South Range, Rovers advance

The top-seeded Raiders will play No. 2-seed Rootstown Saturday in the Division III district final.

VINDICATOR STAFF REPORT

MINERAL RIDGE — Top-seeded South Range High has reached the destination expected, while Crestview’s unexpected run came to a premature end.

The Raiders improved to 20-3 with a 46-41 victory over Columbiana in the first game of Thursday’s Division III district semifinal girls basketball doubleheader at Mineral Ridge High School.

In the second game, Crestview fell to Rootstown, 45-43.

Those outcomes set up Saturday’s district final between the top-seeded Raiders and No. 2-seeded Rovers (15-6). The game is scheduled to begin at 2 p.m.

Columbiana, which finished its season with a 12-10 record, came into Thursday’s game fresh off an upset of No. 3-seeded Ursuline in last week’s sectional finals.

The Clippers played well enough for three quarters to pull off an upset of South Range, leading 28-23 through three quarters.

But the Raiders outscored Columbiana, 23-13, over the final eight minutes.

Abby Schuler led South Range with 15 points; she was 9-for-11 at the foul line. Schuler scored nine points for the Raiders in the fourth period.

Autumn Carter added 12 points for South Range, which trailed 23-16 at halftime. Alicia Withers scored 11 points, including six in the fourth period.

Kaylee Couchenour led Columbiana with eight points, while Hayley Goist added seven.

Rootstown also won its game in the fourth quarter, though not nearly as dramatically as South Range.

The Rovers and Crestview were tied, 39-39, starting the final eight minutes, and Rootstown won that quarter, 6-4.

Ashley Christiani scored 13 points for Rootstown, and she scored a basket and two free throws in the fourth period. Paige Berger and Lauren Hughes — who had Rootstown’s other points in the final quarter — finished with nine points apiece.

Chelsea Bowker had 20 points for Crestview, which battled back from a 17-10 deficit after the first quarter to forge a 26-all tie at the intermission. Bowker had 12 points for the Rebels in the second period.

Shanelle Davner added 10 points for Crestview, which finished its season with a 14-9 record.

The winner of Saturday’s game will advance to the regional tournament at Cuyahoga Falls High School and play the winner of the Brookfield-Maplewood district final in Ashtabula.