Southeast District Division V
No. 2 Circleville 50, No. 7 Logan Elm 31
CIRCLEVILLE — They say it can be tough to beat a team three times in a season, and while Logan Elm made its host work for it, Circleville came out on top 50-31.
“I told the girls in the locker room after the game, it’s an uneasy feeling being a county rival, league opponent, third time, especially with as many shooters as they have. We knew we ‘d have our hands full,” Circleville coach Brian Bigam said. “I thought we were well-prepared for how they’d attack our zone. I thought, for the most part, especially early on, we executed pretty well. We had some lapses where they made us pay but we were able to build a big enough lead that we were able to be OK.”
This third matchup came in a Southeast District quarterfinal game Saturday afternoon where the Tigers’ defense limited Logan Elm’s opportunities.
Neither team got much scoring done in the opening eight minutes as the first quarter ended with Circleville up 6-3, but it was a 24-9 Tiger lead by halftime.
The Tigers limited LE to only five shots from the field in that second quarter and one rebound while building up the lead.
Addison Edgington led the way with seven points in the period while Maddie Blakeman had five, Mallory McConnell four and Maddux Bigam had two.
“We worked a few different lineups, but I thought bringing Mallory McConnell in and just letting Maddie run the point, that makes it tough because Mal has the ability to finish inside,” Bigam said. “With them doubling Addison, that gave her some one-on-one and some wide-open looks on the backside.”
Edgington added nine more as part of a 16-point third quarter for the Tigers as they extended their lead to 40-19.
While LE coach Mike Schultz said there were no surprises Saturday, Circleville’s size advantage made it tough to execute.
“You know exactly what they’re going to do, he doesn’t try to mix it up. He knows what he has, and he gets those kids as prepared as possible,” Schultz said. “We know we’re a 5-8 and under team. Maggie (Wilson) and Maleah (Gardner) worked their tails off (guarding Edgington, 6-2) and we even had to have Kimmy Petty (5-3) guarding Blakeman (5-8).”
The size advantage helped Circleville to a 41-23 rebounding advantage.
Edgington, who finished with 24 points, led CHS with 11 rebounds while Blakeman and Bigam each had five.
Kennedy Groff had eight rebounds for LE.
The Tigers were able to hold LE’s top scorer, Kiki Ingram, to three points in the first half, but she was able to finish with 21. Petty was LE’s next leading scorer with six.
“Her, Petty, Savage, Groff – those girls can all knock down threes,” Bigam said. “The zone changes from game to game in a sense and you have priorities in who you’re trying to find in the zone. Early on, we were able to find (Ingram).
“I try not to give her credit very often, but I thought Maddux and Kaylee (West) at the top of our zone did a great job identifying and making life somewhat miserable for their guards up top.”
The Braves wrap up their season with a 12-12 record.
“This is the season that life happened,” Schultz said. “Kennedy Groff was gone for the first nine, 10 games with a broken wrist, Gillian had knee pain, Molly Miller was coming off an ACL from last year, you had Emma (Largent), this was only her fifth game of the year with health issues and beyond that we had things that happen in life.
“Every coach always wants to say that there are so many life lessons you can use in the game of basketball and that’s what we were able to do this whole entire year.”
Circleville improves to 19-4 and will head to Southeastern High School Wednesday to take on McClain – a 32-31 winner over South Point Saturday.
The McClain Tigers are 22-1 on the season and Bigam will be spending some time Sunday reviewing game film to put together a plan for his team.
“I told them to rest up the rest of the day, rest Sunday and we’ll get in the gym sometime Monday morning,” Bigam said. “Essentially, it’s a three-game tournament, they won the first game and it’s on to Greenfield, who’s got now 22 wins. Obviously, they’ve done a lot of things right this season. We’ll have a game plan ready for them.”
Circleville 50, Logan Elm 31
Logan Elm — Kimmy Petty 2-0-6, Kiki Ingram 7-1-21, Molly Miller 0-1-1, Maggie Wilson 1-1-3. Three-point goals — Petty (2), Ingram (6). Totals — 10-39 3-6 31.
Circleville — Maddie Blakeman 4-3-12, Maddux Bigam 2-0-4, Kaylee West 0-2-2, Addison Edgington 10-4-24, Mallory McConnell 4-0-8. Three-point goals — Blakeman. Totals — 20-50 9-16 50.
Quarter scores 1 2 3 4 F
Logan Elm 3 6 10 12 31
Circleville 6 18 16 10 50