Crusaders top Southern Local, advance to OVAC 2A final
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STEUBENVILLE -- Catholic Central punched its ticket to Saturday's OVAC Class 2A championship game by earning a hard-fought 31-23 win over Southern Local in Monday's semifinals.
The now 14-3 Crusaders, the top seed for the conference event, will test second-seeded Monroe Central in the title tilt. The Seminoles knocked off number three Frontier 57-40 in the other semifinal contest.
"That was just a great game between two talented and evenly matched teams," said Central coach Jess Looman. "Southern Local is vastly improved from last season and gave us everything we could handle.
"We are extremely excited to reach the OVAC finals. I am so proud of how far the girls have come this year. They are playing well together and they've earned this opportunity to compete for a conference championship. I want to thank our fans who turned out tonight to support the girls. The atmosphere in the gym was fantastic."
Defense was the name of the game inside the Mickey Barber Gymnasium as both teams made it tough either offense to get rolling.
Sophomore standout Ashley Shroades put Southern, which was seeded fourth, on the board first when she drained a triple. Katie Zatta, Central's senior leader, answered with a 3-pointer of her own.
The only other point of the opening quarter came via a free throw by Central senior Clara Symington.
Four Zatta points along with buckets from Ellen Rohde and Jackie O'Karma put the Crusaders up 14-6 at the break. The hosts led 24-12 heading into the final eight minutes.
The Indians, who were making their first appearance in the OVAC final four, put together a fourth quarter rally and closed to within six thanks to a long distance make by Kennedy Lewis.
Central answered when Rohde turned a Theresa Kerker pass into two points.
Shroades connected again from behind the arc then followed a Kerker make from the line with a conventional three-point play to pull Southern to within three. Four points from Zatta put the victory on ice for the Crusaders.
"It was a great defensive battle on both ends," Looman said. "I thought we played really, really well on the defensive end. We focused on trying to control Shroades and limit their post player (Olivia Kerns) inside. We had a couple of breakdowns on Shroades and credit to her, she's an outstanding player.
"We just weren't able to get into any kind of flow on the offensive end and credit Southern's defensive effort for that. I'm so proud of how our girls fought through some adversity in the fourth quarter, got a couple of key defensive stops and made some huge buckets."
Zatta again led Central in scoring with 16. Rhode contributed eight and hauled down a team-leading 13 rebounds.
"It really was a great game with two great basketball teams going at it," said Southern Local Mike Skrinjar. "We talked all week about how championship basketball is a whole different mindset. Both teams are extremely talented -- if you watch film on both of us there are times when players are doing great things. Now it is the mindset of coming into a game and executing.
"Our girls played extremely hard. They need to hold their chins high. Credit to Catholic Central, their girls put everything out on the floor as well. It was a great high school game full of athletes who sold out tonight."
Shroades took game scoring honors with 17.
"The atmosphere and the crowd were great," Skrinjar said. "The pre-game stuff was outstanding to get the girls all hyped up. It all made for a great basketball game.
"We went into the locker room at the half down 14-6 and we told the girls it was time to get things going and they did. I'm very proud of the way our girls battled tonight."
UP NEXT
Southern Local will travel to Frontier Thursday for the Class 2A consolation game.
Central and Monroe Central will square off at Harrison Central for the tournament championship. The tip is set for noon.
"We know Monroe Central is a very talented team," Looman said. "We'll need to be ready for what's going to be a huge challenge.
"We have four days to prepare. We'll get after it in practice this week and take our best shot Saturday."
JV ACTION
Ella Maragos knocked down 10 points and Central collected a 27-11 victory in the junior varsity contest.
Gigi Rodgers scored five to lead Southern.
Catholic Central 31, Southern Local 23
Southern 3 3 6 11 -- 23
Central 4 10 10 7 -- 31
SOUTHERN LOCAL (15-4): Lafferty 0 0-0 0; Kerns 1 1-4 3; Rodgers 0 0-0 0; Mostella 0 0-0 0; Forbes 0 0-0 0; Lewis 1 0-0 3; Shroades 5 5-6 17; Stanley 0 0-0 0. TOTALS: 7 6-10 23
CENTRAL (14-3): Zatta 5 4-4 16; Symington 0 1-2 1; Rohde 4 0-0 8; Kerker 0 4-6 4; O'Karma 1 0-0 2; Arai 0 0-0 0. TOTALS: 10 9-12 31.
3-POINT GOALS: Southern Local 3 (Shroades 2; Lewis); Central 2 (both by Zatta).