East ousts Chaney in Div. I tourney

By Josh Reilly

sports@vindy.com

ALLIANCE

The Youngstown East Panthers used a decisive 23-point run to secure a 56-38 victory over rival Youngstown Chaney on Wednesday night.

East’s Lesa Monet Oliver scored 22 points while teammates Chelsea Bennett and Marvelean Allen contributed 15 and 12, respectively. But it was the team defense which received most of the credit from Coach Tanisha Franklin.

SDLqWe didn’t expect to get a big lead,” she said. “Our defense kept us in the game. We played tough ball pressure and didn’t allow them (the Cowgirls) to feed their post players.”

The Panthers held the Cowgirls scoreless in the second quarter and ended the half with 19 consecutive points to take a 29-7 lead into the locker room.

“We struggled with turning the ball over,” Chaney coach Bernard Bolha said. “I think we were excited to play East in the playoffs and forgot to protect the basketball at times. They (the Panthers) did a good job forcing us into mistakes.”

East opened the third quarter with four more points before Chaney found its way back into the game.

Trailing by 26 points, the Cowgirls battled through a 21-4 run and closed their gap to 39-30. Laniece McRae scored 11 of her team-high 19 points during the rally, which featured consecutive-point streaks of six and 13 points.

“I was reaching for anything to spark us,” Bolha said. “I take responsibility with how the first half went. Our girls should take a lot of credit for the third and fourth quarters. They really got after it.”

Franklin used a timeout to calm her troops and the Panthers responded with a 6-0 run of their own to put themselves back in command.

“We had a lapse,” Franklin said. “We look at the scoreboard and we get complacent. We can’t do that against good teams; that’s dangerous.”

Ashlyn Baker was East’s top rebounder, finishing with nine. She also had five steals. Allen added six assists while Bennett dished five.

For Chaney, Shawnice Allen had a strong night on the glass with 15 rebounds.

Zatona Yancey made five steals and McRae had five blocks.