Sports
Lady Marauders’ Shooting Sends Athens Packing
By: Joey Madore
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When it comes to postseason play, you need to come out and punch your opponent in the mouth from the tip-off.
The Meigs Lady Marauders (15-8, 9-4 TVC-Ohio) did just that in Wellston on Thursday night as they jumped out to a 17-3 lead in the first quarter and never looked back.
There wasn’t much the Lady Bulldogs (8-15, 3-10) could do, as Meigs were drilling three-after-three and finished the night 12-for-29 from behind the arc.
Cold shooting and turnovers ultimately led to the demise of Athens and a cutting down of the nets for Meigs as they cruised to a 54-25 victory and their first sectional title since 2000.
“It was our first sectional title since 2000. None of our girls were alive back then, so for our seven seniors I’m really proud of them,” said Lady Marauders head coach Jarrod Kasun. “This was a goal of ours at the beginning of the season, and now we’ve reached our first goal, and now we got some more to go.”
Athens put itself in a hole early on in the first quarter. The Lady Bulldogs finished the quarter with only three points, and their only field goal came on a layup from sophomore Bella Tan.
Marissa Noble provided the bulk of the offense for the Lady Marauders in the first quarter as she dropped eight of the teams 17 points.
The cold spell kept up for Athens in the second quarter as they went into the locker room facing a 27-6 deficit. Taylor Swartz was cleaning glass in the first half as she grabbed eight boards and would lead the team with 11 on the night.
The Lady Marauders came out of the break firing on all cylinders.
Becca Pullins hit triples on three straight possessions to push the lead out early on and Meigs coasted the rest of the way.
Madison Fields ended up leading the Lady Marauders offense with 13 points, but Meigs was receiving key contributions from everyone who stepped on the floor.
Meigs captured the sectional title with the victory and will move on to play Washington Court House next Thursday.
As for Athens their season has come to an end after Thursday night. But this is a team that coach Seth Matheny will not soon forget.
“Good basketball players, better people, that’s what they are…” said coach Matheny.
Meigs looks to advance further in the tournament on Thursday, Feb. 21 at Southeastern, where they will take on Washington Court House.