Central District Division V
No. 4 Amanda-Clearcreek 46, No. 2 North Union 30
RICHWOOD — Amanda-Clearcreek had a strong start to Wednesday’s Central District semifinal on the way to upsetting second-seeded North Union 46-30.
Getting to a district championship game didn’t seem likely for the No. 4 seeded Aces after a rough finish to regular season.
“We lost five-in-a-row to end the season. We had a really tough injury to a very talented player. It was just like a double gut punch — so to come in here and get this win on the road and go play for a district title, I’m so proud of these girls,” AC coach Tim Leist said. “It feels great. I’m super proud of these girls, they’ve earned it and the coaching staff did a phenomenal job prepping them.”
The Aces got out to a 14-4 lead and led 14-8 by the end of the first quarter.
“Getting off to a quick start was big. We’d had that problem throughout the season getting off to a slow start,” Leist said. “That was big building that momentum as the game went on and the girls are really starting to believe in themselves after such a crappy end to the season.”
AC scored the final six points of the second to take a 30-17 lead at the half.
The teams traded a couple of baskets in the third before AC had a nine-point run and ended the quarter with a 44-25 lead.
“That was our message at halftime, we’ve been in this situation before – we’ve just got to close the door,” Leist said. “We did a good job of that in the third quarter. We hit some big shots. Defensively, I thought the zone worked really well.”
Carrying a big lead into the fourth, the Aces chose to work the clock, and the Wildcats couldn’t take advantage of their own opportunities.
AC added only two free throws to its total in the fourth, but North Union was 2-10 from the field.
Even though his team was able to eat up big chunks of time, including taking more than a minute off on one possession, Leist was still a little nervous.
“In that fourth quarter, I was a little concerned – I was like, we need a bucket,” he said. “I hate playing not to lose, but it also was one of those things where if we can go ahead and continue to chew up clock, let’s get out of here and move on.”
Taylor Evans led the Aces with 16 points and 10 rebounds and Kaylie Wilson hit three threes as part of a 13-point night. Gavyn Sowers had eight points and eight rebounds.
The Aces finished with a 37-21 rebounding advantage.
Gabby Lindsey led North Union (20-4) with 11 points.
The Aces (14-10) play for a district championship against No. 1 seed Johnstown-Monroe at Ohio Dominican University Saturday.
AC and Johnstown (20-3) met up in the regular season with the Johnnies picking up a 48-39 win.
Tipoff is set for 12:30 p.m.
Amanda-Clearcreek 46, North Union 30
Amanda-Clearcreek — Makenna Singleton 3-0-6, Allie Leist 1-0-3, Gavyn Sowers 3-1-8, Taylor Evans 4-7-16, Kaylie Wilson 5-0-13. Three-point goals — Leist, Sowers, Evans, Wilson (3). Totals — 16-37 8-12 46.
North Union — Kailin McElroy 2-0-5, Brenna Martino 1-0-2, Glory Blevins 1-1-3, Gabby Lindsey 5-0-11, Kennedy Harrah 2-0-5, Kailyn Colegrove 2-0-4. Three-point goals — McElroy, Lindsey, Harrah. Totals — 13-49 1-2 30.
Quarter scores 1 2 3 4 F
Amanda-Clearcreek 14 16 14 2 46
North Union 8 9 8 5 30
Southeast District Division IV
No. 2 Circleville 46, No. 3 McClain 25
CHILLICOTHE — Circleville overcame a slow start to advance to a Southeast District semifinal Saturday with a 46-25 win over McClain at Southeastern High School.
After McClain scored the game’s first five points, Circleville scored the next six and the quarter ended in a 6-6 tie. The half ended with CHS up 16-14.
Circleville sophomore Addison Edgington put in 11 of her game-high 23 points in the third quarter as her team extended the lead to 29-21.
McClain (22-2) was unable to convert from the field in the final period as Circleville improved to 20-4.
Circleville returns to Southeastern Saturday afternoon for a 5 p.m. title showdown with MSL rival and No. 1 seed Fairfield Union (24-0).
Quarter scores 1 2 3 4 F
McClain 6 8 7 4 25
Circleville 6 10 13 17 46