Freshman leads Crestview’s win

Shanelle Davner scored 14 points to lead the Rebels past Leetonia, 45-37.

By ERIC HAMILTON

VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT

COLUMBIANA — With leading scorer senior Chelsea Bowker on the bench with foul trouble, Crestview girls basketball coach Tanja Simione put the offensive load on the shoulders of a freshman Thursday against Leetonia.

 After a quiet first half, Shanelle Davner delivered in the second half as the 6-foot-2 center scored 10 of her game-high 14 points and sparked the Rebels to a 45-37 victory over the Bears in a non-league contest.

 “She’s come a long way for a freshman,” Simione said. “We got some good passes inside to her and she kept us scoring. Leetonia really takes pride in their defense and [Leetonia coach] Kelly [Paxson] really does a nice job with that.

 “We got a little sloppy at times and showed some rust after the long holiday layoff,” Simione said. “But we were able to get some easy baskets at the right time.”

 Leetonia (8-3, 5-1 Inter Tri-County League Tier 2), which entered the game with as the Mahoning Valley’s third-best defensive team (34.6 ppg), made Crestview earn its points in the first half. The Bears forced early turnovers and managed to get to their share of loose balls.

Neither team led by more than four points in the first half.

In the third quarter, Crestview (8-4, 3-3 ITCL Tier 1) built a 27-21 advantage, as Davner did much of the damage scoring eight of the Rebels’ third-quarter points.

 With Crestview playing a zone defense in the second half, Leetonia’s focus on offense was on the perimeter. The Bears settled for jumpers beyond the free throw line, cashing in on a few.

“We haven’t been shooting the ball well all year, but when they were packing the defense in there, we took some outside shots. This might be the best we’ve shot all season.”

The Bears closed to within 31-30 with 7:14 left in the contest when senior Sarah Weikart canned a shot just inside the 3-point line.

Leetonia couldn’t finish the run, missing two layups and giving up two uncontested baskets on the other end, as Crestview built a 37-32 lead with 3:51 left. 

“We just got a little too unselfish there at the end, passing the ball instead of being aggressive and going to the hoop,” Paxson said. “But we knew it would be a fight and Crestview is a good team. We can take some positives away from this game.”

Davner led the Rebels with 14 points on 7-of-10 shooting from the field. Bowker finished 12 points. Hillary Phillis, who returned to the lineup after missing a month with mono, gave Crestview a lift off the bench with eight points — all in the second half.

The Rebels hit their free throws in the final two minutes to close out the win and Simione is looking forward to getting back into league play now that the holidays are over.

“We’re not real excited about where we are in the league right now,” Simione said. “Everyone is chasing South Range right now. But now we have everybody back and we’re ready to see what we can do in our part of the league.”

Leetonia was paced by nine points each from senior Deidra Currie and junior Lynsie Davis. Freshman Clarissa Perkins added seven points.