West Holmes exploits Philo to advance

DRESDEN – West Holmes has a knack for exploiting the opposition's weaknesses.

The second-seeded Knights found gaps in Philo's 2-3 zone and pressured the Electrics into turnovers en route to a 54-31 win in the Division II district championship Thursday at Tri-Valley.

West Holmes (22-3) will face Chillicothe Unioto in the regional semifinal at 8 p.m. Tuesday at Zanesville, while third seed Philo ended the season 20-5.

Nearly half of the Knights' first-half points — 12 of 26 — were second-chance opportunities.

West Holmes coach Lisa Patterson noted her team's triangle alignment allowed for those offensive rebounds

"We want to get easy baskets early," she said. "They spread out their zone towards the wings so it left the box open."

The Electrics were outrebounded 15-9 in the first half, as Philo coach Dan Hilty credited West Holmes' aggressiveness.

"They were able to be more physical," he said. "They attacked the offensive glass. That's a staple of West Holmes."

The teams were even early, as a Haley Howard triple made it 5-4 Philo.

The Knights scored nine of the final 11 points of the first, including a Hannah Clark jumper before the buzzer for a 13-7 advantage.

The offensive glass allowed West Holmes to build a 13-point halftime lead. A putback by Brittleigh Macaulay off a missed free throw made it 19-10, while Clark converted a three-point play and scored off a late turnover for a 26-13 lead.

West Holmes forced nine turnovers and held the Electrics to 4-of-16 shooting in the first half.

"Our defense is built around ball pressure," Patterson said. "We don't want to make it easy for our opponents. If it is, we have a problem."

Philo made a run in the third. Trailing 36-19 after a 3-pointer by Alex Brown, Destiny Hutcheson scored on a drive to the hoop, and Emily Coakley hit a three off an offensive rebound to bring Philo within 36-25.

However, the Electrics gave West Holmes two points before the end of the third, and the Knights opened the fourth on a 14-2 run to seal it.

"The kind of kids we have are ready to respond," Hilty said. "We made some stops in the third, and we tried to limit their runs. But, they found a way to keep the momentum."

Kara Hutcheson finished with nine points, Destiny Hutcheson scored eight with three steals and Corrie Burkhardt was held to six points and grabbed nine rebounds for Philo, which made just 9 of 34 from the field.

Burkhardt, Coakley and Reagan Tom will graduate, but those seniors left an imprint on the program.

"They helped us win 37 games the last two seasons," Hilty said. "They gave us everything they had without asking questions. Their legacy will be hard-working players who wanted the best for their teammates. I'm proud I was able to coach them."

Clark had 18 points and Macaulay chipped in 12 for the Knights, who were 21 of 41 from the field and 4 of 6 behind the arc.

bhannahs@zanesvilletimesrecorder.com

740-450-6763

Twitter: @brandonhannahs