Bellaire pulls away from the Panthers
CONNORVILLE -- Bellaire's slow start allowed Buckeye to hang with the visiting Big Reds. Bellaire led only by one after the first quarter.
Two key happenings started to manifest in the second quarter--(a) Bellaire's pressure bore fruit, forcing Buckeye into critical turnovers, and (b) Zara Harveth started to get untracked and find the range.
Harveth scored 24 points, including going 2-of-3 behind the arc as Bellaire bested Buckeye Local 52-42 at Connorville in a final tune-up for both squads before Ohio postseason play gets underway next week.
The junior post gave up a few inches against her taller Buckeye counterparts, but managed to display a keen effectiveness in the paint.
"She's crafty down there," Bellaire head coach John Farrier offered as his team improved to 13-8 before a sectional opener against Sandy Valley. "She started slow, but then she got herself going.
"She actually shoots about 40 percent from outside too. We have to figure out how to start quicker though."
Buckeye, meanwhile, needs to find a way to get healthy and, until that happens, the Panthers need to keep their players on the floor and not sitting on the bench in foul trouble.
Down a starting guard with junior Alyssa Dailey booted up with an ankle injury, both Maddie Rosset and Brynn McKeever battled bouts of foul trouble.
Without their presence on the court, the Big Reds' pressure forced numerous turnovers during the middle two quarters.
The second quarter troubles hurt in particular, as what started as a one-point deficit grew to nine by half's end as Bellaire outscored their hosts 17-9 in the second quarter.
"We turned the ball over a lot there midway through the second and into the third," Buckeye Local head coach Bailey McBeth noted. "They got up to by as many as 18. We played hard at the end, but it was a little too much to overcome."
When Buckeye got the ball up the floor, senior Pam Kandrach was able to find success, scoring 11 of her team-high 16 points in the second half. Brynn McKeever totaled eight points and Shayleigh Hornyak six.
Twice the Panthers trimmed the deficit to single digits, but could never take advantage and pull close enough. Bellaire's undersized but aggressive style of play saw to that.
"We're always undersized, but we make up that through speed and hustle," Farrier said. "There was never a time I was questioning the effort and that put us over the top.
"Everyone was selling out, and if you do that the whole game, normally, the scoreboard will work in your favor."
Rhyan O'Grady finished with nine points for the Big Reds and Kayla Edgar added six.
Buckeye next plays Edison in their first round sectional game in a rematch of a mutual season opener.
Bellaire 52, Buckeye Local 42
Bellaire 10 17 14 11 - 52
Buckeye Local 9 9 12 12 - 42
Be - Ault 2 1-2 5; Edgar 2 2-2 6; Harveth 11 0-0 24; Mason 2 2-4 6; O'Grady 3 2-3 9; Rowson 0 0-0 0; Hines 0 2-2 2; Totals: 22 7-13 52.
BL - McKeever 3 2-4 8; Short 2 0-0 4; Ankrom 1 0-0 2; Stock 1 0-0 2; Kandrach 6 3-5 16; Hornyak 3 0-0 6; Totals: 16 5-9 42.
Three-point Goals: Harveth 2, O'Grady. Kandrach.