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Struthers perfect in AAC White Tier
STRUTHERS — Away from the shadows of Canfield, Salem and Howland in the old Metro Athletic Conference, the Struthers girls basketball program is looking to get a little respect in its new league.
The Wildcats (8-5, 2-0) moved atop the White tier of the All-American Conference with an impressive 73-43 victory over Beaver Local Saturday afternoon.
“We’d like to get that respect,” said Struthers coach John Grandy. “But we really haven’t done anything yet.
“We’ve won a couple tough league games but we have a long way to go to call ourselves successful in our own minds.”
Struthers made some noise last year, advancing late into the Division II district tournament and knocking off state-ranked Southeast in the semifinals.
The Wildcats lost several talented seniors from that team but returned a strong nucleus, including juniors Dana Mathews and Helen Hird.
Mathews poured in a game-high 25 points Saturday as Struthers jumped out to an early 22-8 lead and never looked back.
Hird added 17 points while sophomore Katelyn Ardale scored 16.
“We are starting to come together this year and doing the little things that make a team successful,” said Mathews, who leads the team in scoring as point guard. “We just want a chance to show some teams in this new league what we are made of.”
The Wildcats haven’t shied away from playing the bigger schools and three of the losses this season have been competitive ones to Canfield, Howland and Salem.
“We’re not making excuses,” Grandy said. “We played hard in those losses and we don’t like to make excuses around here but we had some players out with injuries and illnesses.
“We have everyone healthy now and the girls are playing hard and we’re starting to play well.”
The Wildcats have only one senior, center Sally Phillips, on the roster.
On Saturday Struthers shot nearly 50 percent (29-of-51) from the field and outrebounded Beaver Local 40-27.
“We knew Struthers was a great team,” said Beaver Local Josh Sigler. “We knew we had to rebound well at the start of the game to be successful and we did that in the beginning but then they took over the boards and we didn’t get back on defense.
“Struthers is a tough team and we weren’t able to compete with them tonight. I’m not sure what to think right now but we have a lot of season left and I think we can still be in the thick of the league race.”
The Beavers (7-6, 2-1), who came into the game with league wins over Liberty and Hubbard, didn’t shoot the ball very well as they made just 15 shots in 62 attempts.
“I was impressed with our defense,” Grandy said. “We work really hard on playing full-court defense and putting pressure on the opposing team.”
Struthers forced the Beavers into 25 turnovers.
Mathews said defense and making shots will be the key to improving this season.
“Some of us got a lot of experience last year and learned a lot from the seniors,” Mathews said. “We’re trying to teach that to some of the newer girls and they are seeing the results.
“Everyone is beginning to see what this team is capable of if we work hard.”