Sports
Hurd Leads Push to Lady Buckeyes’ Third Straight Sectional Title
By: Alex Harrison
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Second half adjustments allow Nelsonville-York to run away from the Crooksville Ceramics in a 45-26 win on Saturday.
With the inability to get shots to fall, the Lady Buckeyes trailed for most of the first quarter. Improvement started to show toward the end of the half. Down 16-12, the Lady Buckeyes, led by Kaitlyn Hurd, went on a 6-1 run. Hurd scored all six, including a bucket just before the buzzer to go into halftime up 18-17.
Hurd was the leading scorer for the Lady Buckeyes with 14 points. Not only was she a force under the basket on offense, but also on defense taking three steals.
Crooksville, in the second half, suffered from offensive woes similar to the early-game Lady Buckeyes, only much more severe. Mckenzie Leroy scored two points in the third quarter, the only points Crooksville would have in the third quarter.
Nelsonville-York was too successful on defense. The Lady Buckeyes ran a press that Crooksville couldn’t crack, especially as the game went on. The Lady Ceramics did not score above 10 points in any quarter. Leroy led the Ceramics with eight points coming from one basket in each quarter.
The Buckeyes outscored Crooksville 27-9 in the second half. The game started ultra-physical, often coming close to going over a limit, but the physicality seemed to leave the court. A Crooksville coach received a technical late in the game and the fire had seemed to be burnt out.
The win gave Nelsonville-York its third consecutive sectional victory. The Lady Buckeyes (17-6) advanced to play North Adams on February 22. North Adams advanced with a 60-43 victory over Peebles also on Saturday.