McDonald wins tourney opener over W. Reserve

A couple of 3-point goals by Ari-Anna Williams keyed McDonald.
By DOUG CHAPIN
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
HUBBARD -- McDonald High successfully took its first step Wednesday night in defense of the Division IV girls basketball district title by beating Western Reserve High for the third time this season. McDonald (17-3) used a 14-0 run in the fourth quarter to post a 51-43 victory.
McDonald will play Saturday against Jackson-Milton, another team the Devils defeated twice in competitive games during the regular season.
Possible rematch
Looming down the road is a potential third contest against top-seeded Lowellville, which handed McDonald two of its losses.
Wednesday's game was tied 21-21 at half and 31-31 after three quarters. The largest lead by either time to that point was Reserve's 16-10 advantage at the end of the first period.
With 6:57 remaining in the final quarter, Lainey Kekic scored two of her game-high 21 points to give Reserve (6-15) a 35-33 advantage. Western Reserve did not score again until the 1:45 mark of the game.
McDonald, meanwhile, put together its 14-point run, keyed by a couple of 3-pointers by Ari-Anna Williams.
"We started to get better ball movement, getting the ball inside to Emily [Dolsak] and JohVonnie [Mosley]," McDonald coach Rob Hilbun said. "When we go in there, teams usually collapse and we were able to kick it outside. Ari-Anna can hit that shot if she is left open. That gave us some momentum and then we played some good defense."
Dolsak, a junior and the only returning starter for McDonald, finished with 17 points, seven rebounds and three assists. Mosley, a freshman, scored 16 points and grabbed 13 rebounds. Sophomores Williams and Lindsay Rapp added 12 and six points, respectively.
Coach concurs
Western Reserve coach Scott Higgins agreed that Williams' 3-pointers were decisive.
"They got the ball in to the post and kicked it back out," he said. "We collapsed down and didn't get back out. We preached that the last several weeks that we couldn't let Williams get free outside, but we just lost track of her."
Kekic put on her own display of outside shooting, nailing five of 10 3-point attempts. She also grabbed five rebounds. Macy Marra had 10 points and five assists, Ellie Sanders eight points and three assists, and Claire Ferrando seven rebounds.
Western Reserve had success attacking the middle of the McDonald defense, most of the time with Marra, and getting the outside shooting from Kekic and Sanders.
"We tried to take the ball into the heart of their zone defense," Higgins said. "We thought we could penetrate from the free throw line down. When they switched to man-to-man, they got good ball pressure on our guards and we didn't adjust well."
Hilbun said he thought Reserve's increased defensive pressure was a difference from the first two meetings. McDonald won 47-40 and 49-37, and both games were competitive.
"They pressed us the whole game man-to-man tonight," Hilbun said. "They are much improved and their girls played hard. We knew it was going to be a long night and we had to keep going. We weren't finishing shots early in the game, but the girls didn't get down."
Higgins said he was pleased with the progress his Blue Devils made during the season.
"Though our record may not show it, we made good progress. We are going to lose some very good seniors and they will be missed greatly," he said. "But tonight's game is something for the kids who will be back to build on. We told them to get used to playing in close games like this."