Lady Knights’ OCC win streak snapped at 31

  • By Kevin Lynch
  • December 17, 2009
  • 657
                        
The Lady Knights were well on their way to another Ohio Cardinal Conference win Saturday, Dec. 12, in the Dungeon at West Holmes when all of a sudden, a lid went over the basket. “We had trouble throwing it in the ocean all night, and we were standing in the wet part of the sand,” West Holmes coach Lisa Patterson said. “We didn’t put the ball in the hole. This isn’t rocket science. We tried to go inside a couple times, hoping that would allow the outside to open up late in the game, but we came away empty-handed.” Orrville, on the other hand, overcame a defensive clinic put on by Lindsey Arnold to shock the Lady Knights with a last-second shot by freshman Hannah Plybon to come away with a 39-37 victory, ending West Holmes’ 31-game winning streak in the OCC. The last time the Lady Knights lost a league game was three seasons ago at Lexington. “She’s a tough kid,” Patterson said, of the Orrville freshman. “I’ve seen her play. She’s going to be fun to watch as she grows the next couple years. I’d prefer to sit in the stands and watch her, not so much as the opposing coach. She deserves a lot of credit, as a freshman coming in, she kept her composure, and did a good job all night. Lindsey got some steals off of her, but you didn’t see her get too rattled.” Arnold came up with nine steals to lead the Lady Knights on the defensive end. But what West Holmes needed was someone to step up on the offensive end. The Lady Knights jumped out to a 14-5 lead after the opening eight minutes of action, getting 3-pointers from Paige Asche and Jasmine Troyer to close out the quarter. Orrville pulled within 22-19 at intermission, thanks to West Holmes’ woeful production on the offensive end. The Lady Knights connected on seven of 27 shots from the field in the first half. A Sara Aultz 3-pointer pulled the Red Riders within two at 28-26 late in the third, but a steal and layup by Arnold, followed by another Arnold bucket and yet another steal and score stretched the lead to 34-27 after three. Aultz split a pair of free throws to open the fourth, and Asche answered with a 3-pointer to give the Lady Knights a 37-28 lead with 7:17 remaining in the game. It was the last points West Holmes would score. A 3-pointer rimmed out by Hannah Plybon scored on a stickback. Aultz added a short jumper to pull Orrville back to 37-32. After a series of empty exchanges, Hillary Plybon scored to trim the lead to three with 4:33 remaining. “I thought we needed to make a play or two, and we did,” Orrville coach Mark Alberts said. “We got a big bucket there with about three minutes left.” That big shot was a game-tying 3-pointer from deep above the foul line by Hannah Plybon. That knotted the score at 37. West Holmes had two more opportunities on offense, but came up empty both times. After the second missed scoring opportunity by the Lady Knights, Orrville opted to hold the ball for a last shot, running more than two minutes off the clock. “We have several options off that, but Hannah’s our first option,” Alberts said. “To the girls’ credit, we practice those kinds of situations all the time. We just try and hold it and try to create something without them getting a chance to set their defense up. “She knows that if she’s got it in her hands, she’s got the green light,” Alberts added. “She made some mistakes tonight against a veteran West Holmes team. They are good. And they are good defensively. Especially the Arnold girl. We felt if we held them under 40, we could win. We got just enough. They made us take some tough shots, and we made them take some tough shots.” But none tougher than the driving jumper from the right wing as time ran out. West Holmes had one last shot but Arnold’s triple attempt from inside half court came up short. Arnold finished with 13 points and nine steals. “She’s the heart of the team,” Patterson said. “Defensively, she is always guarding the opposing team’s best guard. I think she left it all on the floor. I don’t think there’s any question about that.” The win was the fourth without a loss for the Lady Riders, 2-0 in the OCC. It was the second loss of the season in five games for West Holmes, 1-1 in the OCC. “They haven’t lost a league game in three years. You come down here to their place and beat them, it most definitely feels good,” Alberts said. “We were down 19-1 last year at the end of the first quarter, and we were down 30 after three. It’s been that way pretty much every year we’ve come down here. This year we talked about believing we could do it. If you’re going to achieve, first you’ve got to believe. And our girls did believe, even when we got behind. “I told the girls we needed good possessions on our end, and to play good defense and rebound,” Alberts continued. “Then we can just chip away. And we did. I thought Sara Aultz played particularly well on the glass. I thought she and Hillary Plybon did a great job rebounding the basketball.” Aultz had 13 rebounds and Hillary Plybon added five boards. The West Holmes coach felt that the balance in the OCC has shown already. “Anybody can win on any given night,” Patterson said. “They came ready to play, and we had kids who definitely did not have their best games tonight. We made a point of trying to slow things down. But when we do that, we tend to not be as aggressive going to the hole.” Arnold was the lone Lady Knight to score in double figures with 13. Asche finished with nine, hitting three of five from beyond the arc. Jasmine Troyer and Lindsy Snyder finished with four points each. Snyder grabbed six rebounds. Bethany Molnar added three points and eight boards. Justice Wright and Mallori Vess added two points apiece to round out the offensive. Orrville was led by Hannah Plybon’s 14 points. Kaley Aultz added 12, and Sara Aultz chipped in eight to go with her 13 rebounds. The West Holmes JV held on for a 28-25 triumph.


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