State-ranked Orange girls shut down BW, 46-25
The Pioneers came as advertised …
Olentangy Orange, ranked seventh in this week’s Associated Press Division I girls basketball, shook off a slow start, a start that saw the Pioneers go 1-for-15 from the field, to double up on Big Walnut 46-25 in an Ohio Capital Conference Capital Division matchup Tuesday night in Sunbury.
The victory was the 15th in 16 seasons starter for coach Mary Ann Grimes’ Pioneers who remain undefeated in the OCC Capital with a 10-0 record and a one-game lead over New Albany, a 41-31 winner over Watkins Memorial last night.
Orange, clinging to a 12-7 lead with 3:38 remaining in the second period, caught fire offensively and closed the first half with an 11-5 run fueled by baskets from 5-foot-9 junior guard Taylor Agler, 5-9 junior guard Kayla Young and 5-7 senior guard Allison Donatelli to go into the break with an 11-point 23-12 lead.
“Orange has too many weapons, both inside and outside, and we don’t matchup well with them, especially at the offensive end of the floor,” Big Walnut head coach Bob Scott said after watching his Golden Eagles shoot only 21.3 percent (10-for-47) and turn the ball over 26 times in 65 possessions. “They are one of the top ten teams in Division for a reason.”
Still, Big Walnut (8-7, 5-5 OCC) kept nipping at the Pioneers’ heels. The Golden Eagles closed to within 6 of the lead at 27-21 on baskets by Samantha Klinedinst and Skylar Fleak with 3:37 left in the third quarter.
That was as close as Big Walnut would come of the lead. The Golden Eagles would miss their next 16 shots and find themselves trailing 44-21 with under two minutes to play.
Donatelli, who teamed with Agler to lead the Pioneers with 10 points apiece, led the late charged with four straight baskets to turn a 9-point, 30-21 lead into a 17-point, 38-21 advantage with 6:46 to play. The Golden Eagles would not score until the final 62 seconds of play, getting back-to-back baskets by sophomore guard Hannah Seawell of the bench.
Scott found some positives in the loss, pointing out that in their two meetings with Orange, the Golden Eagles allowed a total of 96 points, an average of 48 points per game. Coming into the game, the Pioneers were averaging 60.8 points per game.
“I thought we played well at the defensive end of the floor,” Scott said. “Even though we got behind early, we played hard, with a lot of desire … we didn’t quit.”
Orange, which had eight players break in the scoring column with 6-1 senior forward Kelsey Lewis and Young adding 7 points apiece, finished with a 17-for-63, 27.0 shooting percentage. The Pioneers were 10-for-17 at the line. Orange committed only 11 turnovers.
Only four players scored for Big Walnut. Fleak led the way with 8 followed by Kayleigh Hammond with 7, Klinedinst with 6 and Seawell with 4 points. The Golden Eagles were only 3-for-10 at the line.
Big Walnut, led by Fleak’s 17 rebounds claimed a 51-48 edge on the boards. Sara Petty and Klinedinst backed Fleak with 7 rebounds apiece. Lewis led Orange with 9 boards followed by Mya Walker with 7 and Maddy Joseph with 6.
Article source: http://www.sunburynews.com/sports.asp?ID=1636&Story=2