Byesvillevillagereporter.com - Lady Warriors trip up Lady Colts

BYESVILLE -- The Lady Warriors of Buckeye Trail High School invaded Meadowbrook High and came away with a hard-fought 46-41 win, forcing the Colts into a dismal 25 percent (13-of-51) shooting performance to take the upset victory.

The win for the Lady Warriors (7-8) was their third in their last four games, with victories over Shenandoah, Monroe Central, and now the Lady Colts (10-4).

The Lady Warriors' were outscored 11-2 in the third, setting up a thrilling fourth quarter.

"I thought Trail game plan-wise really packed it in and they were going to make us hit the perimeter shot," stated Meadowbrook coach Tom Strasser. "We kind of thought they would do that coming in. The girls shot them, but at times the toughest shot to make is the one where you are wide open."

In the first half, the Colts shot 5-of-26 from the floor and were 4-of-14 in the third.

"I thought the first half was as frustrated as we looked this year," noted Strasser. "The third quarter we started out frustrated, but we found a groove and actually went up and had possession, but give them (Buckeye Trail) credit because they kept battling and they are going to do that. They came in and earned that win. We are a good enough team that even if we don't shoot well, we can give ourselves a chance to win and we did that tonight. Unfortunately things didn't go our way, but like I said I thought Trail played real well."

The first period was a back-and-forth effort, ending 10-8 in favor of Buckeye Trail when Julie Bates hit a lay-up with 47 seconds to go.

In the second frame, the Lady Warriors asserted themselves, as junior point-guard Kaylie Warnock harassed the Colts, swiping four steals. In all, Buckeye Trail forced eight turnovers by Meadowbrook in the quarter with six of them coming from steals. With a balanced scoring attack, coupled with the aforementioned shooting woes of the Lady Colts, the Warriors coasted to a 21-14 lead at intermission.

The third belonged to Meadowbrook. Despite a 4-of-14 shooting effort in the quarter, the hosts held Trail to just four shots in the third with the visitors hitting just one. A pair of Bre Jones three's fueled the Colts offense as they took a 25-23 lead into the final quarter.

The fourth see-sawed before Meadowbrook went on a 7-0 run that appeared to seal things. The visitors answered back with an 8-2 run of their own before Tori Wolverton sank a pair of free-throws to kill the Warriors' momentum with less than a minute remaining. Buckeye Trail, on the strength of a Alexa Abrams three with 47 seconds left then got a lay-up from Courtney Frame to go up for good. The Lady Warriors closed on a 9-0 run over the final 47 seconds to seal the deal.

The victors placed three in double-figures, headlined by 12 from Frame, who also snared nine boards and dished a team-high four assists and had both of her team's blocks. Warnock finished with 11 points with five steals, while Julie Bates scored 10 and grabbed nine rebounds.

Jones and Wolverton each scored 14 points, while Shelby Stover snared a game-high 11 rebounds to go with five points.

* * * * *

BYESVILLE - Trailing by three points late and in jeopardy of losing for the second time in three nights, homestanding Meadowbrook High got key buckets late from sophomore Tori Wolverton and senior Bre Jones to escape with a 35-33 victory over East Central Ohio League foe River View.

River View (2-14, 2-7 ECOL) led 7-5 after one quarter before Meadowbrook (11-4, 7-3 ECOL) used a 10-5 edge to move on top, 15-12, at the half.

The teams actually combined for as many turnovers (27) as points in the first 16 minutes of action.

A 10-10 standoff in the third round left the Lady Colts in front, 25-22, heading to the fourth, but River View went on a 10-4 run to take a 32-29 lead late.

A big three-point bucket by Wolverton and later a three-point play conversion by Jones fueled a game-ending 6-1 spurt which pulled it out for Meadowbrook.

Jones finished with 14 points to lead the Lady Colts.Wolverton and junior Shelby Stover each tallied eight, with

Stover also grabbing five rebounds. Senior Candace Neff contributed six rebounds, three steals and three assists while junior Kat Jirles had five points, six boards and four thefts.

MHS finished 13-of-38 from the field and a chilly 7-of-22 at the free throw line. The Lady Colts had 28 rebounds and 20 turnovers.

River View got 11 points and 12 rebounds from Olivia Neace and seven points and five boards from Whitney Fry.

The Lady Bears hit 13-of-32 action shots and 7-of-14 at the charity stripe with 25 rebounds and a like number of turnovers.

* * * * *

Jeff Harrison

For The Village Reporter

BYESVILLE -- Meadowbrook High had struggled putting the ball into the hoop in its last couple of games, but the Lady Colts got back on track in a 60-46 victory over visiting Shenandoah.

Coach Tom Strasser's squad (11-4) went inside early and then got some solid outside shooting, improving to 44 percent accuracy (26-of-59) for the game.

"We were able to establish our inside agame early and that opened up the perimter," related Strasser. "We shot it much better today and also distributed the ball well."

Meadowbroook shot out to a 19-12 first quarter lead behind a seven-piont quarter from junior post Kat Jirles.

Jirles and Shenandoah's Miranda Redden each scored six points int he second period, with the Lady Colts widening their lead to nine points, 35-26, at the half.

Both sides struggled offensively in the third round, but again Meadowbrook built on its lead as a 13-7 edge pushed the margin to 48-33 heading to the final frame.

Jirles enjoyed a solid double-double to lead the Lady Colts as she scored 18 points and grabbed a dozen rebounds. Jones hit three "triples en route to a 15-point day; junior Shelby Stover had nine points, seven rebounds and three assists; sophomore Tori Wolverton had six points, five assists and three steals; senior Candace Neff had four points, six rebounds and three steals; and senior Alyssa Wright added six points and four boards.

Shenandoah (4-11) received 18 points and seven rebounds from Miranda Redden while Sami Schott contributed 15 tallies and six boards. Renee Schwieterman chipped in seven points and sven caroms.

The Lady Zeps were 18-of-48 from the field (37.5 percent).

MHS had a 37-29 rebounding edge and was charted with 13 turnovers to 17 for Shenandoah.