Staff report
SIDNEY — The Houston girls started fast, struggled big in the second quarter, but then pretty much dominated the final two quarters to take a 56-49 victory over Mechanicsburg in Division 4 Sectional girls basketball action at Sidney High School.
The Lady Wildcats move to 11-13 on the season and take on County rival Jackson Center in the upper bracket sectional finals on Saturday at noon, with the winner advancing on to the district tournament a week from Saturday. During the season, Houston lost twice to Jackson Center, by 12 and five points.
Houston came out and scored the first 11 points of the game before Mechanicsburg hit a three-pointer. The Lady Indians then went on quite a run, holding the Lady Wildcats without a point for over eight minutes. In that time, Mechanicsburg rolled to a 21-15 lead before Houston scored again.
Key for the Lady Wildcats was scoring the final four points of the second quarter to be down only two at the half.
Jenna Winner tied it to start the third quarter but Mechanicsburg scored to go up two. But Macey Stang then hit two straight buckets, one a three-pointer, to make it 26-23 and the Lady Wildcats never trailed again. When Stang hit another three-pointer, Houston was out to a 38-28 lead.
Winner had 19 to lead the Lady Wildcats, and Stang finished with 17, 13 of those coming in the second half. Micalah Hensley added 11 points.
Houston (56) — Ely 1, Hensley 11, Winner 19, Stang 17, S. Monnier 4, New 2. R. Monnier 2.
Mechanicsburg (49) — Dodane 23, Schipfer 19, S. Hux 7.
Score by quarters:
Houston—14 19 39 56
Mechanicsburg—5 21 31 49
Three-pointers: Mechanicsburg 5 (Dodane 5); Houston 3 (Stang 3).
Records: Houston 11-13, Mechanicsburg 12-12.
Jackson Center 58, Lehman 50
In the second semifinal Tuesday night, Jackson Center pulled away in the second half to beat the Lehman Lady Cavaliers 58-50.
The win puts the Lady Tigers at 17-7 on the season going into the upper-bracket sectional finals Saturday at Sidney against county rival Houston, who they beat twice during the regular season.
The Lady Cavaliers complete their season with a final 12-11 record.
Lehman led 11-10 at one point before the Lady Tigers scored the next five to take a lead they would no relinqish.
By the half, it was still a close game at 26-23, but the Lady Tigers began dominating in the third quarter. They opened up a 47-31 lead after three periods, outscoring the Lady Cavs 218 in the quarter.
Lehman still had one more rally left in the final period, cutting the leads to 48-40 on a layup by Kassie Lee with still six minutes remaining. But after a timeout, the Lady Tigers regrouped and went on a 6-0 run to push the lead back up to 14 at 54-40.
The Lady Tigers were led by Peyton Esser, who tossed in 18 points. Meyer chipped in 11 and Nicole Fogt finished with 10.
For Lehman, Alanny O’Leary led the way with 12 and Allie Hall finished with 1o.
Jackson Center (58) — Reese 3, P. Meyer 8, Esser 18, C. Meyer 11, Fogt 10, Winner 2, Clark 5, Ware 4.
Lehman (50) — Edwards 8, O’Leary 12, McFarland 2, Monnin 6, Lee 6, Fogt 6, Hall 10.
Score by quarters:
Jackson Center—11 26 47 58
Lehman—8 23 31 50
Three-pointers: Jackson Center 4 (Esser 2, P. Meyer, C. Meyer); Lehman 1 (Hall).
Records: Jackson Center 17-7, Lehman 12-11.
