GIRLS BASKETBALL Struthers satisfies its appetite with a win

Ariel Hardy ignited the Wildcats against Chaney.
By TOM WILLIAMS
VINDICATOR SPORTS STAFF
STRUTHERS -- After losses to Boardman and Girard, the Struthers High girls basketball team was hungry for its first win of the young season.
Saturday, senior guard Ariel Hardy, who Struthers coach Anne Wilson describes as the team's "sparkplug," ignited the Wildcats to a 49-29 victory over Chaney at Struthers Fieldhouse.
Hardy scored a career-high 18 points, including nine in the fourth quarter as the Wildcats pulled away.
"Ariel is a sparkplug," Wilson said. "She did make a big difference for us in the fourth quarter."
Wilson said Hardy's gifts include "quick feet. She anticipates the ball very well, can read it and makes a lot of things happen. She gets the right hand out and gets a steal. She's pretty consistent scoring on the other end of the floor."
Hardy said getting a win "was good to boost the confidence level of the whole team.
"We just came out of an 0-2 run, someone needed to step it up as a leader and I thought it was my turn," Hardy said.
Hardy netted six points in the first quarter on a 3-pointer and three free throws as Struthers jumped out to a 19-4 advantage.
Junior guard Kristy Marapese, who finished with 12 points, connected for two 3-pointers in the opening frame.
Despite making nine turnovers and missing nine shots in the first eight minutes, the Cowgirls refused to quit.
Chaney pestered the Wildcats into several turnovers and missed shots while posting an 11-2 run that cut the Wildcats' lead to six points.
Sumya McElroy, who led Chaney (0-2) with 11 points, scored three baskets for six points in the run.
"We're improving," Chaney coach Tim Bakos said. "I have a young team and they've got a lot of heart.
"We're in a rebuilding year and it's going to take them time to pick our schemes up," Bakos said, adding that he felt the Cowgirls played "100 percent better" than in their opening blowout loss to Fitch.
Struthers regained its cushion by scoring the next five points for a 26-15 halftime lead.
Both teams struggled with missed shots and turnovers in the first four minutes of the third quarter. McElroy's 3-pointer reduced the Struthers lead to 28-18.
But that's as close that Chaney would get the rest of the way.
Marapese turned the tide in the Wildcats' favor, scoring her third 3-pointer and a basket to open up a 33-18 lead.
In the fourth quarter, Hardy scored four baskets including a 3-pointer as the Wildcats ran away.
"Any win feels good, whether it's first, last, whatever," Wilson said.
Wilson said that while the Wildcats stayed close to Boardman for three quarters, 37 turnovers proved costly.
And in a seesaw battle with Girard, 21 percent shooting doomed the Wildcats.
"You don't deserve to win when you shoot 21 percent and make 29 turnovers," Wilson said. "Today, we were hoping to cut down our turnovers and shoot a little better, which we did."