Maysville clamps down on Carrollton, wins district title

BELMONT – Veteran teams know how to overcome adversity, and top-seeded Maysville displayed the calm needed to advance Friday night.

The Panthers overcame an 8-of-28 shooting performance in the first half to outscore Carrollton, 21-7, in the decisive third quarter en route to a 56-41 victory in a Division II district championship game at Ohio University-Eastern.

Maysville will face Columbus Eastmoor Academy in the regional semifinals at 6:15 p.m. Tuesday at Zanesville High School.

"We didn't have a good first half. We didn't execute our offense against the zone and struggled rebounding," Maysville coach Pat Miller said. "We came out and played defense like we're capable of. That allowed us to get out and run like we wanted to.

"It's a testament to our defense and having a veteran group that didn't panic."

With Brooke Smith struggling from the floor, Kori Sidwell picked up the Panthers (24-1) on the offensive end. The junior scored a pair of late buckets to put Maysville up 22-21 at the half and scored four straight to spark the game-sealing, 16-2 run in the third.

Sidwell finished with 17 points.

"Brooke's shots weren't falling so Kori can take over when she knows she needs to," Miller said. "She showed the type of player she can be."

Sidwell noted halftime allowed the team to refocus. The Panthers' effort was on full display, limiting fourth-seeded Carrollton (16-6) to 2-of-8 shooting while forcing eight turnovers in the third.

Capria Hall added seven of her 12 points and Smith scored four points off of two turnovers during that spurt for the Panthers, who led 43-28 after three.

The Warriors never got closer than that in the fourth.

"We knew we couldn't let it end here. We have bigger goals," Sidwell said. "We had to move around more on offense and our defense tightened up. We were able to take that momentum into the fourth."

A sluggish first quarter saw the Panthers take an 11-6 lead to the second. They extended the lead to 18-12 on a Hall hoop, but the Warriors went on a 7-0 run capped by an Ali Poole basket for a 19-18 edge.

Sidwell scored a pair of baskets to put Maysville up 22-21 at the half, as Carrollton went 7-of-10 from the field in the second quarter.

The Panthers scored three points off of eight offensive rebounds and committed eight turnovers in the first half.

Smith scored a team-high 18 points, including a 9-of-10 effort at the foul line, for the Panthers, who finished 18-of-49 from the floor and 2-of-17 from behind the arc. They also had 13 turnovers and owned a 28-21 rebounding edge.

Rachel Devine had a team-high 13 points for the Warriors, who were 17-of-37 from the field with 19 turnovers.

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