by JOHN HOWLEY / sportingpumpkin.com
AMANDA — Amanda-Clearceek had a 20-point lead at the half, which it used to hold off a run from visiting Logan Elm on the way to a 55-36 win Tuesday night.
Taylor Evans had seven first-quarter points, Hailey Sowers had six and Kailey Wilson added a basket as the Aces got out to a 15-4 lead.
After turning the ball over six time in the first quarter, the Braves turned it over eight more in the second as AC extended its lead to 28-8 at the half.
AC looked like it might run away with the game in the third as the Aces opened with a three from Wilson, a pair of free throws from Evans and then another Evans basket to get up 35-8.
“We knew they were going to make a run,” AC coach Tim Leist said. “It’s just a matter of coming out and being aggressive and putting the game away — which we did not do.”
LE wasn’t ready to give in and a combination of Hannah Rhoads, Kimmy Petty, Maggie Wilson, Kennedy Groff and Kiannah Ingram scored the next 13 points to close to 35-21 and the score was 37-22 entering the fourth.
“Our message at halftime was, ‘What kind of team are we? What kind of team do we want to be?’ LE coach Mike Schultz said. “The first half, we know if we start out slow and if the first couple of shots don’t go in, that kind of shooting is contagious for us.
“Defensively, in the first half, we lost containment, lost assignments. That’s the second half in a row where we scored eight points and we’re not going to compete with very many teams with eight points in a half.
“We made a little bit of a run,” Schultz added. “But we dug ourselves an extremely big hole against a very good team.”
AC settled down in the final period and never let the Braves get closer than 15 points the rest of the night.
“Our girls responded and got a couple of buckets,” Leist said. “Those are things we’ve got to clean up.
“We’ve got three games until the tournament draw, so we’re trying to build up the wins before the draw to secure that higher seed.”
Evans ended the night as the game’s leading scorer with 21 points and Sowers scored 13.
While only showing up for two points in the box score, having Grace Davis back on the floor after an eight-game absence for a hand injury is something Leist is excited about as his team prepares for the post season.
“She’s been through so much with the injury last year and then the injury this year. You could tell her conditioning is a little behind and that’s the plan to gradually bring her back in,” he said.
Davis was averaging 8.1 points per game before the injury and the Aces are planning on working her back up to full go for the second season.
“We’re thinking February 20th right now because that’s our first tournament game,” Leist sad. “You can tell she just brings that energy for us, and I’m tickled to death for her because she’s worked hard and now she’s dealt with this.”
Ingram had 10 points in the fourth quarter to lead the Braves with Petty adding nine.
Schultz said he told his players that the team that was battling, getting after loose balls and making plays in the second half is the one he wants to see moving forward.
“I told the girls that tomorrow, when they come into practice, the team that we’re hoping to be has to be the same team there,” he said.
The Braves (7-9, 3-7) have a busy week still ahead with a road trip to Athens Thursday night and then a trip to Bloom-Carroll Saturday afternoon.
The Aces (13-4, 7-3) head to Liberty Union Saturday.
Amanda-Clearcreek 55, Logan Elm 36
Logan Elm — Kimmy Petty 4-0-9. Hannah Rhoads 1-0-3, Enaja Fischer 0-1-1. Kiannah Ingram 3-7-13, Clara Wilson 0-2-2. Kennedy Groff 2-0-6, Maggie Wilson 1-0-2. Three-point goals — Petty, Rhoads, Groff (2). Total — 11-10-36.
Amanda-Clearcreek — Katie Kemmerling 1-1-3, Grace Davis 1-0-2, Rachel Weaver 3-1-7, Allie Leist 1-0-2, Hailey Sowers 5-1-13, Taylor Evans 6-8-21, Kailey Wilson 3-0-7. Three-point goals — Sowers (2), Evans, Wilson. Total — 20-10-55.
Quarter scores 1 2 3 4 F
Logan Elm 4 4 14 14 36
Amanda-Clearcreek 15 13 9 18 55
