She scored 32 points as Lowellville rolled over Sebring.

She scored 32 points as
Lowellville rolled over Sebring.

By TOM WILLIAMS

VINDICATOR SPORTS STAFF

LOWELLVILLE — There’s a sign decorated in Army camouflage colors of green, tan and dark brown hanging in the Lowellville High gymnasium. “Gung ho Grapevine,” it says.

The sign pays tribute to senior basketball player Ali Grapevine, who will attend the U.S. Military Academy in the fall.

During Monday’s 70-59 win against Sebring, Grapevine displayed some of her quick-thinking resourcefulness that should make her an Army asset.

With less than two seconds remaining before halftime, Grapevine reached back for an off-target pass, lunged to catch the ball and, off-balance, lobbed the ball at the backboard.

Of course, it bounced through the rim.

“Was that some kind of shot?” Sebring coach Ty Schaffer said.

“Ali is a great player, very active the entire ball game. She never slows down. I think I used five kids tonight to try and contain her.”

Grapevine scored 30 other points and made 12 rebounds as the Rockets (8-8, 8-4 Inter Tri-County League) raced up and down the court to defeat the Trojans (11-6, 7-5).

“They threw the ball and I completely missed it,” Grapevine said. “Coach Tisi [Tony Matisi] turned around because he was mad at me, and started stomping away. I turned around and grabbed the ball [thinking] there was a second left so I might as well throw the ball up.

“So I lobbed it with my left — I’m left-handed — and it just happened to go in,” Grapevine said.

That play pretty much summed the Rockets’ efforts for the final three quarters after the Trojans opened with a 15-14 advantage.

With Trojans guard Julia Grimsley sitting because of fouls, the Rockets won the quarter, 24-12, and nursed a double-digit lead in the second half.

“There was a little bit of a momentum swing at the end of the half as we cut the lead to [nine] and then she hits that shot,” Schaffer said.

“That kind of hurt us a little bit.”

In their first matchup, the Trojans won a low-scoring contest at Sebring.

“It was a different ballgame altogether, a slowdown game,” Schaffer said.

“So tonight was a shock for us for them to change the pace on us. Our girls responded well for having practiced for a slower game.

“They didn’t give up, even when they were down by 15 in the fourth,” Schaffer said.

“They made it an interesting ballgame.”

Finding inspiration from Poland’s unbeaten boys team, Matisi sped up his team’s attack “because we’ve been struggling scoring. We’ve been getting 30, 35 shots a game and when you don’t shoot well ... we’ve been scoring 28, 30 points.

“We’re toying with that Poland mentality of pushing and shooting,” Matisi said.

“I told the girls ‘we’re Poland with turnovers.’ We figured that if we can up the shooting total, we’ll get some buckets.”

Grapevine said she prefers the run-and-gun attack.

“I do [prefer that style] for running and moving and a lot of motion,” Grapevine said. “It gets the other team tired faster. We’re a well [conditioned] team ready to go fast.”

Matisi said the beauty of Grapevine’s game is that “when you have a good inside player, you’ve always got a chance for an offensive rebound. That’s what Ali gives you.”

Jamie Hynes scored nine points while Krissy Meehan and Candace Kamensky each had seven for the Rockets.

Megan Allcorn led the Trojans with 21 points, seven rebounds and two steals. Jill Bragg had 18 points and 11 rebounds while Grimsley scored 15.

williams@vindy.com