Sports
Nelsonville-York Wins District Championship
By: Patrick Klinger
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The top-seeded Nelsonville-York Lady Buckeyes have been crowned District 3 champions with their convincing victory over the second seeded South Point Lady Pointers 43-26.
On N-Y’s opening defensive possession, senior guard Brooke Breeze anticipated a pass to the top of the key and took it the other way for a bucket. Breeze acted as a thief all game long, relieving the Lady Pointers of the ball for seven total steals.
Coming into this game, The Lady Bucks had forced an average of 23.5 turnovers per game in postseason play. This game turned out to be no different, as they harassed South Point into committing another 22 before the final buzzer sounded.
One drawback of such an aggressive defensive game plan is the risk of getting players in foul trouble. Madison Davis and Jennah Addis were forced to sit and watch most of the second quarter with two fouls, trying not to pick up a third before the break. Consequently, the Lady Bucks struggled, shooting only one for nine during the second.
Although Coach Amanda Dalton had to sit two of her starters for a long period of time, she didn’t show any sign of reluctance playing her younger players. Freshman Samantha Taylor and sophomore Tori Campbell both contributed with some big minutes. Even without a consistent offense, they matched the defensive intensity of the starters.
“The way we finished the second quarter was huge,” Dalton said. “We weren’t even at full strength, but the defensive effort kept us in the game.”
The second half turned out to be much of the same. South Point simply could not find any easy looks on offense, and N-Y patiently ran through their sets to get open shots.Kaitlyn Hurd led the Lady Buckeyes with 11 points, nine of which came at the free throw line, to go along with 12 boards. Davis complimented her with ten points and Angela Meade added another nine to their balanced attack.
Nelsonville-York will now look forward to a matchup with the winner of Beverly Fort Frye and Sugarcreek Garaway on Wednesday, March 5 at Logan High School. Dalton is certainly buying into the old saying, “Defense wins championships.” She feels confident that they will have to lean on their defensive intensity to compete in their upcoming regional battle.