White rallies Liberty to victory

West Branch and Girard cruised to easy victories.
AUSTINTOWN -- Ashley White scored the game's final four points as the Liberty High girls basketball team held off a late Struthers rally for a 47-41 victory Wednesday in the Division II sectional at Austintown Fitch.
Struthers' Holly Hickenbottom made a jumper to cut the deficit to 43-41 with two minutes to go, but White scored on a layup and two free throws to help the Leopards (15-6) pull away.
Brittny Humphrey led Liberty with 15 points, 11 rebounds, three steals and two blocks. Lena Esmail added 17 points, White had seven points and 11 rebounds, and Meghan Harshbargar had six assists.
Hickenbottom finished with 22 points -- including 4-of-8 shooting on 3-pointers -- and five rebounds for the Wildcats (4-17).
Liberty, which led 10-0 to start the game, committed 19 of its 28 turnovers in the second half.
The Leopards next will play Poland Saturday at 1 p.m. at Fitch.
West Branch 59, Alliance 20
UNIONTOWN -- Ashley Armstrong had 12 points, six rebounds, six assists and five steals to lead West Branch in the Div. II sectional at Lake High School.
Crystal Bryte added 11 points and five rebounds for the top-seeded Warriors (20-1), who shot 24-of-52 from the field.
Tori Arndt had seven points, seven rebounds and four assists.
Megan Geiger had nine points and nine rebounds for Alliance, which shot 3-of-27 from the field.
Division III
ROOTSTOWN -- Second-seeded Waterloo built a 42-20 halftime lead en route to a 76-32 victory over Newton Falls at Rootstown High.
Cara Bedard led Waterloo (21-1) with 20 points. Dani White and Erica Jarvis added 12 apiece.
Molly Lenarcic, who made two 3-point goals, paced the Tigers (3-18) with 10 points.
Girard 56, Streetsboro 30
ROOTSTOWN -- The Indians shut down Streetsboro's offense, allowing only four points in the second quarter, three in the third and seven in the fourth.
The Indians will play Waterloo in a district semifinal game on March 4.
Cachet Murray led Girard (20-1) with 27 points.
Kim Taylor led Streetsboro (12-10) with nine points.
Beachwood 65, Brookfield 34
ANDOVER -- Brookfield (11-10), limited to 11 points in the first half, couldn't recover and was eliminated from the sectional tournament at Pymatuning Valley High.
Rachel Brenner paced the Warriors with 12 points and Rachel Pasquerilla added 11.
Beachwood was led by Selena Budge with 23 points. Jacque Guas added 16.