Tag Archive for: OHSAA Tournaments

WARRIORS EARN YET ANOTHER TRIP TO REGIONALS

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UNIONTOWN OH- When you look at the tournament history of West Branch girls basketball, you’d only find a lot of success. West Branch came in to this season advancing to 5 of the last 9 regional tournaments. With that being said, they weren’t the favorites heading into the district tournament this year. A grooving Marlington team that was trying to leave its mark sat as the top seed in the bracket. The Dukes had won 4 of the last 5 meetings with West Branch. That includes ending the Warriors season last year in the semifinals. However, the Warriors proved that you can never count out this program in tournament time. They beat out the Dukes to win their 6th district championship in 10 seasons 47-41.

Sophie Gregory led the Warriors with 13 points on the night. She had two other teammates in double figures with Anna Lippiatt, and Livvie Showalter both finishing with 10. Mikalyn Fitts added an important 7 points to the total.

West Branch’s defense held Marlington leading scorer Chelsea Evanich to 12 points. Evanich scored 29 in the Dukes win over Streetsboro in the previous round. Maria Warner led the Dukes with 13.

The Warriors advance to the regional semifinals where they’ll meet Norton. That game is slated for 6:00 in Barberton on Tuesday, March 1st.

LEOPARDS AND WARRIORS ALL SET FOR ROUND THREE

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The Liberty Lady Leopards and The Brookfield Lady Warriors, two powerhouse teams in The MVAC Gray Division.

Both had District Semi-Final games on Saturday night, in the beautiful, and historic Struthers Fieldhouse. 

The Lady Leopards were up first, with a matchup against The Waterloo Lady Vikings. Waterloo were winners of The MVAC Scarlet Division, with a 20-1 season record.

The first game setup an unofficial MVAC Championship game, with the winners of The Scarlet and Gray Divisions facing off. 

Liberty jumped ahead early in the first, scoring off Demi Watson nailing down triples with ferocity in the first. 

Kaira English re-injured an ankle that she originally suffered against South Range in The Sectional Final. The Lady Leopards took advantage of a shortened Lady Vikings squad.

With Coach Watson utilizing subs often, she kept fresh legs on the court, and it paid off with numerous transition buckets. 

All three of Liberty’s top scorers got into double digits, with Aaliyah Foster (23),  Demi Watson (23) and Cianna Smith (10) contributing 56 points of offense on 23 of 40 (58%) shooting. 

The Lady Vikings incredible season came to an end, with a Liberty 62-33 victory.

 

Brookfield squared off with a red hot Ursuline Lady Irish to follow up. The Lady Warriors, fueled by a District Championship goal, were firing on all cylinders in the first. 

The Lady Irish, coming off an exciting win over United, were getting open looks on The Lady Warriors in the first half. However, a lid was being placed on the bucket, as Brookfield started clamping down. 

Sophomore Lily Scott, led Ursuline on the comeback in the second half, scoring 21 points on the evening, with a majority of her points coming in the second half.

The steam ran out, as Brookfield used balanced scoring on Ursuline. With Audrey Reardon (19), Sophia Hook (14) and Cailey Wellman (11) combining for 44 points on 16 of 31 (52%) shooting. 

Hook also grabbed 11 rebounds to contribute to her team’s 41 total boards on the night, leading Brookfield to the 57-41 victory over Ursuline. M

(Mahoning Valley Sports)

This sets up round 3 between MVAC conference opponents, with Liberty and Brookfield squaring off Saturday, February 26th at 7 p.m. 

Round 1 saw The Lady Leopards defeat Brookfield 56-54, with Aaliyah Foster winning it for Liberty. 

The 2nd Round Saw Brookfield hand Liberty their only defeat of the season with The Lady Warriors winning it 53-46. 

 

Stats:

Liberty (vs. Waterloo)

Demi Watson – 23 PTS, 2 REB, 2 AST, 2 STL, 5/9 3-PT (56%).

Aaliyah Foster – 23 PTS, 7 REB, 1 AST, 3 STL, 2 BLK, 11/15 FG (73%)

Cianna Smith – 10 PTS, 12 REB, 3 AST, 2 BLK. 

Jordan Banks – 7 REB

Brookfield (vs. Ursuline)

Audrey Reardon – 19 PTS, 6 REB, 3 AST, 3 STL, 6/9 FG (67%).

Sophia Hook – 14 PTS, 11 REB, 3 AST, 5 STL, 2/5 3-PT (40%).

Cailey Wellman – 11 PTS, 8 REB, 2 BLK, 4/7 FG (57%). 

Anna Reichart – 9 PTS, 11 REB, 1 AST, 1 STL, 3/7 FG (43%). 

