Lady Knights pull out Sectional title

  • By Kevin Lynch
  • March 4, 2010
  • 622
                        
The door to the basket was left ajar, but whenever Zanesville tried to enter, the defense of the Lady Knights would slam the door shut. Good thing, too, because the West Holmes offense had a hard time hanging on to the ball, committing 28 turnovers. But they held on to it long enough to post a 37-28 triumph over Zanesville to secure the Division II Sectional title Friday, Feb. 26, at the Wigwam in Coshocton. “We all pulled together and worked hard and did what we needed to do in the end and we pulled out a win,” said West Holmes senior Bethany Molnar, who was her usual force on the boards with eight rebounds along with playing tough, in-your-face defense. West Holmes held the Blue Devils to a woeful 4-for-27 shooting performance in the first half and things didn’t get much better for Zanesville in the second half, when they made 8-of-29. “We were probably our own worst enemy more so than Zanesville,” West Holmes coach Lisa Patterson said. “We don’t typically have as many turnovers as we had tonight. Fortunately, it didn’t affect the outcome of the game. “We rebounded well tonight. I think we made up for our lack of rebounding Monday,” Patterson added. West Holmes held a 44-28 advantage on the boards Lindsy Snyder had a huge night for the Lady Knights, scoring 11 points and muscling down 14 rebounds, including four offensive boards. “Lindsy has been averaging close to a double-double for us down the stretch,” Patterson said. West Holmes opened the game with a 3-pointer from Paige Asche, but then worked it inside to Snyder and Mallori Vess to take a 9-4 lead after one. The Lady Knights continued to try and pound it inside in the second quarter. Snyder got fouled and split a pair of free throws and scored on a stickback to give the Lady Knights a 14-8 advantage. West Holmes stole the inbounds pass and Asche canned another triple to give the Lady Knights a 17-8 lead midway through the second quarter. The lead was 20-12 at intermission. Zanesville came up empty on two shots to open the third quarter and Snyder answered with a bucket to put West Holmes up 10. But several careless passes coupled with the Devils’ trapping defense forced the Lady Knights into one turnover after another and Zanesville began chipping away at the deficit. Buckets by Kaile Howe and Madison Baldwin pulled the Devils within three, 25-22 late in the third quarter. Snyder scored to put West Holmes up 27-22 heading into the final frame. “Kailee Howe is a tough player, and I thought Lindsey Arnold did a tremendous job of making her work for everything she got,” Patterson said. “Lindsey may not have put up great numbers on the offensive end, but her assignment was to stop No. 4, and she did that.” Howe finished with 12 points, but made only five-of-15 shots, missing all three 3-pointers she attempted. The senior point guard for West Holmes finished with seven points and two assists, but also made seven turnovers. Arnold did, however deftly drain a clutch 3-pointer that gave West Holmes a six-point lead, 30-24, with 3:30 remaining. “I finally got something to fall,” Arnold said. “I haven’t been making my shots lately. We’re not very consistent, yet, but at least we get to keep on playing.” After Arnold’s 3-pointer, it was a parade to the free throw line the rest of the way for West Holmes, where the Lady Knights managed only 4-of-14 over the final 3:07. Yet, thanks to tough defense and cold shooting by the Devils, the Lady Knights were able to secure the win and end Zanesville’s season with a 17-5 record. Asche led West Holmes with 12 points and seven rebounds. Vess chipped in four points and Justice Wright added three. Molnar didn’t score, but contributed in other ways to the Lady Knights’ victory. The senior celebrated her third sectional championship, but doesn’t take winning for granted. “I come to practice every day working hard, trying to get better, for my team and for myself so that we can go as far as we can,” Molnar said. West Holmes advances to the District semifinals Wednesday, March 3, at Tri-Valley High School against Cambridge.


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