The No. 5 West Holmes girls’ basketball team (17-6, 13-1) knocked off No. 15 Minerva (5-16, 1-9) in the opening round of the Division II East 2 Sectional tournament on Feb. 21, with Chloe Patten going for a double-double in a 51-26 win.
West Holmes had a 3-2 lead to open up the night, and Minerva was looking to get on top but Aveona Yoder was able to reject a layup to keep the lead. Their defense was on point early, with Allie McMillen and Keegan Uhl recording steals, and Yoder recording her second block of the night. However, shots weren’t falling easily for the Knights, and Minerva outscored West Holmes 11-10 in the opening frame.
“We got off to a slow start because we struggled to shoot the ball from the perimeter and inside,” said Coach Lindsy Belden. “After the first quarter, I told the girls ‘this game is 32 minutes long, not 8 minutes, we will be okay.’ It was a very physical game, so we had to figure out how to play there.”
West Holmes continued their strong defense in the second quarter with steals by Uhl and McMillen, and they were able to take a 20-15 lead at the half.
In the third quarter, Zalina Proper drained a three to put West Holmes up 31-17. Minerva battled back and made it as 32-21 game, but Jewel Brown halted their momentum with a steal, and the Knights led by 11 going into the fourth quarter.
It was all Knights in the fourth quarter, as the Knights outscored the Lions 19-5. McMillen made it a 36-21 lead on a three pointer. Later in the quarter Brown hit a three to put them up 51-26 for the final.
West Holmes shot 37.7% and held the Lions to 24.4%. They had trouble with the three, however, going only 3-for-19. The Knights led 41-25 in boards, 11-2 in assists, 10-6 in steals and had the game’s only two blocks. They also forced 19 turnovers and only turned the ball over 13 times.
Patten had 10 points, 11 boards, two steals and an assist to lead the way for the Knights.
“Chloe Patten was huge with her double-double,” said Belden. “She grabbed a few offensive rebounds that led to some scoring in the first half.”
Briar Cline also hit double digits with 10 points, and tallied eight boards and an assist. McMillen had eight points, five rebounds, five assists and three steals. Uhl also scored eight points, and added three steals, two assists and an offensive board.
Belden knows that the team needs to play a complete game from here on out to advance in the tournament, and hopes her team can polish up a few things heading into round two.
“We have to be at our best from here on out,” Belden said. “We can't have halves like that where our energy is determined by how well we shoot the ball.”
West Holmes faces No. 13 Morgan on Feb. 24 at 1 p.m.
