Wilson leads Lady Zs with 16 in loss
BY VAL TSOUTSOURIS
Sports Editor, RTC
Ava Egolf hit five 3-pointers and scored a game-high 22 points, and the Tippecanoe Valley girls basketball team staved off a spirited Rochester rally over the final five minutes to earn a 43-40 win in a Class 3A, Sectional 18 semifinal at Rochester Friday.
Valley made just 11 of 30 free throws, and Rochester had a chance to potentially tie the game with a 3-pointer after Chesnee Miller missed two at the line with 9.9 seconds left.
But Ella McCarter’s 30-footer from in front of the Rochester bench landed short and out of bounds as time expired.
Aubrey Wilson scored 16 points to lead Rochester, who finished 12-12 and lost to
Valley for the fourth straight time. Mia Howdeshell added seven, including a pair of fourth quarter 3-pointers.
Valley improved to 19-3 and will meet Bremen in the sectional final at 7:30 p.m. today. In Friday’s other semifinal, Bremen handled Culver Academy 42-31.
Howdeshell’s second trey in the fourth quarter banked in with 17 seconds left.
Valley advanced the ball to the frontcourt, and Howdeshell fouled Miller, who had just made two with 23.8 seconds left.
This time, she missed two at the 9.9-second mark.
McCarter dribbled to her right as Egolf hawked her. Her shot flew short and landed out of bounds, and officials determined that time had expired when McCarter’s shot finally touched down beyond the baseline.
There were six lead changes in the second quarter but none in the second half.
Valley led 24-17 at halftime when Gaby Gonzalez’s trey swished through just before the buzzer, and they extended the lead to 40-27 with five minutes left when Miller found Lucy Hayden for a 12-footer to cap an 8-0 run to start the fourth quarter.
It was just enough cushion.
Audrey Bolinger scored on a screen and roll. Egolf missed two free throws.
Wilson hit a pullup banker and then swished a 3-pointer from the right wing to make it 40-34.
Valley coach Chris Kindig called timeout with 2:21 left.
Egolf missed two more free throws at the 2:13 mark, but Kelsey Cox tipped the rebound on the second miss to Hayden, who could not finish at the rim.
Howdeshell then made a 3 off a Brailyn Hunter kick-out assist to make it 40-37 with 1:47 left.
Valley burned 37 seconds off the clock before McCarter fouled Egolf at the 1:10 mark. She split a pair from the line to make it 41-37.
McCarter missed a driving layup, and Miller was fouled with 48.1 seconds left. She missed two free throws. Miller was fouled again with 40.1 seconds left and missed two more, but McCarter would lose her handle of the ball as she dribbled towards the deep left corner with 30.2 seconds left.
Wilson fouled Miller with 23.8 seconds left, and this time, Miller buried a pair to get the lead back to six.
Wilson then pushed the ball upcourt and kicked to Howdeshell on the left wing.
Egolf went on a personal 7-0 run in the second quarter to take a 20-14 lead.
She hit a pullup 12-footer and finished with a lefty scoop layup on a fast break after a Rochester turnover against the Lady Viking press before hitting her third 3-pointer of the half.
Rylee Clevenger hit a trey for the Lady Zs, but Egolf hit a free throw with 35.3 seconds left to make it 21-17.
After a scramble and a held ball with 5.3 seconds left, Valley had the possession arrow. Kindig then called timeout.
Egolf then dribbled and handed off to Gonzalez, who swished a 3 from the volleyball line to make it a seven-point game.
It was unlike Gonzalez’s other field goal, a transition layup in which she retrieved an errant Rochester pass that deflected off an official’s chest and drove in for an uncontested layup.
Thanks to that basket, Valley led 7-6 after one quarter.
Tippecanoe Valley 43, Rochester 40
VALLEY (43) (19-3)
Gaby Gonzalez 2 0-0 5, Ava Egolf 7 3-14 22, Chesnee Miller 2 2-8 6, Ava Smith 0 0-0 0, Kelsey Cox 1 3-4 5, Dalynne Bussard 0 0-0 0, Lucy Hayden 1 3-4 5
TEAM: 13 11-30 43
ROCHESTER (40) (12-12)
Aubrey Wilson 6 2-3 16, Rylee Clevenger 2 0-0 6, Ella McCarter 2 0-1 5, Jadyn Field 2 0-1 4, Audrey Bolinger 1 0-2 2, Brailyn Hunter 0 0-0 0, Mia Howdeshell 2 1-2 7
TEAM: 15 3-9 40
Three-point field goals:
Valley 6 (Egolf 5, Gonzalez),
Rochester 7 (Clevenger 2, Howdeshell 2, Wilson 2, McCarter)
Total fouls: Valley 15, Rochester 21
Turnovers: Valley 8, Rochester 19
Score by quarters
Valley 7 17 8 11 – 43
Rochester 6 11 10 13 – 40
Bremen 42, Culver Academy 31
Emma Kincaid scored all 13 of her points in the second half, and Mikayla Shively added 10 for the Lady Lions in a win over Culver Academy in the first Class 3A, Sectional 18 semifinal at Rochester Friday.
Kila Foster, Bremen’s leading scorer at 18 ppg, was held to nine but did sink two free throws with 38.2 seconds left as the Lady Lions pulled away.
The 11-point margin of victory represented Bremen’s largest lead.
Bremen improved to 13-11 and extended their winning streak to five dating back to the regular season.
Junior guard Reid Seddelmeyer scored nine points to lead Culver Academy, whose eight-game winning streak was snapped and who finished 15-8. Freshmen Jimara Combs and Kayla Herron had six each.
The meeting was the first between the two since Bremen beat the Lady Eagles 50-35 in the 2008 Bi-County Tournament.
Employing first a box-in-one and then a 2-3 zone, Bremen held Culver Academy scoreless for the final 9:28 of the first half.
A Shively 3-pointer highlighted a 10-0 run as Bremen built an 18-12 halftime lead.
Culver Academy would get within two twice in the fourth quarter, the last time at 29-27 on a Margaret Smith running hook in the lane after stripping Shively in the backcourt with 5:56 left.
But a Kincaid triple, a Kincaid layup in transition and a Grubbs 3-point play highlighted an 8-0 run that got the lead to double digits for the first time.
Bremen 42, Culver Academy 31
CULVER ACADEMY (31) (15-8)
Reid Seddelmeyer 3 2-2 9, Kayla Herron 3 0-0 6, Piper Brumm 0 0-0 0, Jimara Combs 2 2-2 6, Jenavieve Kerr 1 0-0 2, Valencia Miller 1 2-4 4, Margaret Smith 2 0-1 4, Kate Clemons 0 0-0 0
TEAM: 12 6-9 31
BREMEN (42) (13-11)
Kila Foster 2 3-4 9, Mikayla Shively 4 1-2 10, Emma Kincaid 5 0-0 13, Eliana Grubbs 2 3-7 7, Naomi Moyer 0 0-0 0, Teagan Feathers 1 1-2 3
TEAM: 14 8-15 42
Three-point field goals:
Culver Academy 1 (Seddelmeyer),
Bremen 6 (Kincaid 3, Foster 2, Shively)
Total fouls: Culver Academy 18, Bremen 10
Turnovers: Culver Academy 18, Bremen 19
Score by quarters
Culver Academy 12 0 8 11 – 31
Bremen 10 8 6 18 – 42
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