Ashley Davis’ 2 gives Springfield a big win and first place in ITCL

The Tigers’ 45-44 win over United gave coach Sandi Kohler her 200th win.

By CHUCK HOUSTEAU

VIndicator Correspondent

NEW MIDDLETOWN — Springfield coach Sandi Kohler said she felt great about her team’s first place Inter Tri-County Tier One matchup with United when she woke up Thursday morning.

“I had good vibes coming to work,” Kohler said. “I thought my kids were in the right mind-set and I was just so excited to play today.”

Kohler’s vibes played out to perfection when Ashley Davis hit a 10-foot jumper at the buzzer to give Springfield (10-2, 6-1) a thrilling 45-44 victory over the Eagles.

The win was extra special because it was Kohler’s 200th career victory in 16 seasons as coach of the Tigers.

“How sweet was that,” Kohler said after athletic director Jeff Dyer presented the coach with the game ball. “That’s how we planned it.”

Kohler might never had planned for last minute heroics from Davis after watching her team build a 10-point lead, 36-26, heading into the fourth quarter.

But United made a mad run in the final five minutes and finally took the lead, 44-43, on a basket by Sierra Parks with 13.6 seconds left.

Springfield got off two errant shots by Brooke Schrieber and Emily Brinsley in the final seconds that missed the mark but regained possession when the ball was knocked out of bounds by United with three seconds left.

The Tigers called timeout and set up a couple of quick options before Davis found herself with the ball and wide open on the side of the basket.

“I just knew I was open and I knew I had three seconds,” said Davis who scored a game-high 17 points. “I just threw it up as soon as I got it and prayed it went in.

“It was an amazing feeling to get this win for Coach Kohler against a great team like United.”

Kohler was impressed with how well her team played.

“We came out and were playing so well,” Kohler said. “Then all of sudden they got back in the ball game.

“But I kept telling my kids, ‘We’re going to win this game.’ And with three seconds left I kept telling them, ‘We’re going to win this game’ but I didn’t know if we were going to win the game.

“But heck, was that a great shot or what?”

Springfield remained in first place in a tightly ITCL. United, South Range, Lisbon and East Palestine are all still battling to capture league honors.

The game was back-and-forth in the first half before Springfield grabbed a 20-18 lead at the break.

The Tigers outscored United 16-8 in the third quarter and opened up a 36-26 lead when Andria Lyons hit a 3-pointer with three seconds left.

United (9-4, 5-2) wasn’t about to give the Tigers the win despite trailing by ten points.

Led by Hillary Hoppel (11 points), Ruth Prosko (10) and Crystal Richards, United pressed its way back into the game.

“We were out of this ball game the whole time until late in the fourth quarter,” said United coach Roger Zeigler. “The girls really stepped it up and played our type of game and we made a great run at them.

“The difference came down to free throws.”

United was just 8 of 19 from the line and only 1 of 5 in the fourth quarter, while Kallie Rogers and Lyons of Springfield made clutch free tosses to help hold of the Eagles.

Rogers finished with 13 points and Lyons added 9. Schrieber led all players with a game-high 15 rebounds.