On Saturday, Indian Lake’s “D” was worth an “A.”
The Lady Lakers began tournament play with a 38-22 win over Kenton Ridge in a sectional final at Troy High School.
The first half was closely contested, but in the third and fourth, Indian Lake kept the Cougars to no field goals and just three free throws.
Indian Lake improves to 14-9. They will next face Urbana in a district semifinal on Wednesday.
“After the first quarter, (when) one of their best players hit three 3s on us. We couldn’t let them get going on the threes, so I challenged the girls to make sure we brought them off the 3-point line. They really stepped it up and everyone worked hard today,” said Indian Lake coach Yasmyn Inskeep.
Carly Strayer led Indian Lake with 13 points, and Kennedy Schwaderer had 11.
Cara Cammon had 12 points for Kenton Ridge, which ends the year at 7-16.
Mackenzie Dixon splashed a 3-pointer to open the scoring. Kenton Ridge then got a pair of long range scores, one by Cammon and one by Addison Jenkins.
Another three, this one by Schwaderer, tied it with 3 1/2 minutes to play in the first. A free throw by Dixon and a putback by Schwaderer gave the Lakers a lead.
Kenton Ridge got a free throw by Alaina McFadden, then Cammon hit two more treys. The second came with just under a minute to play and made it 13-9 Kenton Ridge.
After a scoring exchange, Rya Pequignot joined the 3-point contest with a shot at the buzzer.
Strayer drove for a layup, with Kenton Ridge answering with two foul shots by Cammon with six minutes to go.
There would be just three more scores in the rest of the half, two by the Lakers and one for Kenton Ridge. At the break, Indian Lake had the 20-19 advantage.
Dixon assisted on a score by Strayer in the opening minute of the third period. Indian Lake then swarmed Kenton Ridge, and did not allow a single point by the Cougars in the entire quarter.
Courtney Altstaetter and Strayer got shots to fall around the midpoint to stretch the lead to 26-19.
The defensive pressure continued in the fourth. At the offensive end, Schwaderer took control. She got one of two free throws early, then scored on a give-gand-go and followed up with a three-point play with 6:19 to play. That pushed the lead to 32-19.
McFadden finally broke the Cougars’ drought a short time later with two free throws.
After Schwaderer hit a jumper, the final point for Kenton Ridge came on a free throw by Cammon with 3 1/2 minutes to go.
Indian Lake then drained the clock to deny the Cougars any shot at a rally, and added a few foul shots to account for the final margin.
Wednesday’s game with Urbana will tip off at 6 p.m. The winner will face either Bishop Fenwick or Batavia in the district final on Saturday.
West Liberty-Salem 50, Fairlawn 33
West Liberty-Salem defeated Fairlawn in Division VI tournament play Saturday.
The Lady Jets had just six players available. Early foul trouble slowed the Tigers’ attack a bit, but they built a five-point lead by halftime.
They opened things up in the third quarter, and rolled to the finish.
Ava Astorino had 16 points and Addi Wallen 11 to lead West Liberty-Salem. They improve to 16-7 and will face Fort Recovery today at 5:30 p.m.
“We picked up a lot of fouls in that first quarter, which is not characteristic of us,” said Tigers coach Dennis McIntosh. “They came out in the second half and executed offensively really well.”
He added that the reserves had to play longer than they usually do, and did well to help out.
Astorino and Wallen got things going with 3-pointers for the Lady Tigers.
Maddie McGill picked up her second foul with 5:18 to go in the first. She and Wallen would sit out much of the first half due to fouls.
Fairlawn’s first score from the field did not come until 2:31 to go in the first, with Riley Eichelberger getting a basket and free throw to make it 10-6.
Belle Sarver had a putback, and Arianna Weaver had a score late in the frame. Fairlawn got a couple more points via foul shots to trail 14-8.
The second period was low scoring on both ends with just 11 points total. Ava Johnson made a 3-pointer early on and Ava Poppe had a second-chance basket near the midpoint. At the break, WL-S was up five, 19-14.
With the regular starters back for the third period, the Tigers got two scores by Astorino and one by Wallen in the first three minutes. That led to a Jets timeout.
After allowing a 3-pointer, the Tigers responded with scores by Poppe, Johnson and McGill pushing the margin to 33-17.
Maddy Miller had five points for Fairlawn. A scoring exchange left the Tigers up by 11 going to the fourth.
A three and a two by Astorino was followed by a trey from Wallen. Johnson then set up McGill as the Tigers put matters out of reach at 45-24.
Fairlawn scored a couple more times, but Astorino and Lucy Cole responded for WL-S.
The winner of West Liberty-Salem and Fort Recovery will go to the district final against the winner of Arcanum and Houston on Saturday.
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Fort Recovery 48, Triad 19
Triad lost to Fort Recovery in Division VI tournament play on Saturday afternoon at Covington.
The Lady Cardinals finish with a record of 5-18 for the season.
Triad stayed with Fort Recovery in the opening period, and was still in range at half, down 22-16.
The Indians controlled matters in the second half, holding Triad without a field goal. The Lady Cards had three free throws in the final minutes.
Gracie Martin and Mia LeMay had six points each. Bre Parsons had four, Abbey Overfield two and Jazz Ford one. LeMay had six rebounds and Overfield five.
Fort Recovery was led by Karlie Niekamp with 22 and Kennedy Muhlenkamp with 18.
Martin got a steal and jumper to begin the game for Triad. After a Fort Recovery score, Parsons had a putback.
Niekamp had a three-point play and then a jumper for Fort Recovery. Parsons scored to cut the lead to one.
Each side got free throws in the final 90 seconds, then Niekamp put one in with 20 seconds to go for an 11-8 lead.
After Fort Recovery stretched the lead to six points, LeMay scored twice for the Lady Cardinals.
Muhlenkamp hit a 3-pointer in between for the Indians.
Niekamp then had five more points to give her side a 10-point advantage, 22-12.
Martin then banked in a 3-pointer and Ford made one of two at the line to get it back to a half-dozen at intermission.
The Indians stepped up the defense in the third period, shutting Triad out. Muhlenkamp had nine of Fort Recovery’s 15 points.
Muhlenkamp and Niekamp combined to increase the margin in the fourth quarter.
With 3:09 to play, Martin made a free throw. Overfield would hit two with 1:43 left.
Overfield and LeMay are the team’s seniors that completed their hardwood careers.
Fort Recovery faces West Liberty-Salem today at 5:30 p.m. in a district semifinal at Covington.
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Twin Valley South 42, Riverside 36
Riverside was eliminated with a loss to Twin Valley South in the Division VII tournament on Saturday at Tecumseh.
Avery Perk had 20 points for the Lady Pirates.
Other scoring was Miah Carman five, Aubree Huston four, Emilee Robinson three, and Kenna Johnson and Madalyn Lemly two each.
Each team scored eight in the first quarter, with 3-pointers by Robinson and Perk and a two by Huston.
Twin Valley South outscored Riverside 18-9 in the second to take a 26-17 lead. Lemly and Perk scored from the field, with the rest coming at the free throw line.
In the third, Riverside closed the gap, outscoring TVS 10-6. Perk had three baskets and three free throws.
The Lady Panthers then maintained the lead in the fourth, edging Riverside 10-9. Johnson, Carman and Perk each had baskets.
Wrapping up their careers were seniors Perk and Huston.
Riverside ends the season at 7-16.