Highland 57, Galion 17
Highland (1-8, 1-4) won its first game of the season by crushing Galion (0-3) by a score of 57-17 on Dec. 17.
Sophomore Kameron Stover led the charge with 17 points – as many points as the entire Galion team scored.
Bryleigh Young drained a three in the first quarter to give the Lady Scots a 7-2 lead early in the first. Highland had a 12-6 lead after a quarter. The offense continued with a 19-point second quarter highlighted by a three from senior Shelby Conley and a fast break deuce by Abby Jordan. Highland stepped up on defense as well, allowing only five points and taking a 31-11 lead into the second half.
The Lady Scots continued their momentum with a 15-4 third quarter. Aubree Bellamy sank a three-pointer to make it a 34-11 game, followed by a Conley three to go up 37-11. Makayla Woods hit a three and the team closed out things on an 11-2 run in the fourth quarter.
Conley scored eight points in the win, while seniors Jordan and Guinevere Jackson had seven and six points, respectively. Sophomores Young and Bellamy and senior Woods had five points apiece. Freshman Kate Clements rounded out the scoring with four points.
As a team, Highland made 38% of their shots and allowed Galion to only make 7%. They had a 36-23 rebounding advantage, 8-1 assist advantage, 14-4 steal advantage, and one block.
Mount Vernon 38, Madison Comprehensive 33
The Mount Vernon Yellow Jackets (3-3, 2-2) had a see-saw battle with Madison Comprehensive (0-2, 0-3) on Dec. 15. The game was a one-point affair going into the fourth quarter. In the final frame, Mount Vernon outscored the Rams 14-10 to take a 38-33 win in an Ohio Cardinal Conference matchup.
The Yellow Jackets held a 10-9 lead after one quarter. Both teams scored six in the second to make it a 16-15 game in favor of the Yellow Jackets at the half. Both teams then scored eight points to make it 24-23 heading to the fourth quarter, then MV widened the gap for a five-point win.
Mount Vernon showed off their court vision finding open shooters, with a 9-5 assist advantage. They also had an advantage in steals 10-8 and had two blocks, while none of their own shots were blocked. The Yellow Jackets shot 35% from the field and held the Rams to 29% and 9% from three, displaying a solid defensive effort. Mount Vernon was also efficient from the free-throw line, sinking 75% of their shots.
Nevaeh Willams scored 11 points and gathered five rebounds, an assist, a steal, and a block to lead the way for the Yellow Jackets. Brooklyn Thayer scored eight points, dished out four assists, grabbed two boards, and had two steals. Other Lady Jackets leaders included Hayley Burke with seven points and three assists; Rees Lepley scored five points and led the rebound department with six, while also recording an assist. Kymber Bell scored four points and had three rebounds. Kaitlyn Thompson rounded out the scoring with three points and did a good job on the glass with four rebounds.
Mount Gilead 44, Fredericktown 32
Mount Gilead (8-0, 4-0) kept up their torrid pace with their eighth-straight win to start the season. Candace Millisor and Madilyn Elson led the way with 25 combined points in the win over Fredericktown (2-5, 0-4), 44-32, on Dec. 17.
Elson hit a three in the first quarter for a 15-5 Mount Gilead lead. At the beginning of the second quarter, Fredericktown was threatening to score when Aubrey Thomas swatted away a shot along the baseline. With a little more than six minutes left, she hit a three to make it an 18-5 game in favor of the Indians. Fredericktown battled back to make it a 22-11 game and threatened to put the game deficit in single digits, but Lydia Stalnaker came away with a steal. With the game 26-18, Stalnaker drained a three to put the Indians up by 11.
Mount Gilead was up 33-28 later in the fourth quarter when Faith White scored on a fast break to bring the Freddies within three. Mount Gilead held a 38-30 lead when Elson gathered a loose ball for a steal and finished with a fast-break lay-up.
Millisor was the top scorer with 14 points, seven boards, four assists, and two steals. Elson had 11 points, nine boards, four steals, and an assist. White score eight points and had two boards and two steals. Ava Baker had two points and dished out three assists and recorded three steals.
The Indians had the rebound advantage 33-22, assists 13-5, and steals 18-10. Mount Gilead also narrowly out-shot Fredericktown 35% to 31%. Each team had a block in the game.
Northmor 47, Danville 46 OT
Northmor (4-3, 3-2) and Danville (2-5, 1-4) battled it out through overtime. Fueled by a 17-point showing for Madison Simpson, the Golden Knights were able to squeak by with a 47-46 win.
Danville was up 10-6 in the first quarter when Maizey Brinkman recorded a steal for Northmor to shift the momentum. The Blue Devils were up 13-8 in the second quarter, and Riley Johnson sank a three to make it a 13-11 game. Johnson played well defensively, taking the ball away at 13-11 and then again at 16-13. With 30 seconds left on the clock in the half, Simpson nailed a corner three to make it a 20-16 game.
The teams went back and forth the rest of the way and pushed the game into overtime, where Northmor prevailed.
Danville out-rebounded Northmor 42-31 and had a 12-9 assist advantage, but Northmor capitalized defensively with 20 steals, compared to seven for Danville. Danville shot 36% and Northmor was at 30%.
Simpson led the Northmor squad in scoring with 17 points while gathering eight boards. Johnson scored nine points and added four rebounds, two assists, and four steals. Emilee Jordan had six points with nine boards, two assists, and four steals. Emily Zeger had eight points with eight rebounds, four assists, and three steals.
