WILDCATS HAVE WILD FINISH OVER HOWLAND

CANFIELD OH- In the final game of day one at the fifth annual South Range Holiday Classic, The All-American Conference (AAC) representatives in The Howland Tigers were locked in a cat battle with The Hilliard Davidson Wildcats. To say the first half was a defensive grudge match would be an understatement! With The Wildcats playing much better than their 1-7 record indicated, they held The TIgers without a field goal through the first eight minutes of play, holding a 7-3 lead after the first quarter of play. Forcing Howland to do all their scoring through free throws. 

By the second quarter, the law of averages started to swing back into The Tigers favor. Jessie DeSalvo scored the opening bucket for Howland which started getting The Tigers in tempo. Alyssa Massucci scored 7 points in the second to help Howland gain the first advantage and take a 15-13 before halftime. Alyssa Massucci kept up her offensive presence, ending with another 20 point game for The Tigers. 

However, the will of Hilliard Davidson never wavered, as the combined efforts of Kiersten Cashell and Anna Wile helped The Wildcats regain a fourth quarter advantage. Wile contributed off the bench with 18 points of offense, as she expanded the range for Hilliard Davidson, knocking down multiple shots from distance. While Cashell remained a leader for her team, with the game-high, 21 points of offense to lead her team to an improbable upset over Howland to get The Wildcats second win of the year! 

Both teams will have a second game lined up for the second day of The South Range Holiday Classic. The Wildcats will now set their sights to Austintown Fitch, while Howland will look to rebound against the tough Green Bulldogs! Both those matchups are set for Thursday, December 29th at South Range High School.

*Contributed By YSN’s Ty Bartell.