Youngstown Christian, Columbiana roll easily

The Eagles blitzed Southington 54-25, while the Clippers rolled 58-34.
By DOUG CHAPIN
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
HUBBARD -- Monday's Division IV girls basketball sectional doubleheader at Hubbard High featured easy victories by seeded teams. In the opener, fourth-seeded Youngstown Christian improved to 19-2 on the season with a 54-25 rout of Southington (6-15). Second-seeded Columbiana blitzed Western Reserve (4-17) by a 58-34 score in game two.
Youngstown Christian's outstanding sophomore guard Kara Cooper led the Eagles, scoring 24 points and single-handedly breaking the Southington press time and again.
Balanced attack
Columbiana got a balanced attack with 17 points from junior point guard Krista Johnson, 15 from senior forward Colleen Eisenbraun and 13 from sophomore post player Katie Douglas.
"We finished strong," Columbiana coach Wayne Johnson said of the Clippers' 17-3 regular season. "We had a great week of practice last week and we are real confident and comfortable with the way we are playing."
The Columbiana press caused problems for the Blue Devils most of the evening and helped the Clippers put together some first-half runs which all but decided the game by halftime. Columbiana increased a 10-7 lead to 18-7 in just over two minutes of the first quarter. Leading 20-10 at the end of the quarter, the Clippers made it 27-10 in less than two minutes and led 31-17 at the half. The Columbiana defense held Western Reserve to 1-for-11 shooting from the field in the second quarter.
"We like to get in a transition game and we were able to do it tonight," Johnson said. "We've got several girls who can pull up and shoot in the transition game and our rebounding has been strong."
Rebounding edge
The Clippers outrebounded the Devils 36-29 with senior Kristina Davidson grabbing 10, Douglas nine and Eisenbraun eight. Alex Rathburn had 12 boards for Western Reserve, to go with eight points. Lainey Kekic led the Devils with 11 points and McKenzie Mowery also scored eight.
A 9-0 third-quarter run for the Clippers left them ahead 42-16 with 2:30 remaining in the frame.
Jackie Hatherill added four assists to the Columbiana attack and Johnson had three assists and three steals.
The Clippers play again Saturday at 6 p.m. against Sebring or Southern Local. Those teams meet on Wednesday. Also in Columbiana's half of the bracket is third-seeded Mathews, which faces Lordstown on Wednesday.
Eagles to meet Lowellville
Youngstown Christian advances to meet Lowellville on Thursday, the same night top-seeded McDonald meets Mineral Ridge. The Eagles got 10 points from Rachel Coristin and eight from Victoria Bernhard in their romp over Southington. The Eagles led 19-4 after one quarter and 31-10 at halftime.
As is often the case in high school tournament play, early games in the Division IV tourney have not been very competitive. However, most observers expect a very competitive district portion of the tournament.
"This is a real strong tournament," Johnson said. "You've got McDonald, Youngstown Christian and Mathews. And I'm sort of glad Lowellville is in the other half of the bracket. They've been playing real well lately. You just can't overlook anyone."