Hardwood Heroes
Federal Hocking best Nelsonville-York in Section Title
By: Charlie Lusk
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WARREN, Ohio (WOUB) —- For the sectional title, the Federal Hocking Lancers beat the Nelsonville-York Buckeyes 63 to 42. In a rematch of an early season battle, the Nelsonville-York Buckeyes had revenge on their minds on top of the section. Despite a tough defensive effort from the Buckeyes, the Lancers caught fire and never looked back.
The first few minutes were a defensive stalemate. Nelsonville-York played exceptional defense to start forcing several bad shots from Federal Hocking and keeping the ball out the net. The Buckeyes were unable to capitalize on this however and the Lancers would eventually break through.
Rosie Tabler hit a big 3 pointer for the Lancers to tie the game 4-4. This would be the spark to get Federal Hocking going as they proceeded to break off an 18-point run. Federal Hocking would take the first quarter 21 to 6 after starting.
Federal Hocking implemented a box and one with Takira Walker and Brenlee Cottrill taking turns guarding Airah Lavy. This game plan either forced the Buckeye star into tough shots or took her out of the offensive flow for several stretches.
After the initial punch, Nelsonville-York struggled to get out of the hole the first quarter put them in. They put up a valiant effort in the second quarter as Alayna Okulich and Airah Lavy combined for 10 points in the quarter. However, the Lancers kept up the pace on both sides of the ball. McKayla Nelson and Rorie Tabler hit triples to extend the lead and Brenlee Cottrill picked up 4 steals in the half to turn defense into offense. Ultimately, despite getting into a grove scoring wise, Nelsonville-York couldn’t shrink Federal Hocking’s lead. The Buckeyes went into the half down 18 to 35.
After the initial run by Lancers, and another solid quarter, the Buckeyes were unable to complete a comeback. After a long, successful season, it ends in heartbreak for Nelsonville-York as they fall 42 to 63.
Alanya Okulich picked up 14 points and 7 rebounds for the Buckeyes and Airah Lavy ended a phenomenal high school career with 11 points and 4 rebounds. This unfortunately was overshadowed by the solid team play by the Lancers as 5 players scored at least 8 points.
After securing the sectional championship, the Federal Hocking Lancers will look to continue their tournament campaign when they meet Adena on February 24th at 4:15pm.