No. 3 Teays Valley 52, No. 4 Westerville Central 37
COLUMBUS — Teays Valley rode a hot start all the way to the school’s first district title in 29 years when the Vikings took down Westerville Central 52-37 Friday night.
“These girls are so deserving of it. They worked hard all year,” TV coach Tracy Rieke said. “Coming in being a new coach you don’t know what you’re going to get from them or what to expect. And I had high expectations this summer, just seeing them and working with them, and they never let me down.
“They worked hard night in and night out and just such a great group of kids on and off the court. And for the school, 29 years here, it’s something special.”
Playing in the Taft Coliseum at the Ohio Expo Center, the Central District Division II championship got started with a basket from Central’s Ella Martin in the opening minute, for what would be the Warhawks’ only lead of the night.
Arayana Karshner hit a three 30 seconds later for the Vikings. Cami Robins followed with a three a bit later, then Avery Mann scored and Karshner converted a WC turnover into points for a 10-2 Viking lead about three minutes in.
Karshner followed the next two WC baskets with more three-pointers.
Tessa Horsley then came through with a steal and layup for TV.
Following another WC score, Amelia Brumfield hit a three and then closed out the period’s scoring with a steal and a layup to give TV a 23-8 lead.
“You talk about the first four minutes being key, and they really came out, and I could tell that they were locked in in pregame,” Rieke said. “I honestly wasn’t worried about the backdrop for them. Throughout the year, we shot a pretty low percentage, and so just recently, really against Logan, and this game, our percentage has really come along, and I couldn’t be more proud of them.”
The Vikings were 9-15 from the field in the first quarter but the shooting woes returned in the second when they went 1-12. But Central was only slightly better (1-9) as the teams went in at halftime with the score 26-12.
“The second quarter, it was kind of a drought,” Rieke said. “We fought through that adversity, and we hung on and we found a way to win tonight.”
TV was 5-8 from the field and 5-7 from the line in the third to extend the lead to 42-23.
Along with hitting some timely shots throughout the night, the Vikings were also getting after it on the boards as they outrebounded Central 32-21. Karshner and Horsley each grabbed nine.
“You know, they’ve got a couple big girls in there, and we really boxed out — one and done — and pushed in transition,” Rieke said.
Along with leading the team in rebounding, Horsley (17 points) and Karshner (15 points) led the team in scoring, as well.
Martin led Central with 14.
The Vikings advance to a regional semifinal on Tuesday night against Big Walnut. The Golden Eagles were the No. 1 seed in the Central District and dispatched No. 8 Bishop Watterson 60-34 in the game prior to the Vikings’.
The game will take place at Ridgedale High School in Morral, also the site of TV’s 1997 regional semifinal, with the tip set for 8 p.m.
No. 3 Teays Valley 52, No. 4 Westerville Central 37
Westerville Central — Audrey Nowell 1-0-3, Cami Hewett 2-0-6, Audrey Reed 2-0-5, Sacoya Jackson 2-0-4, Ella Martin 6-2-14, Lauren Turner 1-3-5. Three-point goals — Nowell, Hewitt (2), Reed. Totals — 14-39 5-6 37.
Teays Valley — Amelia Brumfield 3-0-8, Hailey Mathews 1-0-2, Cooper McManaway 0-3-3, Cami Robins 1-0-3, Areyana Karshner 5-2-15, Avery Mann 1-2-4, Tessa Horsley 7-3-17. Three-point goals — Brumfield (2), Robbins, Karshner (3). Totals — 18-44 10-15 52.
Quarter scores 1 2 3 4 F
Westerville Central 8 4 11 14 37
Teays Valley 23 3 16 10 52
