Poland's defense leads Bulldogs to victory over Niles

The Ursuline and Salem girls enjoyed easy victories.
NILES -- The Poland High girls basketball team turned in a strong defensive performance to upend Niles 34-21 Saturday in their Metro Athletic Conference opener.
The Red Dragons weren't able to solve the Bulldogs' defense with only three of their players getting into the scoring column.
In the low-scoring contest, Poland took a 10-5 lead in the first quarter and held a 16-8 margin at intermission.
After the schools each tallied nine points in the third period, Poland put the game away with a 9-3 spurt in the final quarter.
Taryn Carlson sparked Poland (4-1, 1-0) with 13 points. Kristy Gaudiose chipped in with 11.
Stacia Ray paced Niles (2-4, 0-1) with 13 points.
Ursuline 65, Chaney 45: YOUNGSTOWN -- Ursuline jumped out to a 21-7 first-quarter lead.
Sophomore Courtney Davidson scored 26 of her 31 points in the second and third quarters .
Mahogani Graves added 12 points for the Irish (4-1), and Christina Cook and Amber Miller each grabbed eight rebounds.
Joselyn Parker led Chaney (2-4) with 19 points and Sumya McElroy added 11. Donelle Eldridge grabbed 14 rebounds.
Salem 60, Struthers 24: SALEM -- In winning its MAC opener, the Quakers' defense limited Struthers to four points in the first quarter, five in the third and five in the fourth.
The margin of victory was Salem's largest since it defeated Wilson 75-27 in the 2000 sectional semifinals.
It was Salem's 11th straight victory over the Wildcats, and the Quakers (6-2) lead the series 25-20.
Alyson Cotter paced Salem with 18 points. Tiffanie Heestand chipped in with 14.
Sarah Sepesy led the Wildcats (1-5, 0-1) with 11 points.
Waterloo 68, Jackson-Milton 23: WATERLOO -- Katy Williams scored 16 points, while Cassie Bedord added 10 to lead a well-balanced attack for Waterloo (5-1), which used a 23-point third to peel away to a romp.
Sarah Johnson had eight points to spark Jackson-Milton (1-5).
Sebring 49, Lordstown 29: LORDSTOWN -- Kim Brunie had a game-high 14 points for Sebring, which took an 11-5 lead after one quarter and held on for the 20-point victory.
For Lordstown, senior center Emily Freudenrich had 10 points, while junior Natalie Bailey collected seven of Lordstown's 20 rebounds.
Boys: HUBBARD -- Jason Lenzi of Hubbard and Salem's Travis Mong went on a scoring duel in a non-league boys basketball battle.
Lenzi had 25 points as Hubbard won 64-57 Saturday, while Mong hit four 3-pointers in his 20-point game for the Quakers (1-3).
Matt Smith was in with 16 points and Joe Sivulich had 11 points for Hubbard (2-2).
The score was tied at 44-all after three quarters.
Zak Grey scored 10 points for the Quakers.
United 70, East Canton 47: EAST CANTON -- Senior forward/guard Evan Peters scored 29 points and grabbed 12 of United's 38 rebounds as the Eagles bounced back from a one-point loss to Lisbon on Friday.
The Eagles fell behind after one quarter, 21-18, before recovering to hold the Hornets to nine in the next eight minutes. Nick Schneider added nine points and nine assists for the winners (3-2). Matt Jozwiakowski's 15 points led East Canton.
East Liverpool 52, New Philadelphia 33: EAST LIVERPOOL -- The Potters led 20-18 at the half but opened the third quarter on an 11-0 run to win their fifth straight.
Josh Reed scored 10 of his 13 points in the 21-point third for the Potters (5-1). Brett Green led the way with 15 points.
Logan Tidrick had 12 points for New Philadelphia (1-3).