Breaking News
Local Sports

Zatta, Crusaders win opener, keep Wildcats winless

By From staff reports 5 min read

STEUBENVILLE -- Catholic Central sprinted out to a big lead early, then held on down the stretch to earn a season-opening 50-43 victory over Edison Saturday inside the Mickey Barber Gymnasium.

The Crusaders, thanks to 11 Katie Zatta points, were up 14-1 after the opening quarter. The Wildcats outscored their hosts, 12-8, in the second to trail 22-13 at the break.

Two long-range bombs by Alysea Fiedorczyk, who sat out most of the first half with foul trouble, helped Edison close to within five (32-27) after three. Fiedorczyk swished two more triples during the final eight minutes, and Savanna Ankrom added four points, as Mark Smyth's club rallied to knot the score at 40 with a little more than three minutes to play.

Jess Looman's Crusaders put the win on ice. Zatta knocked down a short jumper and converted four straight free throws. Morgan Green and Ali Grimm also delivered crucial freebies during the final minutes.

Zatta, a junior guard, had a monster game for Central. She finished with 31 points, draining two 3-pointers in the process. She also was 15 for 19 from the line.

"I'm just really thankful that our girls finally had an opportunity to play, and getting a win always is a great way to start the season," Looman said. "I wasn't really sure what to expect since we missed two weeks of practice, only had one scrimmage and were going with three new starters. That fast start was fun to watch. Typically, that does not happen for us. We did let things get away from us as the game went on, but fortunately we did enough down the stretch to win.

"Katie really got us going. We expect big things from her and she delivered. I hope that she can continue to give us that kind of effort game in and game out as we go through the season."

Smyth pointed out slow starts really have hurt his Wildcats, who fell to 0-4, in recent games.

"In our last three games, we got down big in the first quarter, but we battled back," the first-year Edison coach said. "Our girls are hard nosed, they work hard and they play tough. We just have to come out better in the first quarter.

"We were down by 15 to Harrison in the first, down 13 to Buckeye Local and down 13 (Saturday). Against Harrison and Buckeye, we battled back and took the lead. We tied this one up. We have to find a way to win these games."

Ali Grimm, one of Central's new starters, supported Zatta's effort with 10 points.

"I was just really happy with the way Ali played," Looman said. "She played some for us last season as a junior, and it was great to see her start her senior year strong. She played really well on the defensive end, also, and pulled down some key backside rebounds."

Senior point guard Morgan Green and junior forward Clara Symington, playing her first varsity game, had seven rebounds each to pace Central. Grimm and Zatta finished with six each.

"I couldn't be happier with the contributions we got from Clara," Looman said. "She's never really played organized basketball before. She did a nice job at the top of our 1-3-1 zone, grabbed some key rebounds and delivered a critical basket for us in the fourth quarter."

Fiedorczyk and Ankrom evenly divided 24 points to pace Edison.

"She is a really tough player," Smyth said of Fiedorczyk. "The other girls look to her. She averaged about 15 points a game as a sophomore, and her teammates have a lot of confidence in her. When she got into foul trouble early, some of our other girls had to look internally and ask what they were going to do about helping out. They rebounded well from that early deficit.

"We played hard, showed a little bit of guts and got back into the game. We just have to learn how to finish. Central's girls did a nice job also. Their 1-3-1 zone caused us a lot of trouble."

Combined, the teams shot 66 free throws. Central finished 24 of 42, while the Wildcats were 12 of 24.

"I know one thing we will be working on at practice Monday," Looman said. "We just have to do a better job from the line.

"The one scrimmage we had was against Edison. I was glad we were able to schedule games with them. I thought going in this would be a good physical, competitive game, and it was. Edison is well-coached. Their girls play tough, and they never quit."

A SPLIT

Edison earned a split thanks to a 24-18 win in the junior varsity contest.

Pressly Meadows tallied seven to lead the Wildcats, while Sophia Smith added six. Ellie Rice netted six for the Crusaders. Theresa Kerker and Ella Maragos added four each.

UP NEXT

Edison: Hosts East Liverpool the same evening.

Central: Back in action Thursday with a road game at Cambridge.

Catholic Central 50, Edison 43

Edison 1 12 14 16 -- 43

Central 14 8 10 18 -- 50

EDISON (0-4): Johnson 3 0-2 5; Fiedorczyk 4 0-0 12; Ankrom 3 6-9 12; Meadows 1 1-6 3; Fox 1 1-3 3; Huff 1 4-4 6; Freeman 0 2-2 2. TOTALS: 12, 12-24: 43.

CENTRAL (1-0): Zatta 7 15-19 31; Symington 1 0-0 2; Green 0 3-11 3; Kerker 0 0-0 0; Grimm 2 4-8 10; Kirkpatrick 1 0-0 2; Dong 0 0-0 0; DeChristopher 0 1-2 1; Rice 0 1-2 1. TOTALS: 11, 24-42: 50.

3-POINT GOALS: Edison 5 (Fiedorczyk 4, Johnson); Central 4 (Zatta, Grimm 2 each).

Starting at /week.