Staff report
The fourth-seeded Botkins girls were unable to hang on to a four-point lead going to the final period, and lost on a shot with seven seconds remaining, 39-38 to fifth-seeded Troy Christian in Division 4 Sectional semifinal basketball action at Sidney High School Tuesday night.
Botkins ends the season with a final 16-7 record. Troy Christian is now 17-6 and will play Jackson Center Saturday at noon in the sectional final.
Botkins led 29-25 after three quarters, but Troy Christian hit a three and a two to open the final period and take a one-point lead.
With 1:02 left in the game, a pair of free throws by TC’s Kenley Blake stretched the lead for the Lady Eagles to 37-34. But after a timeout, Botkins returned to the floor, found Paige Lane open for a three-point attempt, and she sank it to pull the Lady Trojans even with 51 seconds left.
With :22 left, Botkins had a two-shot foul, but missed both, then with 12 seconds to go, Sarah Bergman missed a free throw before hitting one to give Botkins a 38-37 lead.
But out of a timeout, Troy Christian got the winning bucket from Lee to escape with the win.
Botkins need look no further than its final statistic at the free throw line for a reason for the loss. The Lady Trojans hit just 11 for 23 at the line for 48 percent, and were just 4-for-8 in the final period.
Paige Lane was 6 for 8 from the floor and had three threes on her way to 18 for the Lady Trojans. Sarah Bergman finished with 11 points and nine rebounds.
For the game, Botkins was 12 for 38 from the field for just 32 percent compared to 14 for 36 for TC for 38 percent.
Botkins (38) — Bergman 11, Lane 18, Woodall 2, Homan 1, T. Greve 4, J. Greve 2.
TC (39) — Blake 5, Lee 8, Peters 15, Lavy 2, Salazar 9.
Score by quarters:
Botkins`6`19`29`38
Troy Chr.`9`19`25`39
Three-pointers: Botkins 3 (Lane 3); TC 3 (Salazar 2, Peters).
Records: Botkins 16-7, TC 17-6.
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Jackson Center 65, MV 22
In the second semifinal Tuesday at Sidney, top-seeded Jackson Center won easily over Mississinawa Valley 65-22 to advance to Saturday’s upper-bracket final against Troy Christian.
Jackson Center will take a county-best 19-4 record into Saturday’s game.
Lady Tiger Kamryn Elchert put on an amazing display in the first quarter to get her team out to a 24-9 lead after just eight minutes of play.
Elchert, with a team-high 33 three-pointers during the regular season, had five threes in seven attempts, and scored 17 points in the first quarter alone Tuesday night. She missed her first two attempts from behind teh arc before hitting five in a row the rest of the quarter.
She added another long-range shot in the second period to finish the first half with 20 points on 7-for-11 from the field, including 6-for-9 from three-point range.
Her shooting display helped both Kennadie Reese and Cassie Meyer dish out four assists apiece in the first two quarters.
It was 40-13 at the intermission, with Jackson outrebounding Mississinawa 23-10. Thirteen of JC’s first-half rebounds came at the offensive end. Meyer had nine rebounds in the first half, and four were offensive.
Elchert finished the game with 23 points in 22 minutes of action for Jackson, and Vanessa Winner added 10 points.
Meyer wound up with 12 rebounds and six assists, and Reese had five assists.
Jackson hit 27 for 57 for 47 percent, and held Mississinawa to just 7-for-36 from the field for 19 percent.
Jackson Center (65) — Reese 6, Elchert 23, Meyer 4, Clark 3, Ware 7, Hickety 4, Hoehne 8, Winner 10.
Mississinawa (22) — Stump 6, S. Hunt 5, K. Hunt 11.
Score by quarters:
JC`24`40`54`65
MV`9`13`18`22
Three-pointers: JC 7 (Elchert 7); MV 2 (Stump, S. Hunt).
Records: JC 19-4, MV 2-19.
JC’s next game: Saturday, sectional finals at Sidney vs. Troy Christian at noon.
