West Holmes (13-5, 10-1) moved into a tie for first place in the Ohio Cardinal Conference with a key win over OCC leading Mansfield Senior (17-2 11-1), which followed conference wins against Wooster (4-13, 3-7) and New Philadelphia (3-15, 1-9) last week.
On Jan. 27 against Mansfield Senior, the Lady Knights took a 16-12 lead after one quarter. Both teams struggled to score in the second quarter with the Tygers outscoring West Holmes 7-2 to make it a 19-18 Mansfield Senior lead at the half.
The Lady Knights had an 8-5 scoring advantage in the third quarter to regain the lead, and both teams scored four points in the fourth. West Holmes was able to walk away with a tight 30-28 win.
It was a struggle shooting the basketball for both teams, as West Holmes was 29.7% from the floor and the Tygers were held to only 22.9%. They also had trouble hitting free throws at 33.3% and 18.8% respectively.
Mansfield Senior dominated the glass, with 26 offensive rebounds and 18 defensive bards, compared to nine offensive boards and 14 defensive boards for the Knights. The Knights led 8-7 in assists and 3-2 in blocks, but Mansfield Senior had a 10-5 steals advantage.
Keegan Uhl put up eight points, four assists, one steal and a defensive rebound in the win. Chloe Patten scored seven points and grabbed four boards, while recording one steal. Zalina Proper had six points, two assists and a steal. Allie McMillen had four points, four rebounds, one assist, one steal and two blocks in the win. Briar Cline had three points, three rebounds, one assist and one steal. Aveona Yoder put up two points, three rebounds and a block.
Mansfield Senior was led by Dazey Manns with eight points and four offensive rebounds. She was 3-for-4 and 2-for-2 from deep.
The victory for West Holmes locked them into a tie with Mansfield Senior, who had previously won 12 straight games and suffered their first conference loss of the season. This was the fifth straight win for the surging Lady Knights.
On Jan. 25, West Holmes beat Wooster 60-37 in a game led by Uhl’s 20 point showing.
With no score on the board, Yoder sent a message early defensively with a big block. West Holmes followed with a score, and then Uhl got in on the defense with a steal. West Holmes tacked on a couple more baskets to go up 6-0 and while Wooster was threatening to cut the lead to four, Cline had something to say about that with a rejection. Up 9-4, Proper nailed a shot from downtown to put West Holmes up by eight. The Lady Knights ended up leading 16-6 after one quarter.
Up 18-6 in the second quarter, McMillen blocked a shot for West Holmes to continue the strong defensive showing. Wooster would cut the lead to five, but Uhl struck from deep to make it a 25-17 lead. West Holmes outscored the Generals 13-11 in the quarter and took a 29-17 lead at halftime.
West Holmes opened up the third quarter on a 5-0 run and Yoder was able to block a shot to keep the momentum in their favor. The block led to a three for Uhl to go up 37-17. The Lady Knights led 47-31 after three quarters.
West Holmes was up 49-34 in the fourth quarter when Chloe Patten came away with a steal. This sparked a 11-0 run highlighted by a wide open Patten three from the corner, and a corner three by Uhl. The Lady Knights had a 13-6 fourth quarter to finish the blowout win strong.
Uhl was the star of the night with a game high 20 points to go with six steals and five rebounds. Proper hit double digits in scoring with 10 points, and added seven rebounds and three assists. Patten had nine points, six boards and four steals, while Cline had seven points, four assists and three rebounds. McMillen was big on the glass with nine rebounds, and also tallied four points and five assists.
West Holmes led 50-38 in rebounds, 14-3 in assists, 7-6 in steals and 7-1 in blocks. They shot 35% and 40% from three.
On Jan. 22 the Lady Knights had another lopsided win, this time against New Philadelphia by a score of 68-37.
West Holmes had a 17-3 lead after one quarter and took a 35-11 lead into the half. New Philadelphia woke up with an 18-13 third quarter, but West Holmes finished with a 20-8 fourth quarter to take the easy victory.
West Holmes shot 49.1% and went 4-for-11 from three, while holding the Quakers to 24%. New Philadelphia did shoot well from three at 8-for-23. The Lady Knights had a 17-10 assist advantage and led 36-31 in boards. They also led 13-8 in steals and had the game’s only block.
Cline put up 19 points, six boards, two assists and two steals to lead the charge for West Holmes. Patten went 7-for-10 and 2-for-3 from three for 16 points. She also had two rebounds and a steal. Proper had 11 points, three assists and two steals. Yoder scored 10 points while grabbing 10 rebounds for a double-double.
New Philadelphia was led by Jazee Barker’s 15 points and two rebounds. Ellie Mason scored 10 points and grabbed six boards, while dishing out three assists. She was big on defense with four steals. Cecilia Espenschied had seven points, four rebounds, three assists and two steals.
West Holmes Coach Lindsy Belden has been impressed with the team’s play, saying how hard it is to guard everyone on the team. This is why so many different players step up each night. She said this makes the team very hard to scout.
“Briar is really becoming a consistent scoring threat for us,” Belden said, adding that she is becoming confident from the perimeter and getting to the rim off the dribble. “Aveona has been another player who has developed some consistency in what she brings to our team each night. She looks to seal and catch dump passes from our guards.”
Belden said Yoder is a top notch rebounder on the offensive side, as she anticipates shots going up and is able to grab boards. She also praised Patten, saying that against New Philadelphia she played hard and had confidence in her shot.
“She is an extremely tough kid and has battled many things, and I am really proud of the confidence and poise that she played with against NP,” Belden said.