 

Liberty vs. Brookfield this season (2 Games)

Cianna Smith – 28 PTS, 7 REB, 3 AST, 7 STL, 1 BLK, 10/26 FG (38%)

Aaliyah Foster – 27 PTS, 16 REB, 3 AST, 4 STL, 13/20 FG (65%).

Demi Watson – 20 PTS, 9 REB, 6 AST, 2 STL, 1 BLK, 5/19 FG (26%). 

Jordan Banks – 10 PTS, 5 REB, 1 AST, 1 STL, 4/14 FG (29%)

 

Brookfield vs. Liberty this season (2 Games)

Audrey Reardon – 26 PTS, 16 REB, 6 AST, 7 STL, 8/23 FG (35%). 

Sophia Hook – 32 PTS, 21 REB, 7 AST, 6 STL, 12/20 FG (60%).

Cailey Wellman – 23 PTS, 15 REB, 3 AST, 4 STL, 6 BLK, 11/18 FG (61%).

Anna Reichart – 7 PTS, 10 REB, 2 AST, 3 STL, 3/14 FG (21%).

 

That game will be found LIVE, this Saturday, on Ysnlive.com!

Interview With Ken Forsythe:

Interview With Deidre Watson:

ROCKETS ARE LOCKED AND LOADED FOR DISTRICTS

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LOWELLVILLE OH- On a night where a lot of high seeds found themselves in knock down drag outs battles with their lower seeded opponents, Lowellville was not entertaining that thought. The Rockets made quick work of Valley Christian on Friday with domination on both sides of the ball. Lowellville rolled with a 54-29 win.

Vinny Ballone put his stamp on the game with a massive 21 point game. He scored 13 of those points in the third frame alone. Anthony Lucente was also in double figures chipping in 11.

For Valley Christian Jon’Trell Mixon had a great game scoring 18 points for the Eagles. However the Rockets locked down the rest of the Eagles offense.

Lowellville now advances to the Struthers district semifinal on Monday. They’ll be paired with the third seeded Lions from Heartland Christian. The game is slated to start at 7:00 at Struthers high school.

TIGERS LEAVE NO DOUBT IN SECTIONAL FINAL

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NEW MIDDLETOWN OH- All season long Springfield head coach Jeff Brink has been preaching “one step at a time.” On Friday, the step in front of them was East Palestine. The Tigers took that step with ease as they cruised to a big 77-31 victory over the Bulldogs.

Seandelle Gardner was terrific for the Tigers leading the way with 18 points. He wasn’t the only one in double figures. He was joined by Beau Brungard, and Alex Rothwell both scored 15 points. Adam Wharry added 7 points to the Tigers cause. They got 11 players in the stat book.

Tyler Bistarkey led the Bulldogs by getting in double figures with 10 points. Caleb Reynolds added 7.

With the win, Springfield advances to the district semifinals against Garrettsville Garfield. The Tigers will take on the eighth seeded G-Men on Monday at Salem high school. Tip is set at 7:00.

Postgame Interview With Jeff Brink:

Postgame Interview With Alex Rothwell:

Postgame Interview With Jake Joyce:

Postgame Interview With Adam Wharry:

BADGER HANGS ON FOR THRILLING WIN IN LISBON

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LISBON OH- Fresh off a big win over Jackson Milton on Tuesday, Badger came in to Friday with upset on their mind. They knew they’d have a height advantage, and tried to use as much as possible. However, Lisbon countered at every turn with their superior guard play. The two conflicting styles clashing turned into an instant classic. The Braves defense was actually the hero, getting a big stop while Lisbon had opportunities to tie the game. The Braves defensive stand let them hold on to their 46-44 win. Badger outscored Lisbon 17-8 in the fourth quarter.

Leading the Braves was Jack Lendak who had a monster game finishing with 25 points. Jaden Richards was also in double figures with 13 points for the Braves.

Lisbon was paced by Hunter Dailey who scored 21 points. Trevor Siefke added 15 points to the cause as well.

Badger wins the sectional championship and moves on to the district semifinal. They’ll square up with fourth seeded St Thomas Aquinas on Tuesday in Struthers. Tip off is set at 7:00.

CHANEY MAKES IT A CLEAN SWEEP OF EAST

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YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio –

Since the return of Chaney (16-8) basketball, the Cowboys have dominated their crosstown rival East Golden Bears (1-18), winning the last eleven matchups. In those games, Chaney has outscored East 788 – 516, with an average margin of victory of 25 points.

Rolling through East 72-24 and 67-38 in the regular season, Chaney came out with a purpose in round three of Chaney vs East, exploding for twenty-seven first quarter points. D’Juan Waller and Clive Wilson led the way through the first, each scoring seven.

