Staff report
TROY — County champion Jackson Center advanced on to the Division 4 District championship Saturday with a 37-26 victory over Cincinnati Christian in girls sectional final basketball action at Troy Saturday afternoon.
The Lady Tigers, trying for a return trip to the state tournament, are now 21-4 on the season and will face 24-1 Tri-Village on Thursday at Vandalia Butler at 6:15 in the regional semifinals.
Jackson advanced despite struggling from the field. The Lady Tigers canned just 11 of 42 shots for 26 percent, and actually had one more three-pointer than they did two-pointers.
“It says a lot about our team when we don’t have a very good shooting day and still come out with the win,” said JC coach Jeff Reese. “Some games the shots are not going to fall and you have to find other ways to win. That’s a good sign and it’s important to be able to do that.
“We were able to get some offensive rebounds and we had people step up when we needed them to,” he added. “We knocked down some big shots in key moments.”
Kamryn Elchert sank four three-pointers and finished with a game-high 14 points for Jackson. When the Lady Tigers got off to a 9-2 lead in the opening quarter, she had five of them. Then in the fourth quarter, which opened with the Lady Tigers leading 29-20, she hit two more three-pointers to up the lead to 35-20 with 7:30 left in the game.
“Kamryn is a great shooter, and those two threes in the fourth quarter not only gave our team confidence, but they put a little bit of a nail in the other team’s confidence,” Reese said. “We knew that Cincinnati Christian had some good players, so getting off to a good start was important. When the tournament starts, you can throw the regular-season records out and everybody is 0-0.”
With that in mind, the Lady Tigers are now 3-0, and hoping for more tournament success, and a return trip to Columbus.
Jackson Center (37) — Reese 2, Elchert 14, Meyer 2, Clark 2, Ware 2, Winner 8, Kessler 7.
Cin. Christian (26) — Randall 5, Byndon 2, Harris 10, Edmonston 8, Statzer 1.
Score by quarters:
Jackson`11 ` 21 ` 29 ` 37
Cin. Christian`2 ` 11 ` 20 ` 26
Three-pointers: JC 6 (Elchert 4, Winner 2); CC 1 (Randall).
Records: JV 21-4, CC 11-15.
Next game: Thursday, regional semifinals at Vandalia vs. 24-1 Tri-Village, 6:15.
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Russia 42, Covington 28
TROY — When you find yourselves trailing at the half, just do what the Russia Lady Raiders did Saturday — hold you oponent to NO field goals in the second half.
That proved to be the secret to success for the Lady Raiders in the Division 4 District championship game on Saturday at Troy against the Covington Lady Bucks.
Covington took a 21-10 halftime lead over the favored Lady Raiders, but then went 0-for-21 from the field in the second half to allow Russia to come back and win by a good margin.
The Lady Raiders move to 21-5 on the season and will play Thursday at 8 p.m. at Vandalia against a familiar opponent, Minster, in the D-4 regional semifinals.
Minster is 23-2 and one of those wins came in a tight contest at home against Russia, 51-45, back on Jan. 28.
“We’re excited to be back in the regional tournament,” first-year coach Andy Timmerman of Russia said. “This was a goal, but like I told the girls, we’re not done yet. Each win becomes more fun.”
One play seemed to swing it for good in the Lady Raiders’ favor early in the second half.
With the game tied 21-21, Laurissa Poling got the rebound after missing two free throws, kicked it out to the corner, and Tiffany Hatcher drilled to make it 24-21.
“We had some big offensive rebounds today,” Timmerman said. “And Tiffany knocked down some big shots.”
Russia would never trail again.
Poling had three points to make it 27-23 going to the fourth quarter and the Raiders would pull away at the end.
Russia made 11 of 12 shots from the line in the final quarter, with Maria Herron making five of six for the game and Hatcher a perfect 4-for-4.
Hatcher finished with a game-high 15 points, and Poling had big game inside with eight points, 12 rebounds and four blocked shots.
Russia (42) — Poling 8, Hatcher 15, Wilson 8, Pleiman 2, Herron 5, Cordonnier 4.
Covington (28) — Long 2, Whiteman 12, Warner 2, Metz 6, Lyle 4, Christian 2.
Score by quarters:
Russia` 9 ` 19 ` 27 ` 42
Covington`11 ` 21 ` 23 ` 28
Three-pointers: Russia 3 (Hatcher 3); Covington 1 (Whiteman).
Records: Russia 21-5, Covington 20-6.
Next game: Thursday, regional semifinals at Vandalia vs. 23-2 Minster, 8 p.m.
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Minster 73, Upper Scioto 52
WAPAKONETA — Minster had its second-best offensive output of the season Saturday in rolling to a 74-52 rout of Upper Scioto Valley in Division 4 District championship action at Wapakoneta.
The win puts the Lady Wildcats at 23-2 on the season and advances them to the D-4 Regional tournament at Vandalia on Thursday at 8 p.m. against neighboring rival Russia.
The Lady Wildcats started off a bit slow, trailing 14-13 after a quarter. They regrouped in the second quarter but still led by just four at the half at 30-26.
Then in the third quarter, they outscored the Lady Rams 22-9 to take firm control of the game. Ali Borgerding had seven and Taylor Kogge six in the quarter.
In the final period, Kogge kept up her second-half play, scoring 10 more points on her way to finishing with a team-high 22 on the night.
She was one of four Minster players in double figures. Hayley Baumer, who had seven in the second quarter, and Courtney Prenger finished with 15 points apiece, and Borgerding added 10.
In addition, Alli Fischer set a new single-season record for assists, breaking the previous mark of 132 held by Reetta Piipari.
Minster (83) — Fischer 2, Roetgerman 2, Baumer 15, Westerbeck 7, Borgerding 10, Kogge 22, Prenger 15.
Upper Scioto (52) — Miller 4, Spradlin 13, Holbrook 2, Carroll 7, Patton 24, Hunsicker 2.
Score by quarters:
Minster` 113 ` 30` 52 ` 73
Upper`14 ` 26 ` 35 ` 52
Three-pointers: Minster 5 (Baumer 3, Borgerding 2); Upper 3 (Carroll 2, Patton).
Records: Minster 23-2, Upper 21-4.
Next game: Thursday, regional semifinals at Vandalia vs. 21-5 Russia, 8 p.m.
