Sports
Nelsonville-York Trumps Meigs in Team Effort
By: Jerry Kirven
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The last time Nelsonville-York and Meigs faced off, Nelsonville-York lost in a gritty but sloppy game. It was early in their season and the Lady Buckeyes had yet to find an offensive identity.
Now with being halfway through its 2019 campaign, Nelsonville-York coach Bobby Cassidy feels like his team can put together a solid offensive effort. It just depends on the night.
“We’ve done a lot more shooting, sometimes it shows up, sometimes it doesn’t,” Cassidy said. “Tonight, it showed up. I guess it was just our night.”
Behind balanced scoring and tough defense, Nelsonville-York defeated Meigs 57-46 Thursday night at Ben Wagner Stadium in a Tri-Valley Conference match up. It was one of the Lady Buckeyes best offensive performances this season and they started it off early.
After giving up a pair of 3-pointers to start the game, Nelsonville-York (8-7, 4-3 Tri-Valley Conference) decided the best way to respond would be to use its size and bully Meigs in the paint. Freshman guard Makenzie Hurd used her speed to collapse Meigs’ defense, but not before finding older sister Haley Hurd under the basket.
“We’ve been playing together since preschool,” Lady Buckeyes junior forward Haley Hurd said, speaking on her sister. “Our dad taught us how to see each other and everybody else on the court.”
Once Meigs (9-6, 4-4 Tri-Valley Conference) got hip to the idea of stopping the Lady Buckeyes inside, N-Y showed off its range. Junior guard Joscelyn Heller and senior Mary-Kate McCullough made Meigs pay from behind the arc and led Nelsonville-York into halftime with a 29-20 lead.
The Lady Buckeyes had played great defense the entire game. N-Y forced turnovers and held star Meigs’ guard Kassidy Betzing to six points in the first half. She finished with 23 points.
“I think we did a very good job of shutting down Kassidy [Betzing],” Haley Hurd said. “We closed out on her very well.”
Nelsonville-York’s offense continued to play well in the second half but unlike the first half, the Lady Buckeyes let their defense fuel it’s offense. The Lady Buckeyes lockdown defense created fast-break points and was the reason why N-Y carried a 15-point lead heading into the fourth quarter.
Nelsonville-York continued to force Meigs into bad looks for the remainder of the game and cruised to the win.
In all, it was a solid all-around performance from the entire Nelsonville squad. Nobody took over but everyone played well and the scoring was spread out. McCullough had a team-high 21 points, Makenzie Hurd chipped in 14, Heller had eight and Haley Hurd finished with seven points and 10 rebounds.
It was an important win for the Lady Buckeyes as they look to make a presence in the TVC-Ohio.
“I think this win shows other teams that we’re coming back, that this program is coming back,” Hurd said.
The Lady Buckeyes return to action Saturday when they travel to Glouster to face Trimble, while the Lady Marauders hope to bounce back the very same night against Fairland.