Pleasant ousted from girls tourney
POWELL – Pleasant was eliminated from the Division III Central District girls basketball tournament Wednesday night with a 56-49 loss to Columbus Bishop Ready at Olentangy Liberty High School.
The fourth-seeded Lady Spartans (18-7) got into a big hole early before scrapping back in the latter stages of the semifinal game.
They, however, came up just short. Sixth-seeded Ready (16-7) advances to the district championship game.
Pleasant fell behind by 14 points in the first period before concluding the quarter trailing by 10.
Ready burst on top 15-1 in the opening frame. The Lady Silver Knights were 5-of-7 from the field during that time quarter and held a 10-1 edge in rebounds.
Pleasant, on the other hand, was 0-of-10 from the floor.
The Lady Spartans hit their first field goal with 27 seconds left in the stanza as Summer Blevins broke the ice. Christina Widrig added a basket moments later to slice Pleasant's deficit to 10 at 15-5.
Delaney Cutterridge powered Ready in the initial period with seven points.
Pleasant looked a little better during the first portion of the second period and an 11-4 advantage got the Lady Spartans to within five points of the lead at 21-16. Hannah McQuistion, Blevins, Kamryn Kimmel, and Karmen Linder produced points during that effort.
Ready, however, then got back to its inside game which featured cutters to the hoop through the Lady Spartans' defense.
Another 11-4 tear, this one in favor of Ready, helped the Lady Silver Knights add to their lead by halftime with a 32-20 advantage.
Pleasant clawed closer several times in the second half but couldn't string together enough points to make a big run.
Kimmel sank a pair of 3-pointers in the third period and Pleasant was within seven at 34-27.
Unable to maintain that offense, the Lady Spartans were down 44-31 after three quarters.
Ready's free throw shooting, which included a 7-of-8 showing in the final half minute of the game, kept the Lady Silver Knights on top during Pleasant's last run at them.
The Lady Spartans cut their deficit to four at 53-49 following a 3-pointer from Mauk in the waning moments but couldn't close the gap any further.
Kimmel led Pleasant with 14 points, Blevins canned 10, and Mauk and Hannah Peltier concluded with eight each.
Lauren Ruth, a district first-teamer, paced Ready with 15 points.
For more on the game, stay tuned to www.marionstar.com and pick up a print copy of Friday's Star.
dmcphers@nncogannett.com
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Twitter: @starsportsdenny