Springfield girls speak last word on Lowellville

By Jon Moffett

The Tigers held off the Rockets, 65-60, in a noisy battle among archrivals.

SPRINGFIELD — The student sections were in mid-season form for Monday’s Lowellville-Springfield girls basketball game, the season opener for both.

“The Springfield-Lowellville girls basketball game is a big rivalry,” Springfield coach Sandi Kohler said. “As you can see from listening to the student sections, it’s a big game for these students.”

The visiting Rockets treated Springfield’s gymnasium as home for nearly the entire game. The rowdy student section cheered loudly and often.

A chorus of “you can’t do that” echoed after nearly every Tiger foul and “she’s a freshman” for big plays by Lowellville’s young team.

The Springfield students got the last word though. The Tigers were able to hold off the Rockets, 65-60.

The play on the court was less fluid.

“I like our intensity and I liked the fact that we worked hard and battled back when we were down a couple times,” Kohler said. “But there a whole lot of things that we need to work on; a lot of fundamental stuff that we need to fix.

“It almost seemed like we hadn’t been doing that in practice, but we reverted back to our old ways.”

While it was rust that hindered the Tigers, Lowellville coach Tony Matisi said it was inexperience that slowed the Rockets. Lowellville started three freshmen, a sophomore and a senior.

“I thought we played well for the first three-and-a-half quarters, and we had a nice lead in the middle of the fourth” Matisi said. “I think it was more of their veteran play on their end ... their veteran experience at the end showed.”

The Rockets led in each of the first three quarters, but Springfield showed its resiliency in the fourth. The Tigers took a one-point lead with three minutes left in the game and never looked back. The Tigers led by two points and had the ball with 14 seconds remaining. Junior Ashley Davis was fouled. She sank both free throws to ice the game. She finished with 10 points on the night.

“I’m excited because last year we lost close game after close game,” Kohler said. “Hopefully, last year’s loses provided us with the ability and experience to win the close games like this one.”

Springfield’s Rachel Kennedy, a senior, had a career night. She finished with 10 points, 14 rebounds, five assists and three blocks.

Teammates Kallie Rogers and Andria Lyons and, both juniors, also finished in the double-digits with 10 and 13 points, respectively.

With 13 points, junior Jamie Hynes led the scoring for the Rockets. Senior Chelsea Marrie had 12 points while freshmen Taylor Hvisdak and Emily Carlson each had 10.

jmoffett@vindy.com