East duo overpowers Chaney for blowout

By Greg Gulas

YOUNGSTOWN — Monet Mitchel-Oliver and Briana Dawson each registered a double-double, as the East High girls basketball team easily defeated Chaney, 65-35, Thursday at East High.

The Panthers’ defense limited the Cowgirls to just eight field goals in the game that does not count in the Steel Valley Conference standings.

Mitchel-Oliver led all scorers with 23 points and hauled in 11 rebounds. Dawson had 13 points and pulled down a game-high 12 caroms.

“We stress defense and it doesn’t matter whether we are in a zone or man-to-man set,” Panthers coach Taniesha Franklin said. “Defense, and the fact that we were able to apply pressure a good portion of the game was the key to tonight’s victory.”

The Panthers lost a heartbreaking decision their last time out, falling to Canfield by a 44-40 count on Dec. 27.

It was a game in which Franklin thinks her young squad came of age as a team.

“Canfield is a great program and we learned a lot from that loss,” Franklin said. “That game really motivated us and provided our inspiration tonight for we shot well, did a nice job defensively and had an excellent night at the free throw line.”

Mitchel-Oliver scored seven points in the first period to get the scoring brigade started as the Panthers raced out to an 18-4 advantage.

Dawson and Mitchel-Oliver combined for nine of East’s 16 points in the second stanza to help the Panthers build a 34-20 halftime lead.

Mitchel-Oliver, a sophomore, was pleased with her overall play as well as that of her teammates.

“Chaney is our arch-rival so there isn’t any extra motivation when these two teams get together,” Mitchel-Oliver said. “We did an excellent job at both ends of the court tonight and that really helped us.

“I just played as hard as I could, but it was our inside game that really seemed to click for us,” Mitchel-Oliver said.

Mitchel-Oliver added five more points in the third period as the Panthers opened a 48-25 advantage. She and Dawson combined for 13 of their team’s 17 points in the final quarter.

“We dug too big a hole early and just couldn’t dig our way back out,” Chaney caoch Al Thorne said. “We had an excellent week of practice and kept reminding our players of one of our early season goals, which was to come to East High and play the kind of basketball of which we were capable of playing.

“That just wasn’t the case tonight,” Thorne said. “East is an excellent team and they are well-coached. We just got out-manned on the boards and outhustled on the floor.

“We’re a good team when we play together, but we cannot afford to take a quarter or two off or play just half of a game if we expect to win,” Thorne said.

The Panthers (5-3) were 23 of 54 from the field, registering 19 steals, 13 assists and five blocks.

The win was the fourth in their last five outings after a 1-2 start.

Chaney (4-6) canned eight of 42 field-goal attempts and committed 27 turnovers to 18 for the Panthers.

East held a 38-22 rebound advantage.