by JACOB MEREDITH / sportingpumpkin.com
A stiff zone was in place in this rivalry matchup between Logan Elm and Circleville where the Lady Tigers came out victorious 50-28.
The opening jumper was canned by Logan Elm’s Kimmy Petty for three. (Petty led the Braves in scoring with 13 on the night.) Then Circleville’s Maddie Blakeman drained a long two and started her hot night from the field as she scored 21 points. The Tigers’ Addison Edgington added a layup of her own early on the way to a 16-point and eight-rebound night.
“We were trying to use the size advantage and rebound, which we struggled with against Amanda-Clearcreek, and Maddie and Addison did a better job tonight,” Circleville coach Brian Bigam said.
Faith Yancey added a layup on her own and the Braves’ Kiannah Ingram matched the Tiger basket with a hard drive. Ingram tallied six points in the box score for Logan Elm.
“We have a couple of outstanding players in Kimmy and Kiki that could hold their own with anybody and Circleville’s size hurt those plans, we envisioned them running a zone on us and they did a great job,” LE coach Mike Schultz said.
Circleville’s Maddie Blakeman closed the scoring in the first with a deep three that secured a Tiger lead of 16-11.
Circleville opened the second with much of the same when Blakeman drained another three to start the scoring. The Braves’ only scores came from a three from Hannah Rhoads and two foul shots from Petty. The Tigers defense held Logan Elm to 1-5 shooting in the quarter and 36 percent for the half.
“I feel we moved pretty well in our zone, and we identified their shooters well,” Bigam said.
“We knew they were going to run this defense with their size and also with Circleville’s zone there were going to be opportunities and tonight we couldn’t find them due to Eddiginton and McConnell being in the paint,” Schultz said.
Yancey added to her total on the night with a breakaway steal and easy lay in in the second quarter and the scoring ended with an Edgington basket as the Tigers’ lead swelled to 26-16 at the half.
The Braves showed life in the third.
“One thing I will never question is our effort, we went out there and competed against a good defensive team and I believe Kimmy and Kiki can break down any defense,” Schultz said.
Logan Elm pulled to within six points in the early minutes of the quarter. Circleville began to pull back ahead when Blakeman hit a three as she had nine of her 21 in the period.
The Tigers forced the Braves to shoot 3-11 from the field in the quarter and take a 38-23 into the fourth.
“I thought we did a lot good off things offensively and I was pleased with our effort defensively as well,” Bigam said.
The fourth would begin with an Edgington basket and she followed it with a block and down-court pass to Blakeman who drove in for two.
Logan Elm would counter with yet another deep three from Petty but a basket from Cadence Haupt was the only other scoring the Braves managed in the final quarter.
Circleville 50, Logan Elm 28
Logan Elm — Kimberly Petty 4-2-13, Hannah Rhoades 1-0-3, Kiannah Ingram 2-1-6, Clara Wilson 1-0-2, Emma Largent 2-0-4, Cadence Haupt 1-0-2. Three-point goals — Petty (3), Ingram. Total — 11-3-28.
Circleville — Kaelin Burchett 1-0-2, Faith Yancey 4-0-8, Maddie Blakeman 9-2-21, Addison Edgington 8-0-16, Gabby McConnell 1-0-3. Three-point goals — Blakeman, McConnell. Total — 23-2-50.
Quarter scores 1 2 3 4 F
Logan Elm 11 5 7 5 28
Circleville 16 10 12 12 50
