December 21, 2006 – Lewisburg, Ohio

Tri-Village Lady Patriots took on the Tri-County North Lady Panthers this evening in a Cross County Conference match-up. The Patriots were coming off two straight wins while the Panthers dropped their last two games… but going in they owned a better record than the PATS.

Kaila Burns got the PATS on the board first with a steal and a lay-up. Tri-County North answered with a three-point shot that banked in to go up 3-2.

The Patriots with a sizeable height advantage went to work in the half court offense by pounding the ball inside. Jordyn Fisherback and Tina Allison both scored in the sets. Tina then knocked down an elbow jumper to go up 8-3.

Then the Tri-County North was whistled for a technical when the officials realized that there was an error with the home teams scorebook and player personnel. Amelia Frazier sank both and Tri-Village led 10-3 at 2:57.

The Panthers answered with a basket from Brittan Mullins and then consecutive drives from Rachel Heindl to make it 11-9 with 30 seconds to play. Tina Allison was able to score one more time for the PATS to end the period up 13-9.

In the second period North employed full-court pressure that began to rattle T-V slowing them down offensively by not allowing them to get into the half-court. At the 1:55 mark Chelsea Tilton grabbed a big rebound and stuck it back in to give North their first lead of the game 19-18.

Tri-Village was able to score with 7 seconds remaining in the half on a runner by Amelia Frazier to regain the lead 20-19.

In the opening part of the third quarter both teams traded baskets until Tiffany Daugherty dropped in a bomb to give North the lead once again 23-22. Another Amelia Frazier drive for two gave the Patriots the lead back and they wouldn’t relinquish it the rest of the way.

North settled into a 2-3 zone and the Patriots showed maturity and patience working the ball as they methodically broke open a close game. They found seams in the zone throwing over the top and using their size advantage. Patriots’ Tina Allison and Kaley Stahl scored 6 points each while Jordyn Fisherback netted 5 points to open up a 38-27 advantage after three quarters of play.

The Patriots entered the final stanza seemingly in control of the game but TCN was all but through. With the Patriots holding a 46-37 lead with two minutes to go the undersized Panthers put on an all out blitz off their press and was able to score six consecutive points off steals and missed Patriot lay-ups to close within three-points down 46-43 with a minute to play.

The Patriots of old folded in similar situations… but held their composure and Tina Allison provided the finishing touch by netting two free throws to close out the big conference win 48-43.

Afterwards Coach Brad Gray said “I felt our girls turned the corner tonight. They showed some maturity… we had players step forward and lead when we needed them.”

“Tina Allison is playing well, she is making good decisions and showing her all around game. She can score inside and showed her versatility by scoring from the high post area as well to record another double-double with 20 points and 12 rebounds.

“Kaley Stahl’s senior leadership showed tonight with big plays and she picked apart their zone with nice passes into the paint to help us get some easy scores.”

“Amelia Frazier is really starting to understand her role at the point… I know she isn’t comfortable with the position but she is doing a better job.”

Coach Gray’s final comment, “it was a big win for the team, everyone contributed and tonight we grew up a little bit along the way.”

The win improves Tri-Village’s record to 5-4 overall and 2-3 in conference play.

Scoring:

By Quarters
T-V 13 7 18 10 – 48
TCN 9 10 8 16 – 43

T-V (Record: 5-4, 2-3)
Stahl 6
Burns 7
Allison 20
Frazier 7
Fisherback 8
Totals 48

TCN
Schlater 2
Daugherty 13
Whitaker 2
Heindl 10
Mullins 5
Tilton 2
Thompson 9
Totals 43

Three Pointers:
T-V (1): Burns – 1
TCN (4): Daugherty – 3, Thompson – 1