Staff report
GREENVILLE — With the regular-season finale being against a Greenville team that had just two wins all season, it was all but assured that the Sidney High girls basketball team would cap off a perfect regular season.
And the Lady Jackets did just that Saturday afternoon at Greenville, rolling to a 37-19 lead at the half and going on to a 65-39 victory over the Lady Green Wave in Greater Western Ohio Conference North Division action.
The victory capped Sidney’s regular season at 22-0 and gave them a final GWOC North record of 10-0. They clinched their second consecutive North championship earlier last week, and became only the second girls basketball team in school history to finish the regular season undefeated. The 1984 team coached by Maggi Williams finished 20-0.
“This is such a great accomplishment for these girls,” said Mummey. “Going 21-1 last year in the regular season, I didn’t think it could get any better than that. But it has and this team had a lot they wanted to prove. The countless hours of practice and hard work got us here and I couldn’t be more proud of them.”
They now turn their attention to postseason play, which begins Saturday. The No. 2 seed, the Lady Jackets will take on Miamisburg at 4:30 at Troy High School in the Division 1 Sectional Tournament. The two teams met during the regular season at Sidney and the Lady Jackets won 53-41.
Greenville tried to throw a scare into the Lady Jackets in the early going.
“They came out in the first quarter and shot lights out,” said Sidney head coach Megan Mummey.
But despite that, the Lady Jackets were still on top by five at the quarter’s end at 18-13. They then went out and settled the verdict in the second quarter, outscoring Greenville 19-6 for the 18-point halftime lead.
“We got a fast break steal and a layup to start the second quarter and really took over from there,” said Mummey. “And Sylvia Hudson and Celena Taborn tore it up inside. They did a great job finishing inside even though they were double- and triple-teamed at times. I credit our guards for getting them the ball.”
Hudson added to her all-time school record number of career points by pouring in 27 for Sidney, and Taborn added 20. Hudson hit 12 for 16 from the field, and Taborn 9 for 14, leading the Lady Jackets to 29 for 50 as a team, 58 percent.
Ashley Egan and Kaitlyn Davis did the dishing. Egan finished with seven assists and Davis with five.
Hudson, who recently signed to play at Urbana University next season, had eight and Taborn six in the opening quarter for the Lady Jackets. Hudson then added nine more and Taborn four in the second to spearhead the Lady Jackets’ pullaway. Taborn, the 6-foot-3 post player, even hit a three as part of her eight-point third quarter.
Hudson’s 27 points brought her career point total to 1,489. Taborn, meanwhile, is closing in on 1,000 points, too, the 20 she scored Saturday bringing her up to 925, which is ninth on the all-time list.
Taborn pulled down six rebounds to bring her career total to 704, and that puts her third on the all-time list at the school. She also had three blocks. Hudson’s eight rebounds gave her 695 for her career, and that puts her in fifth place on the all-time list.
Sidney has now won 40 consecutive regular-season games.
The junior varsity lost 38-27 to finish the season even at 11-11.
Sidney (65) — Davis 6, Nuss 6, Kindle 2, Rowland 4, Hudson 27, Taborn 20.
Greenville (39) — Shaffer 5, Brandenburg 14, Nakamura 3, McKinney 13, Garland 3, Jackson 1.
Score by quarters:
Sidney—18 37 58 65
Greenville—13 19 27 39
Three-pointers: Sidney 1 (Taborn); Greenville 4 (McKinney 2, Brandenburg, Garland).
Records: Sidney 22-0, Greenville 2-20.
Reserve score: Greenville 38, Sidney 27.
