Sell battles butterflies, sinks shots, lifts United

By Tom Williams

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COLUMBIANA — After watching the Columbiana High girls basketball team roar back from a 10-point halftime deficit, United senior Maggie Sell exuded cool when she went to the foul line late in a tie game.

Not exactly.

“It was a little nerve-wracking with two seconds to go,” admitted Sell who made both shots to give the Eagles’ a 47-45 victory Monday in the Clippers’ gymnasium. “It’s a big win … it feels pretty good because we’re still up front.”

The win keeps United (13-1, 7-1 Inter Tri-County League Tier One) tied with Crestview for first place. The Eagles and Rebels will play twice in a nine-day span in mid-February.

“That was a big win for us,” United coach Roger Zeigler said. “I knew this was going to be a battle. That’s the closest [game] we’ve had.

“You can’t take anything away from Columbiana — they took it to us and we got a little apprehensive,” Zeigler said. “We tried to force things and make Sports Illustrated plays rather than run what we’re supposed to do.”

The Eagles’ only loss was to Lisbon three weeks ago.

“We really can’t dwell on that game because we still have a lot of big games,” said Sell, citing a Lisbon rematch next week. “And we knew Columbiana was going to be good.”

Sell finished with 17 points and five steals.

“Maggie Sell is a scorer,” Zeigler sad. “She’ll score from shooting, from taking it to the hole, from steals and from the foul line. Right now, she’s playing well. She plays hard and really anticipates well.”

Hillary Hoppel finished with eight points and five rebounds while Lauren Rockhold scored six.

For the Clippers, Kaylee Couchenour and Katie Witmer each scored 14. Hayley Goist scored eight and made four steals while Ashley Shea had seven points, 12 rebounds and two blocks.

Early on, the Eagles were rolling, with all five starters scoring as they created a 16-7 first-quarter lead. Hoppel’s four rebounds and four points triggered the surge.

Sell’s seven points and two steals in the second quarter put the Eagles comfortably ahead, 27-17, at the break.

In the third quarter, the Clippers (9-5, 5-3) needed just 41‚Ñ2 minutes to wipe out the lead. Couchenour’s two 3-pointers and Goist’s seven points triggered the Clippers’ surge to a 33-33 tie.

“I’m proud of their response after halftime,” Clippers coach Jeff Hammond said. “We were a little banged up and we had to respond, or we were going to get killed.

“They came back and gutted it out,” Hammond said. “We got back into the game and that’s all you can ask for.”

In the third quarter, the Clippers made 9-of-12 shots.

“We weren’t executing offensively,” said Zeigler. “They became a lot more aggressive defensively. We left people open and [they] scored.”

The game seesawed in the fourth quarter until Couchenour hit her fourth trey of the game for a 43-40 lead. After Sell made two free throws, Ruth Prosko tied it.

Hoppel and the Clippers’ Meredith Tirpak exchanged baskets, setting the stage for a wild final minute that saw each team miss a key free throw.

“We figured she would make both of them,” said Sell of Couchenour’s one-and-one opportunity.

United’s Chelsea Laughlin also missed.

With first place on the line, Sell didn’t.

“They ended up with the foul shots at the end,” Hammond said. “We ran out of time, I guess.”

williams@vindy.com