43
Late rally by Lake Cath. sidelines Struthers girls
The Vindicator (Youngstown)
Photo
Struthers’ Marissa Hird, left, goes to the hoop against Mentor Lake Catholic’s Cheyenne Koubeck during the Division II regional semifi nal on Tuesday night.
LAKE CATH. 50
STRUTHERS 43
Next: Lake Catholic vs. Hathaway Brown, Friday, 7:30 p.m., at Barberton High School.
By Tom Williams
BARBERTON
For two quarters, the Struthers High girls basketball team threw a real scare into state-ranked Mentor Lake Catholic.
But in the third quarter, the Cougars came to life behind the hot shooting of Delani Stopp. Her five baskets in the third quarter included three 3-pointers as the Cougars surged to a 50-43 victory Tuesday in the Division II regional semifinal at Barberton High School.
Mentor Lake Catholic (23-2) advanced to Friday’s final to face Hathaway Brown, last year’s regional champion who defeated Norton, 68-33, in Tuesday’s first game.
Senior guard Katelyn Ardale led the Wildcats (20-5) with 14 points.
“Coach [John] Grandy has taught us that when you get knocked down or you get hit in the face, you’re not going to like it but it’s your reaction [that counts],” Ardale said. “Today, every time we got knocked down we got right back up and we fought it out to the end.”
Trailing 21-19 at halftime, the Cougars seized control by outscoring the Wildcats 19-8 in the third quarter.
Still, the Wildcats weren’t through. Adrianna Garchar’s 3-pointer with about six minutes to go sliced the Cougars’ lead to 38-34.
With about two minutes remaining, Ardale and Garchar each made two free throws for a 44-38 score.
But the Wildcats were unable to prevent a 6-0 run by the Cougars that sealed the game.
“I would never ask for better players or better coaches,” Ardale said. “We’re all one big family.
“Coach Grandy brought us together this year,” Ardale said. “When everyone else doubted us, he believed in us.”
The Wildcats needed contributions from everyone when Ardale and post player Hannah Dubec picked two fouls each in the first quarter. Despite that, the Wildcats jumped to an 13-8 lead.
Dubec remained on the bench for the rest of the half while Ardale displayed cautious restraint.
Stepping up was senior Amanda Ditman who took over underneath. In the first half, Ditman made five rebounds and blocked a shot while scoring eight points.
“Everybody was rebounding and we were getting after the ball,” Ardale said. “I think we picked up the slack a little bit. We definitely kept it together.”
Ditman’s jump shot right before the buzzer put the Wildcats ahead, 21-19, at the break.
“Mandy Ditman is probably the most improved player that I’ve ever coached,” Grandy said. “This year, she just showed everybody that she could play.”
Beth Switzler led the Cougars with 18 points while Stopp had 17.
“They wore us down a little, they are a good team,” Grandy said. “And we are, too. I thought we showed that today.”
Ditman called the past week “a great accomplishment. We had a challenge that we had to push ourselves up against, to prove how good we really are. And I thought we did well.”
Ditman said the second half took its toll.
“I pushed myself as hard as I could, but I got a little tired,” said Ditman, who admitted it was hard to adjust with Dubec out. “We know each other’s moves so well.”
Ardale was impressed with how aggressive the Cougars played.
“They’re like us, going back-and-forth, hitting each other, bam-bam-bam, going after the ball,” said Ardale who hasn’t decided whether she’ll play basketball or run track in college. “It was a great game.”
After his second straight regional appearance, Grandy said, “They always say that you walk into Struthers, but you limp out. I’m not sure what that means but we played hard.”