Marysville’s Haley Cook (3) goes up for a basket against Upper Arlington on Friday. The Lady Monarchs fell to the Golden Bears, 52-45.
(Journal-Tribune photo by Tim Miller)
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The Marysville High School girls basketball team had Upper Arlington right where it wanted them for nearly three quarters on Friday’s Hall of Fame night.
Looking to avenge a 73-19 loss to the Lady Golden Bears a little more than a month ago, the Lady Monarchs played perhaps their best basketball of the season for about 20 minutes.
Marysville led 31-19 midway through the third quarter, but fans could sense by the end of the stanza that the local team’s tank was racing toward “E.”
MHS took a 33-28 lead into the final quarter, but Upper Arlington – which had been ice cold from the field earlier in the game – connected on enough shots for a 52-45 victory.
“Upper Arlington struggled with their shooting early on, but we knew they would keep on shooting,” said Marysville coach Mindy Eisnaugle after her team finished the regular season with a record of 9-13.
“I’m just so proud of the girls,” she said. “We competed and stayed right there with them.
“We just ran out of gas.”
There was no shortage of fuel for the Lady Monarchs during the opening half.
MHS took advantage of UA’s icy shooting and jumped out to a 10-3 lead after baskets by Sarah O’Neil and Allie Rioch.
Rioch added a free throw for an 11-5 margin before Upper Arlington’s Macy Spielman hit a jumper right before the end of the quarter.
Spielman blew past a defender, hit a lay-up and drew a foul early in the ensuing set.
Her free throw narrowed the Golden Bears’ deficit to 11-10.
O’Neil hit a basket and Kayleigh Sutter scored on the baseline after a shot fake to push the Lady Monarchs out to a 15-10 advantage.
Jenna Poling knocked down a three-ball for UA, but O’Neil scored two of her team-high 13 points.
Post player Cassie Francisco stepped out beyond the three-point arc for a jumper.
An off-balance shot by Spielman later pulled the Bears to within 20-18 with 3:30 left until halftime.
Both teams came up with empty possessions for the next couple of minutes.
Haley Cook then banked in a trifecta that extended MHS’ lead to 23-18.
A free throw from Cook and another bucket by O’Neil sent Marysville into the turn with a 26-18 lead.
Baskets from Kinzi Lee and Francisco helped MHS to its biggest margin of the night at 31-19 with nearly four minutes remaining in the third quarter.
Cook’s bucket kept the lead at double digits as the Lady Monarchs held a 33-22 advantage.
Upper Arlington’s Adrienne Wachtman caught fire and scored the final six points of the period, narrowing the Bears’ deficit to 33-28.
Wachtman scored her fourth consecutive bucket to slice the margin to 33-30 as the fourth quarter began.
Francisco gave Marysville a bit of breathing room with a basket, but the tide really started to turn for the visitors.
Spielman, who had struggled to get much of anything to drop during the first half, buried a three-pointer.
Sarah Poling followed suit as UA took its first lead of the night at 36-35.
O’Neil gave Marysville a 37-36 edge with a basket.
A jumper from Wachtman and Sarah Poling’s three-ball gave the Golden Bears a 41-37 lead.
Francisco’s next basket cut the gap to two, but that’s as close as the Lady Monarchs would get the rest of the way.
Spielman hit a jumper and then connected on free throws to pad UA’s lead at 48-39.
Tinley Graves’ three-pointer pulled MHS to within 48-42.
Charity tosses from Sarah Poling and Kileigh Casey put the Bears up by a 52-42 count as the game entered its final countdown.
Sutter hit a consolation trifecta for Marysville at the buzzer.
The Lady Monarchs will have a little bit of time off before they enter Division I tournament action.
They will travel to Canal Winchester next Saturday for a 1 p.m. post-season tip-off.
Upper Arlington
Spielman 5-4-16, Wachtman 6-0-12, S. Poling 2-3-9, Casey 1-2-5, J. Poling 1-1-4, Feller 1-0-2, Pippins 1-0-2, Moore 0-2-2. Totals 17-12-52.
Three-point goals: S. Poling 2, Spielman 1, Casey 1, J. Poling 1.
Marysville
O’Neil 5-3-13, Francisco 5-0-11, Cook 2-1-6, Sutter 2-0-5, Graves 1-0-3, A. Rioch 1-1-3, Hazelbaker 1-0-2, Lee 1-0-2, Daniel 0-0-0, Welsh 0-0-0, Cotner 0-0-0. Totals 18-5-45.
Three-point goals: Francisco 1, Cook 1, Sutter 1, Graves 1.