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The Muskies rally by Buckeye

CONNORVILLE — The first home sectional basketball game in Buckeye Local girls program history won’t be one for the memory banks.

The 11th-seeded Panthers (13-10) had no answer for John Glenn’s height or athleticism as the No. 16 Little Muskies (11-12) rolled to 62-34 victory inside the Panthers Den in Division II sectional tournament action Wednesday night. With the win, John Glenn will make the trip to Millersburg Saturday night to face second-seeded West Holmes.

The New Concord-based Little Muskies came out on fire as they knocked down four treys among their seven made field goals. The lights-out shooting propelled them to a 20-8 advantage after one quarter and they never looked back.

“You can’t do anything when they make shots from for three, and when you come out to defend the three, then they make shots on layups,” Buckeye Local head coach Tom Figurski said. “They are a very well-coached team. That’s something that we’re going to strive toward and get better.

“The last three years we’ve taken baby steps. To get to this level of play (John Glenn’s) we just need to improve on some things,” he added.

John Glenn went 8-for-10 from the field in the second quarter in building a 38-17 halftime margin as Buckeye Local was an ice-cold 6-for-21. The Muskies, with a pair of 6-1 post players and a 5-11 do-everything, held a commanding 18-8 bulge off the glass.

“I give our kids credit because it was tough having as much time off as we did since the tournament draw,” John Glenn head coach David Kirby said. “We took some days off to try and get our legs back. You never know how the layoff will hurt you, but it seemed to help us. We came out hitting some shots in the first quarter and that helps ease some of the pressure defensively and offensively.”

Sophomore Emily Holzapfel led the Panthers with 13 points. Senior Danielle Dvorcek added 10 and sophomore Alaire Destifanes added nine. Junior Angelina Piergallini pulled down a team-best six rebounds.

Junior Madison Hunter and senior Bre Tetirick evenly divided 34 points for the Little Muskies. Hunter also had 10 rebounds for a double-double. Gabbi Blair, a 6-1 senior, had eight points and a like number of boards. Tetirick landed seven rebounds as John Glenn led 40-18.

The Panthers had two less turnovers at 12-10.

John Glenn 62, Buckeye Local 34

JG 20 18 12 12 – 62

BL 8 9 11 6 – 34

JOHN GLENN: Johnson 1 0-0 2; G. Blair 4 0-2 8; Slack 4 0-0 10; Hunter 6 2-2 17; Tetirick 7 0-0 17; L. Sherry 1 1-2 3; Pethtel 1 0-0 2; Crawford 0 0-0 0; German 1 0-0 3; M. Sherry 0 0-0 0; Boykin 0 0-0 0; Nelson 0 0-0 0; R. Blair 0 0-0 0. TOTALS: 24-45 3-6 62. 3-pointers: Hunter 3, Tetirick 3, Slack 2, German.

BUCKEYE LOCAL: Gill 1 0-0 2; Piergallini 0 0-0 0; Holzapfel 4 4-6 13; Dvorcek 4 2-6 10; Destifanes 4 0-0 9; Dill 0 0-0 0; Cunningham 0 0-0 0; Fox 0 0-0 0; Swiger 0-1 0-0 0; Gorlock 0 0-0 0. TOTALS: 13-41 6-12 34. 3-pointers: Holzapfel, Destifanes.

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