GIRLS HOOPS Deville sparks Leetonia

She led the Bears past United for their fifth Tri-County League win.
By JOHN BUTERA
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
HANOVERTON -- Jessica Deville scored 23 points and grabbed 12 rebounds Thursday as the Leetonia High girls basketball team kept pace in the Tri-County League race with a 47-34 win over United.
"Right now, we have one loss and there are two teams with none," Deville said. "So we can't afford to lose another one in the league."
Behind a basket from Emmy Prosko and a free throw from Ashley Bergman, United led 7-4 with 3:47 to go in the first quarter.
But the Eagles didn't score again until 5:27 remained in the second quarter.
Deville keys run
Deville took charge, scoring seven straight points as Leetonia (8-4, 5-1) went ahead, 14-7.
"We had trouble finding the grove early," Deville said. "But we stayed calm and things started to fall for us."
A 3-for-11 shooting spurt hurt the Eagles (7-5, 2-4), as did five turnovers, as the Bears went ahead 22-13 at intermission.
The Bears showed a patient attack, shooting 16 times in the first half and making nine.
In the third quarter, the Eagles scored six points in a span of 1:19. Bergman keyed the uprising as the Eagles closed to 24-19 with 5:19 remaining.
But United scored only two baskets the rest of the quarter as the Bears regrouped for a 34-23 lead.
McLaughlin helps
Megan McLaughlin aided Leetonia with 10 points, including two 3-pointers.
"I'm more than happy with where we are as a team right now," said Leetonia coach Jerry Beltempo. "Tonight, we got a good game from Megan McLaughlin and she has to play that way for us to compete.
"As for Jessica, everyone pays attention to her. It's not a matter of two people being on her. It's sometimes three."
For United, Danielle Altenhof scored 10 points, Trista Houck had nine and Bergman scored seven.
"It seemed we were in the ball game all night but couldn't quite get it to where they could feel the pressure," United coach Matt Zeigler said. "It's been that way all year. We've been in all of our league games, but just haven't got the wins."