Lady Knights survive opening-round thriller against Dover

  • By Kevin Lynch
  • February 25, 2010
  • 805
                        
When it comes to surviving in the tournament, it doesn’t matter if you win by 10 points or two points, as long as you win and get to practice for another game. That was the way West Holmes coach Lisa Patterson felt after the Lady Knights survived a fourth-quarter charge by the Dover Tornadoes to pull out a 39-35 victory in the Division II Sectional Monday, Feb. 22, at the Wigwam in Coshocton. “We go to practice tomorrow, that’s all I care about,” Patterson said. “That’s our goal at this point. Practice tomorrow. At this time of year, they should just love coming to practice, because that means we’re still playing.” The Lady Knights took a 10-8 lead after the opening eight minutes and stretched their lead to 21-16 at the half. West Holmes picked up its defensive intensity in the third quarter and forced Dover into seven turnovers out of 11 possessions, as the Lady Knights built a 34-25 lead after three. West Holmes twice had leads of 10 during the third period. “We knew going into this game, their pressure would be a factor,” Dover coach Bill Kennedy said. “We ran a one-four press break, but our turnovers added up.” When the Tornadoes were able to break the press, their inside players did a number on the Lady Knights. Ashlee Alsept and Tessa Hammond combined for 25 points and 21 rebounds, six of those on the offensive end. “We wanted to limit them to one shot. Obviously we didn’t do it, because they had 32 rebounds, 13 on the offensive boards” Patterson said. “We’re 5-10, 5-9 then about 5-5, and they are 6-1, 6-1, 5-10. We just wanted to do our best to limit their second looks. Their post players do a tremendous job inside of sealing and using their bodies well.” West Holmes split a pair of free throws, missed a 3-pointer and turned the ball over three times in the first four minutes of the fourth quarter, as Dover chipped away at the lead of the Lady Knights. Lindsey Arnold scored on a driving layup to give West Holmes a 37-31 lead, but back-to-back buckets by Hammond trimmed the lead to 37-35 with three minutes to play. The Lady Knights had two empty possessions, as did Dover. Alsept missed a pair of free throws that could’ve tied the game with 2:09 remaining. West Holmes missed the front end of the bonus on three consecutive trips down the floor, but the defense came up with a forced turnover to keep the lead for the Lady Knights. Bethany Molnar ripped an offensive rebound off the third missed free throw, which led to a pair of free throws by Justice Wright with 19 seconds remaining that secured the victory. “Bethany is probably the most focussed and determined kid we have, and that was evident on that play right there,” Patterson said. Molnar finished with eight points and three rebounds. Paige Asche led the Lady Knights with 11 points, including three 3-pointers. Lindsey Arnold and Wright chipped in six points apiece, and Jasmine Troyer added five. Mallori Vess (two) and Lindsy Snyder (one) rounded out the scoring for West Holmes. “We had our chances. We just didn’t capitalize,” Kennedy said. “We got it to one possession and didn’t capitalize. We turned the ball over. We missed free throws, and we didn’t box out on their last one. We had our chances.” Not looking for excuses, Kennedy did point out that Dover lost its point guard to an ACL injury before the season began, and never was able to fully recover. The defense forced Dover into 22 turnovers. The Tornadoes bow out with a 12-9 record. “I hope the girls are hungry. I hope they regroup and come back hungry and ready to work hard for next year,” he said. “I’m proud of the way they battled back down 10. Our seniors did a nice job.” West Holmes improved to 16-5 and advances to the sectional championship game Friday, Feb. 26, against Zanesville. “We did not take them lightly. Not once did we think we were going to come in here and dominate,” Patterson said. “When you come in here a No. 3 or four seed, like we typically are down here, every time you step on the floor it’s a battle... which builds character.”


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