Sell keys United past Lisbon

Maggie Sell’s strong
defensive play led the Eagles to their 11th win, 46-44.

By ERIC HAMILTON

VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT

LISBON — As one of only three upperclassmen on a young team, United High’s Maggie Sell has been counted on for her offense this season.

But on Thursday night against rival Lisbon, it was her defense that people came away talking about.

Spending most the game guarding Blue Devils’ leading scorer Emily Smith, Sell more than held her own, holding Smith to just four points in the first half and 15 for the game on just 6-of-19 shooting.

That defensive effort and her 11 points on offense sparked the Eagles to a 46-44 victory in an Inter Tri-County League Tier One game, and moved them two games ahead of Lisbon in the battle for second place.

“I really tried to focus on defense tonight,” Sell said. “I just wanted to hold her [Smith] to under 20 points tonight and try to stop her from making 3-pointers. I tried to stay in her face as much as I could.

“It’s hard because you always want to score, but I was happy with my defense tonight and we had other people step up and score. It’s nice to beat them twice this year, because they beat us both times last year.”

United (11-3, 8-2 Inter Tri-County League Tier One) may have swept the season series, but it wasn’t easy. Both games came down to free throws and key buckets at the end.

This time around, Lisbon (11-4, 6-4) rallied from a double digit deficit in the first half to turn a potential blowout into a thriller. The Blue Devils recovered from a 14-4 hole with a 12-0 outburst to take a 16-14 lead with 2:50 left in the second quarter.

The Eagles scored the first six points of the third quarter, but Lisbon managed to stay close. After scoring just four points in the first half, Smith got going in the fourth quarter.

Her 3-pointer at the 4:06 mark of the fourth quarter got the Blue Devils within 37-35.

But Sell, whose focus had been on defense, delivered her biggest offensive play on the next possession, drilling a triple from the left wing to put United back in front by five points.

Lisbon chipped away at the deficit in the final three minutes, but United’s Maggie Miller hit a pair of free throws with 9 seconds left to pad the lead to 46-42.

The Blue Devils had one last chance, as Megan Reynolds went to the line for three charity tosses. After hitting the first two to get Lisbon to 46-44, the third was off target and United secured the rebound.

Sell missed a free throw with 1 second left, but the game was already in hand for the Eagles.

“She’s [Sell] a little down right now because of the missed free throw, but she did what she had to do defensively tonight,” United coach Roger Ziegler said. “We count on her to score, but tonight we needed the defense.

“We have three or four girls that can score and they pass the ball real well and play as a team. We just hope to keep it going and take care of our business. We play South Range in last league game, so we’ll see what happens between now and then.”

Sell finished with 11 points and was one of three United players scoring in double figures. Chelsea Laughlin led the Eagles with 12 points and Courtney Baker added 10.

Smith finished with 15 points — 3 under her season average — and Reynolds tallied 14 for Lisbon.