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Southview girls
pull away from Perrysburg
Perrysburg 53,
Southview 43
Published: 2/2/2010
By: Sentinel Sports Staff |
 PERRYSBURG
— Perrysburg’s girls were able to hang with
Southview Tuesday night, even without their leading
scorer.
But it was not to be for the Yellow Jackets in a key
Northern Lakes League matchup, as the Cougars
overwhelmed Perrysburg in the fourth quarter.
Southview (15-2 overall, 10-1 NLL) claimed a 53-43
victory at Perrysburg High School to remain tied
with Northview for first place in the NLL. Southview
and its cross-town rival play Saturday for sole
possession of the league lead.
“It’s going to set up an unbelievable atmosphere on
Saturday night at (Northview). It’s going to be sold
out,” said Southview coach Todd Bostater. “No
offense to Perrysburg, I think us and Northview are
the two best teams, so we’ll figure out who is the
best on Saturday night.”
That showdown was in doubt for much of Tuesday’s
game, as Perrysburg led by three points at halftime
and trailed by a single point (32-31) heading into
the fourth quarter. But a 13-4 run to open the
fourth gave Southview some breathing room and the
Cougars held on for the win.
“We had to play at such a high level to hang in
there, that as much as you would like to say you’re
in great shape, it starts to drain on you,”
Perrysburg coach Todd Sims said. “We hung in there,
but we just didn’t have enough at the end.”
With the loss Perrysburg (12-5, 8-3) falls two games
back of first place with three league games
remaining.
The ’Jackets, who handed Southview its only NLL loss
with a 37-36 victory on Dec. 18, were without their
leading scorer, sophomore wing Kelsea Newman (10.5
points per game). Newman injured her foot against
Springfield on Saturday, and according to Sims is
“day-to-day.”
The ’Jackets didn’t shy away from a Southview team
with more experience and its starting point guard,
Ariel Gaston, back in the lineup. Gaston missed the
teams’ first meeting this season, which was decided
by a Newman shot in the final seconds.
“It was obviously frustrating because we controlled
that game without one of our best players (Gaston)
last time,” Bostater said of the teams’ first
meeting. “We had to win tonight on (Perrysburg’s)
home court, against a well-coached team. We knew it
wasn’t going to be easy. I never felt comfortable
until the end.”
The Cougars’ Taylor Hall led all players with 18
points, including a 6-of-7 effort from the free-
throw line. Tiffany Scott added 12 points and Gaston
had 10.
As a team Southview was 13-of-17 (76 percent) from
the foul line and made an impressive 8-of-10
3-pointers (80 percent). The Cougars shot just
6-of-18 from the floor in the first half.
“I told them at halftime to just relax,” Bostater
said. “I thought in the first half we were pressing
because we were trying to hard on offense ... We
weren’t playing as a team. And then in the second
half we made the extra passes and those kids were
hitting the wide-open shots. That was a big
difference.”
Southview, with its pressure man-to-man defense,
forced Perrysburg into 20 turnovers for the game
while committing 12 itself. The ’Jackets also
struggled shooting from the free-throw line
(4-of-10) and from 3-point range (1-of-7).
“They’ve been through these kind of games and we
haven’t,” Sims said of Southview. “We have some
youth and we had an injury to someone who has been a
starter for us. They have the experience and we
don’t, but we’re getting it.”
Perrysburg’s two starting posts — senior Erin Mesker
and junior Nicole Delas — battled inside and kept
the ’Jackets in the game through the first three
quarters.
“Offensively I think it helped Perrysburg because
they used their two post players a lot more than
maybe they would have,” Bostater said. “When Newman
is out there she’s getting a lot of shots. I thought
both Mesker and Delas were very good tonight. They
executed very well. I give Perrysburg a lot of
credit.”
Mesker finished with a team-high 13 points and added
six rebounds, while Delas had eight points, three
steals and a block.
“Our strength is inside,” Sims said. “We have two
really good post players and that’s where the ball
has to try to go. That’s always our game plan ...
They both (Mesker and Delas) gave great effort.”
Senior Kirsten Goins stepped into the starting
lineup and had a solid game for Perrysburg,
finishing with 10 points and six rebounds.
“We’re not that far away,” Sims said. “These are the
games you just have to be in to learn what they’re
like. Hopefully we’ll learn from it.”
Perrysburg won the junior varsity game, 51-29. Becca
Tudor led the ’Jackets with 14 points and Megan
Kaczinski added 10. |
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