Beavers’ Jordan rules the court
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LISBON --After a two-year wait, the senior girls put on a show during the Columbiana County Classic on Sunday at Lisbon High School.
After trailing early, the senior girls home team rallied for a 52-47 victory over the away team.
Beaver Local's Halle Jordan earned MVP honors as she posted a team-high 13 points. Leetonia's Allison Francosky tallied 10 points for the home squad.
As for the visitors, Heartland's Madi Matthews also was named MVP. The Lion scored 10 points, including the first five points of the game. Salem's Abby Perry was second on the team with eight points.
The away team led 15-5, before the home team went on a 19-9 run to close out the half.
"We didn't know each other. We came back and worked as a team. We kept putting up shots. Even if they weren't falling, we just kept putting them right back up," Jordan said.
Crestview coach Aaron Blatch was in charge of leading the home team. He thought his team had to make adjustments since the girls aren't too familiar with one another.
"I just wanted to make it a good experience for our girls. I thought they had a lot of fun. A lot of them didn't know each other. I know my three girls from Crestview don't play a lot of local teams. So, they got to meet girls from other schools around here," Blatch said.
Blatch noted that his team got big contributions from several standout performers in the area.
"At the start we had a hard time scoring. In a game like this, we are not very organized. I was really impressed with the way they battled back. Halle knocked down a couple big threes and Madison Haifley did the same. Allison Francosky finished at the rim. She did a really nice job. McKenna Schultz had a really solid game. It was a fun experience and it made it better that we came out on top," the coach said.
Matthews enjoyed playing in the county classic. Heartland actually played a number of the teams being represented in the game.
"It's been a crazy season, so it's great that we could all come here together. Since we (Heartland) played most of these girls in the regular season, it's cool to have girls on random teams. You build different bonds and it was just a great atmosphere. It was really fun to play in," Matthews said.
She added that playing in this star-studded senior affair was a good learning experience.
"What challenged me was different looks, because you're not comfortable together. So, it's a lot of back to basics and talking on defense. It's cool to see, especially because we're seniors. We can see how much we grew from our freshmen year."
After a two-year hiatus, Blatch was happy to see the county classic return.
"Don Thompson ran this for a long time and did a great job with it. I think it's always been a special event for seniors in the county. I'm glad Coach Huckshold at Lisbon kind of took it over when Mr. Thompson stepped away. I'm glad that we were able to do this. I'm glad we were able to get the scholarships out to a lot of deserving kids. It's cool that I get to be a small part of that," Blatch said.
The Columbiana County Basketball Coaches Association awarded 24 $500 scholarships to seniors between the senior games on Sunday night.
Game notes
¯ Late in the first half, Crestview's Emily Hill left the game and would not return after falling on the court near the home team's bench area. She had been driving on a fastbreak and eventually ran into a defender before landing on the floor.
"She had a torn meniscus coming in," Blatch said. "We found out a day or two after our season that she had torn it. She had been playing on it. She showed a lot of toughness down the stretch of our season.
"We didn't know how bad it was. She wanted to tough it out. I wasn't sure. She wanted to play in this. She was hurting pretty bad and she was going to maybe get that checked out. Hopefully, there's no further damage. I know it meant a lot to her to try to take part in this. Maybe it wasn't a great idea in hindsight."
AWAY: 24-23--47
HOME: 24-28--52
AWAY SCORING: Madi Matthews (Heartland) 4 0-0 10, Abby Perry (Salem) 4 0-0 8, Jorden Webb (Heartland) 2 0-0 6, Elizabeth Mostella (Southern) 3 0-0 6, Cassie Spaite (Columbiana) 1 0-0 2, Jenna McClish (Salem) 2 0-0 6, Krista Barley (Salem) 2 0-0 5, Alivia Davidson-Chuck (Salem) 1 0-0 2, Alanee Davidson-Chuck (Salem) 0 2-2 2. TOTALS: 19, 2-2: 47.
HOME SCORING: Halle Jordan (Beaver) 5 0-0 13, Allison Francosky (Leetonia) 5 0-0 10, McKenna Schultz (Crestview) 3 0-0 8, Karsyn Moore (Crestview) 1 0-0 2, Shayla Foster (East Liverpool) 0 2-2 2, Brooklyn Vantilburg (East Liverpool) 1 0-0 3, Madison Haifley (Lisbon) 2 0-0 6, Tabby Ketchum (Lisbon) 1 1-1 3, Parker Henthorne (Lisbon) 1 2-2 5. TOTALS: 19, 5-5: 52.
Three-pointers: Away 7 (McClish 2, Barley, Webb 2, Matthews 2), Home 9 (Schultz 2, Vantilburg, Haifley 2, Henthorne, Jordan 3).