by JACOB MEREDITH / sportingpumpkin.com
CARROLL — Circleville used a big defensive second half to win a pivotal MSL match-up against Bloom-Carroll 51-34 and stay unbeaten.
The Tigers were trailing 21-19 coming out of the half and drew first blood on a score from Addison Edgington. BC kept the game tight for the first part of the quarter before the Tigers converted four straight scores to grab a sizeable lead.
The third period’s scoring ended on a three-pointer from BC’s Whitney Passen to close Circleville’s edge to 37-29. The Tigers held BC to 3-11 shooting from the field during the quarter to get the top spot on the scoreboard.
Fast out of the gate in the fourth, BC’s Marissa Wilkenson dropped a three and the Tigers answered with a Faith Yancey layup to make the score 39-32. Passen hit a jumper then Circleville took the ball down the court where Gabby McConnell drew a foul and sunk both free throws. Yancey added another layup to put the Tigers back ahead by nine.
Circleville’s final eight points of the game came from Edgington who finished with a game-high 23 points, 17 in the second half.
Maddie Blakeman had 12 points for the Tigers — eight in the first quarter — and McConnell had 10. They each had seven rebounds as well.
Yancey finished with six points.
The night was opened by Bloom when Wilkinson scored, answered with a Circleville basket by McConnell. However, two consecutive baskets by Bloom-Carroll forced an early time-out from Circleville with 4:30 left in the first.
“We missed a few assignments in the first quarter and my message was just to keep doing your job,” CHS coach Brian Bigam said.
The quarter ended with BC on top 15-13.
The second quarter stayed tight with the Tigers grabbing their first lead late when Edgington scored off a rebound, but BC’s Emily Bratton hit a contested three with multiple Tigers in her face to give BC the 21-19 halftime lead.
“Bratton is just a hard player to take completely out of the equation and they hit shots early,” Bigam said.
Bratton and Wilkinson led the Bulldogs (9-4, 5-2) with nine points each and Passen and Tessa Brooks each had five.
Circleville (12-0, 7-0) hosts Amanda-Clearcreek Saturday night.
Circleville 51, Bloom-Carroll 34
Circleville — Faith Yancey 3-0-6, Maddie Blakeman 6-0-12, Addison Edgington 10-3-23, Gabby McConnell 3-2-10. Three-point goals — McConnell (2). Total — 22-5-51.
Bloom-Carroll — Whitney Passen 2-0-5, Tessa Brooks 2-0-5, Emily Bratton 3-1-9, Natalie Lang 1-0-2, Chuck Conrad 2-0-4, Marissa Wilkinson 3-0-9. Three-point goals — Passen, Brooks, Bratton (2), Wilkinson (3). Total — 13-1-34.
Quarter scores 1 2 3 4 F
Circleville 13 6 18 14 51
Bloom-Carroll 15 6 8 5 34