Despite an early double-digit deficit, the Golden Bears would not go away without a fight. East scored ten second quarter points, six of which came from beyond the arc, thanks to three balls from both Sean Hall and Bryce McDowell.Unfortunately for East, they had no answer for Chaney on the defensive side. Chaney put up another twenty plus points in the second quarter of play and bullied the Bears on the glass.

Before the night was over, every Chaney Cowboy that graced the floor (12), would score at least one point, leading Chaney to a victory, 74-29.

CHANEY:

Clive Wilson – 15 points, 6 rebounds, 1 block

DJ Waller – 13 points, 5 rebounds

Josiah Gonzalez – 8 points, 8 rebounds, 2 assists

EAST:

Luther Bell – 11 points, 4 rebounds, 1 assist

Yosniel Pagan-Santos – 6 points, 2 rebounds

Chaney – The Cowboys march for a three-peat continues next Thursday, March 3rd, at Boardman High School. The number one seeded Cowboys will face off with the #13 seed Chagrin Falls Tigers (12-10). The Tigers earned their spot in the district semi’s with a 39-28 victory over Geneva.

East – Finishing the season at 1-18, the Golden Bears finish shy of double digit wins for the fifth year in a row. The last winning season came in 2013.

*Contributed By YSN’s Jamie Thomson

GARFIELD FOCUSED ON REPEATING AS DISTRICT CHAMPS

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CORTLAND OH- Garfield walked away as district champions last season with their win over Champion. It earned them a trip to Cuyahoga Falls for the regionals. However, a taste of regionals makes you hungry for more. Now, Garfield finds themselves one win away from another championship. They beat Berkshire in the district semifinals Wednesday 59-33.

It was a pretty competitive first frame with Garfield leading 16-13 after 1. However, over the next two quarters the G-Men outscored Berkshire 29-14 to pull away.

Jenna Smith was unstoppable. She finished with 28 points, which helped her eclipse 1600 career points. Smith completed a double double as well with 14 rebounds. Sarah Seaman broke her own three point in a season record with perimeter shot number 62. She finished with 18 points.

Garfield advances to the district championship on Saturday where they’ll meet a familiar foe in Champion. Not only have these two teams already met twice this season, but this will be the third year in a row they meet in the final. That game is scheduled to tip at 7:00 on Saturday at Lakeview.

FALCONS PULL OFF THE MONSTER UPSET

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DOVER OH- Austintown Fitch had a heck of a mountain to climb on Wednesday as they found themselves starting at Dover across the bench. Dover came in to Wednesday night as the 6 seed in Division 1. And for good reason, Dover put together a impressive 20-2 regular season. Fitch didn’t care though, they showed no fear as they went on the road and knocked off Dover 60-57.

The Falcons upset was led by Allen Underwood who dazzled all night on the way to 18 points. The Falcons saw the return of Devin Sherwood who was also in double figures with 12. DeShawn Vaughn contributed 9 points as well.

Fitch will advance to the sectional finals on Saturday. They will travel to Aurora to take on the 25th seeded Greenmen. Tip off on Saturday is set for 7:00.

NOTHING STOPPING CHAMPION FROM PUNCHING THEIR TICKET

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CORTLAND OH- Champion continues to find themselves in the district championship game. This program keeps rolling and succeeding. Kirtland tried to stand in their way on Wednesday, but nothing was going to stop the Flashes from punching their ticket to another title game. Champion earned the 47-37 win.

Two seasons ago, Champion won the district championship, last year they fell to Garfield. This year they’ll try to get revenge on the. G-Men.

Champion was led by both Ava Howell, and Lorinda Dodrill who each scored 14. Carlie Easterday chipped in an important 8 points.

Champion advances to the Lakeview district championship where they’ll play conference foe Garfield. The two teams split two meetings this season, both winning at home. Tip is set for 7:00 at Lakeview High School.

BLUE JAYS RUN GETS HALTED BY MAPLEWOOD

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NORTH JACKSON OH- Jackson Milton has been an inspiring story all season. A roster made up of 6 girls has fought and clawed their way to a season where they competed for a MVAC title, and earned a four seed in the district tournament. They faced a tough task on Wednesday against Maplewood. In the end, the Rockets were just too much and ended the Jays season with a 51-30 win.

Senior Chelsea Williams finished her career by leading the Blue Jays with 11 points. Fellow senior Kylie Wilson was also in double figures with 10. Ava Darney contributed 9 points as well.

Jackson Milton ends their season with a record of 12-11. We congratulate the Blue Jays on a great season.