4 7, Makenzie Watters 4 2-2 10, Maddie Slusher 2 0-2 4, Hannah Tolle 4 2-2 12; TOTALS 14 7-10 38 ; Three-point goals: 3 (Hannah Tolle 2, Makenzie Watters 1)

Minford

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Northwest

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Details

Date League Season
January 6, 2020 SEO 2019-20

Court

Minford

Eastern Brown 62 , Minford 40

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

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Minford

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Details

Date League Season
December 21, 2019 SEO 2019-20

Court

Rio Grande

Hoops Roundup by Paul Boggs

Titans roll, Tigers win, Falcons fall at Rio Grande

By Paul Boggs

 

 

RIO GRANDE —They say that two out of three isn’t bad.

As part of Saturday’s first annual Woods Lumber Girls Basketball Classic at the University of Rio Grande, undefeated Notre Dame dismantled Waterford 54-29, New Boston boasted a bounce-back victory by getting by Greenup County (Ky.) 47-41, and Minford was the victim of a second-half kamikaze by the Eastern Brown Lady Warriors 62-40.

The three Scioto County clubs competed as part of seven total tilts on Saturday — inside the University of Rio Grande’s Newt Oliver Arena.

This was the first season for Woods Lumber to sponsor this two-day girls basketball showcase, as the event is actually a fundraiser and put on by the University of Rio Grande women’s basketball program.

Notre Dame 54, Waterford 29

For a defensive-oriented unit, the Notre Dame Lady Titans torched the nets in the first half en route to a 25-point rout of the Waterford Lady Wildcats.

Notre Dame didn’t allow the Wildcats to reach the 30-point plateau, including only allowing six first-quarter points and four third-period points.

Meanwhile, Notre Dame almost outscored Waterford with the three-pointer alone — netting nine in the first half for 27 points, as that 27 was half of the Lady Titans’ total.

The Lady Titans are now a perfect 9-0, as in addition to their lockdown defense — they shot 9-of-15 from three-point range.

Notre Dame defeated visiting New Boston on Thursday night 66-52, but needed a 21-8 fourth-quarter blitz in order to secure that key conference (Southern Ohio Conference Division I) win.

Against non-league Waterford, a recent Division IV powerhouse which actually earned four consecutive trips to the state tournament including the 2016 championship, the Lady Titans had 41 points at halftime — compared to only 18 for the Lady Wildcats.

It was the ideal blend of defense and offense for Notre Dame, explained head coach J.D. McKenzie.

“Everything starts with our defense, and that sparks our offense,” he said. “We like to get out and get running, get points in transition and with rhythm threes. We shot the ball a lot better tonight than we did against New Boston the other night. We were making shots, and it dictated defensively what we wanted to do and put us in a rhythm offensively. We weren’t pleased with our performance against New Boston, but I thought the girls did a good job of getting their minds right, coming up here and making a statement with a big win.”

The Lady Titans never trailed and were only tied 2-2, as Taylor Schmidt split a pair of free throws at the four-and-a-half minute mark of the first quarter —from where Notre Dame dominated and only stretched the lead the remainder of the way.

In the first quarter, and against the Wildcats’ zone defense, Cassidy Schaefer and Isabel Cassidy with one apiece and Ava Hassel with two treys helped push the Lady Titan advantage to 17-6.

In the second stanza, Schmidt, Hassel and Schaefer drilled another three-ball each, before finally a pair from Annie Detwiller in the final 2:23.

Detwiller’s second triple was with 33 seconds remaining to make it 41-18 — which was the Lady Titans’ largest first-half advantage.

Their largest leads were a pair of 27-point cushions in the fourth quarter at 52-25 and 54-27.

Hassel, who actually received a formal full-ride offer from the University of Rio Grande on Saturday, had an old-fashioned three-point play nine seconds into the second quarter as well.

She paced the Lady Titans with 14 points, as Schmidt scored 10 points on four field goals — while Detwiller notched nine.

Schaefer added a pair of fourth-quarter free throws for eight points, as Lauren Campbell with three baskets for six and Claire Detwiller with two buckets for four rounded out the Notre Dame scoring.

“The other night we were 4-of-20 from three-point in the first half and tonight we were 9-of-15 from three-point in the first half. That’s the difference in putting the game away in the first half instead of having to struggle and work your way to getting a win in the fourth quarter,” said McKenzie. “When we are shooting the ball, we are pretty good. We’re always going to show up defensively, and we’re going to play with a lot of energy and enthusiasm. We have five or six girls who can shoot the ball extremely well from outside. Very rarely do we have all six of them ‘on’, but very rarely do we have all six of them ‘off’. We had pretty much everybody on tonight, and when that happens and we’re hitting from the outside, we’re tough to guard.”

