NON-CONFERENCE Kim Buhro steps up in second half, leads Fitch over Brookfield, 57-33

The Falcons led 12-0 and never trailed.
By GREG GULAS
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
AUSTINTOWN -- Kim Buhro scored 21 points and pulled down nine rebounds as Austintown Fitch High defeated visiting Brookfield 57-33 Thursday in a non-conference girls basketball game.
"Kim really kicked it up a notch for us in the second half," Falcon coach Mary Ann McGahagan said. "She is our go-to girl and really responded to the challenge."
Both teams were streaky. The Falcons (8-6) raced to a 12-0 lead in the first six minutes before Brookfield's Kaitlyn Nasci made a jump shot at the 1:55 mark.
The Falcons led 12-5 after one period of play.
"The Fitch zone press was tough for us," Warrior coach Tim Filipovich said. "Some transition buckets helped ease the pressure but their 1-2-2 trap gave us problems. Offensively we just couldn't hit in the second half."
The Warriors (5-7) scored the first six points of the second period to cut the deficit to 12-11. Nasci's 3-pointer capped an 11-0 run.
Long-awaited points: Buhro's jumper with just over five minutes remaining in the first half gave Fitch a 14-11 lead, ending a scoring drought of 6:09.
Corey Miller then scored six of Brookfield's final eight points in the quarter to make it 19-19 at halftime.
"Kim Buhro had an outstanding game for the Lady Falcons," Filipovich. "Her play at both ends of the court really hurt us."
The turning point was the third quarter.
Buhro scored 11 of her game-high 21 points and the Falcons held Brookfield to just two points to build a 36-21 lead. The Warriors had scoring droughts of 4:12 and 5:31 in the second half and could not catch up.
"We picked up our intensity in the third period and I was pleased with that," McGahagan said. "Defensively we were able to shut down their outside game and that really helped us in the second half."
Numbers: Fitch, which out-scored the Warriors 19-12 in the final period, was 23-of-50 from the field. Brookfield was 11-of-48, including just 4-of-21 on 3-pointers.
Fitch held a 38-35 advantage on the boards, as Buhro had nine rebounds. Simpson added 10 points and 10 rebounds. Katie McDermott had seven points and six rebounds.
"We took some poor shots in the first half and lost our intensity, but we were able to settle back into our game," McGahagan. "We did not play a full four quarters the way I would like us to and that can be costly."
Nasci finished 11 points for the Warriors while Holly DeMay had seven rebounds. Nasci and Katie Miller each added five rebounds.