Columbiana, Mathews move on to semifinals

Both teams benefited from strong defensive performances.
By DOUG CHAPIN
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
HUBBARD -- Defense was the key Saturday night as seeded teams Columbiana and Mathews advanced to the district semifinals in the Division IV girls tournament at Hubbard High.
The Clippers (19-3) and Mustangs (18-4) will meet Thursday in the second game of a district semifinal doubleheader.
McDonald and Lowellville play in the other semifinal, beginning at 6 p.m.
On Saturday, second-seeded Columbiana scored 28 consecutive points in its 60-26 victory over Sebring, and third-seeded Mathews overcame a slow start to defeat Jackson-Milton, 47-29.
The Clippers held Sebring to 3-of-23 shooting in the first half in opening a 27-9 halftime lead. An 8-0 run to close the half, including two straight steal/layup plays by Krista Johnson, gave Columbiana momentum going into the half.
Big run
The Clippers used that momentum coming out of the locker room and scored the first 20 points of the third quarter, blanking Sebring for more than six minutes. The quarter ended with the score 53-15.
"Our defense is kind of what leads us and it was pretty good tonight," Columbiana coach Wayne Johnson said. "Coach [Ted] Brookhart calls our defenses and he kept mixing it up. Forcing turnovers leads to our offense.
"Give Sebring credit, though. They took care of the ball early and we weren't able to get turnovers. Then we had some momentum going into halftime with Krista's two plays and we got it going."
Kristina Davidson led Columbiana with 16 points and nine assists. Johnson scored 12 points, Colleen Eisenbraun 10 and Katie Douglas eight to go with four blocked shots.
"We've had four girls average in double figures and we can score from the inside or outside," Johnson said. "We had a tough time finishing inside tonight; Sebring has some good inside defenders. We took a little while to adjust, but the girls worked it out."
Sebring (8-14) got seven points from Megan Allcorn and six from Amanda Rockwell.
Mathews-Jackson-Milton
Mathews went Columbiana one better defensively in the third quarter of its game, holding Jackson-Milton scoreless for 7:55 of the third period.
Samantha Hamilton's driving basket with five seconds remaining saved the Blue Jays from a goose egg in the quarter. The Mustangs opened a 20-18 halftime lead and led 31-20 after three. J-M never got closer than nine in the final frame.
"It seemed like a lid was on the basket in the first half," Mathews coach John Cicero said. "Plus the girls seemed a little nervous early.
"At halftime we switched to a half-court trap instead of our full-court press."
That did the trick as Mathews held the Jays to 1-for-10 shooting for the quarter.
Mathews had its usual balanced attack with 11 points each from Lauren Roscoe and Allie Stein, 10 from Sophie Paddock and eight from Sarah King. Paddock also had 12 rebounds and five blocked shots, while Stein grabbed nine rebounds and blocked two shots.