Speaking of guarding, Notre Dame defensively allowed just three Waterford baskets in the opening quarter, as the Wildcats went four-and-a-half minutes in one stretch without scoring.

The second quarter was more of the same, as Jenessa Lang landed a pair of threes for the Wildcats for a 27-16 deficit at the 4:25 mark — but Waterford wouldn’t score again until Cara Taylor made a pair of foul shots over three-and-a-half-minutes later.

In the third frame, both teams tallied just four points on two field goals apiece, including Lang for Waterford, who led the now 4-2 Lady Wildcats with eight points.

Notre Dame will return to the road, and return to SOC I action, as it plays at Green on Monday.

The Lady Titans are the defending division champions, and lead the league at 6-0 — while Green is just one game back along with New Boston at 5-1.

New Boston handed the Lady Bobcats their lone league loss, as Notre Dame defeated the Lady Tigers as aforementioned on Thursday night.

It will be the Lady Titans’ fourth game in a week.

New Boston 47, Greenup County 41

The New Boston Lady Tigers improved to 8-3 — getting a nice bounce-back from Thursday night’s loss at Notre Dame by clipping their Bluegrass State neighbor Greenup County.

The Lady Tigers, who drove their “Lexus” on Saturday as in senior standout Lexus Oiler, raced out to a 25-13 advantage with 2:45 remaining in the opening half.

The Lady Tigers held the lead for the final almost 30 minutes, maintaining a lead ranging from four to 12 points over the final 29.

New Boston led 17-11 at the first stop, 28-21 at halftime and 38-32 after three frames.

The lead ranged from four to nine points over the final 11 minutes and 12 seconds, as Oiler amounted all 20 of her points — including a third-quarter three-point goal — through three quarters.

New Boston went to the five-foot nine-inch versatile Oiler early and often on Saturday, as she finished with eight total field goals and 3-of-5 free throws, including six baskets and two freebies for 14 first-half points.

The Lady Tigers and Oiler especially attacked the basket, and her Tiger teammates moved the ball well with the aim of getting her the rock.

“I thought Greenup did a good job of recognizing where she (Oiler) was, but she is just one of those players that is very smart and does a good job of finding the right spot and the right drives and the right shots for us,” said New Boston coach Kayla Wiley. “She is a very good, smart player.”

But Oiler had help both early and late, as fellow senior Taylen Hickman hit two first-half three-pointers towards eight points — and sophomore Kenzie Whitley scored nine of her 11 in the second half, including a three to make it 41-34 with only 5:56 remaining.

“Taylen (Hickman) hit a couple of threes to give us a lift when we weren’t hitting shots in the first half, and Kenzie (Whitley) hit that big three in the fourth quarter when we were struggling to score,” said Wiley.

That started a stretch of five minutes and 23 seconds in which the Lady Tigers held the Musketeers scoreless, as they pushed the lead up to 11 (45-34) — after Sammy Oiler’s steal and layup and Whitley’s mid-range floating jumper in the lane.

The Tigers did miss their first four fourth-quarter free throws, enabling the Musketeers to score seven straight points — including an Emma Frazier three-ball — over two minutes and 10 seconds to slice the deficit to 45-41 with 25 seconds remaining.

However, Sammy Oiler ended the threat — connecting on both of a one-and-one foul-shot situation.

Oiler scored six points, as she also sank two second-stanza free throws — while Shelby Easter added a first-quarter field goal.

Wiley said the win was a total team effort, which began with New Boston beginning the contest by playing with energy.

The Lady Tigers also excelled at turning the Musketeers over, frequently running through the passing lanes.

“I thought we started the game that way, but I just wish we would keep that energy for four quarters. I know it’s hard right now because I’m playing a six-man, sometimes a seven-man rotation. We called a timeout to do a better job of stunting and getting in those passing lanes and being in the driving lanes and helping each other out. I thought we did a much better job of that in the fourth quarter,” said Wiley.

Lexie Carroll with 11 points and Frazier with 10 points paced Greenup County, which fell to 2-6.

The Lady Tigers, which have already completed the first half of their season, are off for 10 days before playing again — on Thursday, Jan. 2 at SOC I rival Western.

Eastern Brown 62 , Minford 40

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.