SIDNEY — Lehman Catholic girls basketball coach Craig Hall knows family comes first.
He would just like to get through the holidays and get back into some routine.
After a close first half Thursday, the Cavaliers pulled away in the final two quarters for a 51-30 victory over Waynesfield-Goshen in NWCC action.
Lehman improved to 5-5 overall and 2-1 in NWCC play, while Goshen dropped to 4-7 overall and 1-2 in NWCC play.
“The way it has worked out with the way the holidays fell, we have had a lot of three and four day weekends,” Hall said. “But, family comes first. We are not in the playing condition we need to play in. We had one practice and we played tonight and we have one more practice and we play Saturday.”
After trailing 7-4 early, Lehman ran off 10 straight points to take the lead for good.
It started with a Carly Edwards free throws, followed by five points from Rylie McIver, the first two on an assist from Anna Cianciolo. Field goals by Edwards and Grace Olding ended the run.
“I was happy with the play from Rylie (McIver) tonight, but I was really pleased with Anna’s (Cianciolo) play. I told her she was point tonight. We have kind of gone back and forth. She really stepped up and did a nice job. Rylie is a junior and Anna is a sophomore and we think they can be pretty special.”
Lehman led 16-12 after one quarter and 29-22 at halftime.
And Kayla Wicker was single-handedly keeping the Tigers in the game.
She had 16 of Goshen’s 22 points in the opening two quarters.
“She was their offense,” Hall said.
That changed in the second half as Lehman made things more difficult for her.
Her only points after the break came on a basket with 3:46 remaining, but by that time Lehman had a 49-25 lead.
The Cavaliers used a 19-3 advantage in the third quarter.
“We focused a litle more (on Kayla Wicker) in the second half,” Hall said. “Again, with our conditioning, it is tough playing man. We went to some zone and changed things up. She didn’t score until the fourth quarter.”
Edwards led a balanced Lehman attack with 12 points and six rebounds.
McIver had 11 points, eight steals and two assists, while Grace Monnin had nine points and three steals and Cianciolo added seven points and three assists. Emily Fogt had three steals and Olding dished out two assists.
Wicker had 18 points for Waynesville. Kiara Roof had six rebounds, while Cassidy Craig and Jordan Elliott grabbed five each.
Lehman was 19-of-59 from the floor for 32 percent and 11 of 16 from the line for 69 percent. Goshen was 11-of-33 from the floor for 33 percent and six of 11 from the line for 55 percent. The Cavaliers won the battle of the boards 25-22 and had 13 turnovers to Goshen’s 22.
Lehman will play New Knoxville Saturday with the varsity tipping at noon, followed by the JV game.
“We have only played 10 games,” Hall said. “We usually finish the season strong. At some point we will get into a rhythm.”
And Hall can’t wait for that to happen.
