SPORTS

Finton sparks Generals in tourney win over Tornadoes

J.J. Mickey
jmickeyjr@nncogannett.com

DOVER – This season, Ridgewood's Kaitlyn Finton has normally been the third offensive option behind post player Amanda Lowery and guard Audrey Tingle.

But for most of Saturday afternoon, the junior was the main option.

Finton finished with 14 points, seven rebounds and six blocks as the Generals took down 15th seed West Muskingum 50-37 in a Division III girls sectional final at Dover High School.

"I knew teams would try to slow down Amanda and Audrey in the tournament so it would open up more chances for the role players," Finton said. "We realized we needed to step up and get going when they were struggling so we took advantage of those chances."

Ridgewood (20-3) will face Inter-Valley Conference foe Garaway (19-5) in a Division III district semifinal at 8 p.m. Thursday at Steubenville High School.

Tingle finished with 16 points while Lowery added 14 points and 12 rebounds for the Generals.

Carley Barker had 12 points to lead the Tornadoes (6-15), and Fairmont State commit Sabrina Madson finished with eight points on 4-of-16 shooting.

Both teams came out on fire in the first quarter with each team trading buckets in a 13-13 tie.

A Madson jumper gave the Tornadoes a 17-16 lead with 6:30 left until halftime.

But it was the last lead West M had.

The Generals finished the half on an 11-1 run to lead 27-18 at half, then used an 18-5 third quarter to build a 45-23 lead.

Ridgewood coach Doug Patterson was pleased with how his team responded after the slow start and was especially happy with the play of Finton.

"This was a tough matchup for us and we came out of the gates slow because we were not running our offensive sets and we were getting beat on our press defense," he said. "After that though, I thought we played a lot better and a lot of that was because Kaitlyn had easily her best game of the season."

Despite leading the team in scoring, Tingle was just 6-of-16 from the foul line, which included a 3-of-12 first half.

"I was just a little too excited about things and once I started missing them, it really messed with me," she said. "I was surprised they didn't foul me that much in the second half when I drove into the lane, but I was happy I was able to make the free throws when they did."

Patterson is anxious to face Garaway again after splitting the Inter-Valley Conference season series.

Ridgewood won the first meeting Jan. 7 at home 49-43 while Garaway took the game on its home floor 50-40 on Feb. 11.

This time around the stakes are higher with a district final berth on the line.

"We beat them when we were not feeling good in the first game, then got off to a slow start at their place and lost," Patterson said. "Hopefully the girls have revenge on their mind."

Tingle is just as excited as Patterson for Round 3 against a familiar foe.

"We are excited that we get a chance to play them a third time," Tingle said. "We are fired up and we want to beat them again."

jmickeyjr@gannett.com

Twitter: @TribuneJJMickey