Crestview scraps, but falls at United

By Ryan Jones

The Eagles will travel to Crestview on Feb. 19 and, with a win, can claim the ITCL Tier One title outright.

HANOVERTON — With a 20-5 first quarter lead, the United High girls basketball team had Crestview reeling Wednesday in the Inter Tri-County League Tier One battle between first-place teams.

However, the staggered Rebels refused to fold and outscored the Eagles in the final three quarters before falling 61-56.

With the triumph, United (18-1, 12-1) moves into sole possession of first place.

The Eagles will travel to Crestview (16-3, 11-2) on Feb. 19 and with a win can claim the title outright.

United coach Roger Zeigler said his team knew it was going to have to fight for the win even with the big first-quarter lead.

“For them [Crestview], it’s all about Chelsea [Bowker] and Shanelle [Davner],” Zeigler said. “Those two got their points and brought them back. If one of them scored we wanted to answer with a score of our own, by pushing the ball up the floor and taking it right at them.”

Down 20-5, the Rebels offense, and Bowker roared to life as Crestview out scored United 17-14 in the second quarter.

The 5-foot-8 senior, who tallied game-high 35 points, scored 11 in the second frame.

Crestview coach Tanja Simione said the first-quarter deficit was too much for her squad to overcome.

“We made some poor decisions on defense, got beat to the hoop and gave up high percentage shots,” she said. “We were careless with the ball against their press. They are quick and aggressive on defense and we threw some bad passes that led to points at the other end.”

The Rebels went on a 7-0 run to start the third quarter and cut the lead to five, 34-29, but United pushed the margin to 44-34 at the end of the third.

Bowker almost single handedly brought the Rebels to the lead by scoring 18 points in the final quarter.

Her full court lay-up with about 3:00 minutes remaining cut the lead to 55-49, and after spraining her ankle at the 2:34 mark, she canned a three-pointer at the top of the key with 57 seconds left to make the score 59-56.

Simione said Bowker refusing to come out after being injured wasn’t surprising to her.

“She plays this way every game,” she said. “She loves to compete.”

The Eagles free throw struggles aided the Rebels comeback bid as they connected on only 12-of-21 from the charity stripe in the fourth quarter.

Zeigler said he was not satisfied with how his team shot free throws to close out the game.

“We are a good free throw shooting team, but we didn’t show that tonight,” Zeigler said. “And what more can you say about Bowker, she’s a great player.”

Maggie Sell led United with 19 points. Hillary Hoppel tallied 17, Chelsea Laughlin had eight rebounds and Maggie Miller had three points, five rebounds and nine assists.

Zeigler said seniors Maggie Miller and Maggie Sell are the two main cogs of his team.

“I’ve coached them for three years now and both of them have improved so much,” he said. “Not only have the improved physically, but mentally they have come so far. They have big game experience and are able to keep their composure.”

Davner totaled 17 points and nine rebounds in defeat. Bowker added seven rebounds, six assists and three steals.

The Rebels 17 first-half turnovers contributed to their slow start.