Tuesday, February 24, 2004
The Rebels will share the league title with Columbiana.
By CHUCK HOUSTEAU
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
COLUMBIANA -- The Leetonia High girls basketball team kept Crestview from winning the Tri-County League championship outright by upsetting the Rebels 45-41 Friday.
Crestview (16-4, 12-2) earned a share of the title last Monday by defeating Columbiana but needed to beat Leetonia (14-6, 11-3) to avoid sharing the title with the Clippers (12-2).
Jessica Deville keyed the win by pouring in a game-high 24 points and grabbing 10 rebounds.
The senior, who will play for the University of Akron next year, helped the Bears overturn a 50-23 home loss to the Rebels earlier this year.
"This was a big win for us," said Leetonia coach Jerry Beltempo. "I just wanted to play a good game against a quality opponent on their court that would help us get ready for the tournament."
The win was also Leetonia's 17th straight league road win compiled over the past three seasons.
"There's something about playing on the road," Beltempo said. "I really don't know why we do, but we do play better on the road."
Still champs
Crestview, on the other hand, had a chance to win its first title since 1995 before a huge home crowd.
"We're still Tri-County League champs," said Crestview coach Tanja Simione. "We won the [Columbiana] game that counted. We're glad to have the trophy.
"If we don't pull out that game, tonight means nothing."
The Rebels struggled all night against Leetonia to get their offense going and at one point trailed by 11 points, 27-16, late in the third quarter.
Crestview rallied to outscore the Bears 9-2 the rest of the quarter and trailed by four heading into the fourth quarter.
In the final eight minutes, Deville was almost unstoppable. She scored eight points in the fourth quarter and 16 in the second half on 7-of-8 shooting from the field.
Her effort enabled Leetonia to fight off the furious rally that pulled the Rebels to within a point several times in the last minutes.
A basket by Amy McCluskey and free throws by Megan McLaughlin sealed the win for the Bears.
"I'm happy with our effort," Simione said. "We just ran out of time."
Good defense
Beltempo said that defense and Deville are a lethal combination for his team.
"We're the best defensive team in the league," Beltempo said. "We just have trouble scoring. Defensively we can play."
And Deville?
"She's the best player in the league," Beltempo said. "She proved that tonight with her effort on both ends of the court."
Deville guarded Crestview's 6-2 senior center Katie Kibby and limited the career 1,000-point scorer to just five points. Kibby did grab a team-high 10 rebounds.
Brianne Phillis led the Rebels with 17 points, while freshman Elyse Mongillo added nine.
Alison Summers scored 11 points and grabbed nine rebounds for Leetonia.