By Matt Zircher
TROY — It was another premature ending to an outstanding season for the Sidney Lady Jackets, who were unable to make it out of Division 1 Sectional Girls Basketball Tournament play Friday night in a 61-45 loss at the hands of Springboro.
Sidney, the No. 2 team in Ohio in the final rankings, ends the campaign with a 24-1 record while Springboro advances with a 22-3 record to the district tournament next week.
Sidney was 21-1 last season, but lost in its second tournament game to another Greater Western Ohio Conference South Division team, Lebanon.
The game featured the GWOC’s top two scorers in Sidney’s Sylvia Hudson and Springboro’s Kelly Wurth, both seniors. Hudson was right at her average with 20, but the Lady Jackets had no answer for Wurth, who was averaging 18.5 and nearly doubled that with a 33-point outburst.
She had 20 in the first half and finished the game hitting 12 for 18 from the field and 6 for 8 from the line. She also led her team in rebounds with six.
Hudson’s bucket had Sidney down just two at 6-4, but Springboro scored seven in a row to open up a 13-4 bulge. Sidney was able to cut it to 18-14 by the end of the quarter, and the two teams battled on nearly even terms in the second period, leaving the score 34-28 at the half.
The third quarter was the difference, however. The Lady Panthers came out and scored the first nine points to open up a 43-28 lead and Sidney could only chop one point off that margin by the end of the quarter, meaning they were trailing by 14 with just eight minutes to play.
Springboro then settled the verdict by scoring the first seven points of the final period to lead 54-33 with 5:29 remaining in the game.
The closest the Lady Jackets got after that was 14.
In addition to Hudson’s 20, Celena Taborn had 11 points and 10 rebounds.
Sidney shot 50 percent from the field, but only got off 38 shots, 15 fewer than Springboro. The problem was turnovers — the Lady Jackets turned it 19 times to just three for the Lady Panthers.
Springboro (61) — Hughes 3, Crouch 9, Wurth 33, Diehl 12, Schoenlein 3, Ingram 1.
Sidney (45) — Davis 6, Nuss 6, Hudson 20, Taborn 11, Timmons 2.
Score by quarters:
Springboro—18 34 47 61
Sidney—14 28 33 45
Three-pointers: Sidney 5 (Davis, Nuss, Taborn); Springboro 4 (Wurth 3, Diehl).
Records: Sidney 24-1, Springboro 22-3.
