Marysville’s Ava Wilkerson (4) goes up for a basket on Tuesday against River Valley. Wilkerson led all scorers with 19 points as the Lady Monarchs beat the Vikings, 44-24. (Journal-Tribune photo by Tim Miller)
It’s never easy for a high school basketball team to play on back-to-back nights.
The Marysville Lady Monarchs didn’t have much time to celebrate their Ohio Capital Conference Cardinal Division victory over Hilliard Darby on Monday.
MHS had to turn around on Tuesday, hosting Marion River Valley during a non-conference battle.
The Lady Monarchs, though, found double-digit scoring from Ava Wilkerson and Alyssa Strahm as they rolled to a 44-24 victory.
Wilkerson tallied 19 points, while Strahm knocked down four trifectas for 12.
“We’ve talked to Ava about being more aggressive and looking to shoot,” said MHS coach Klarke Ransome. “She is definitely a threat to score after catching a pass.
“Alyssa works hard and hit some key shots.”
Both teams had trouble getting into an offensive flow during the early portion of the contest.
The timer neared the two-minute mark of the first quarter with MHS holding just a 6-5 edge.
Wilkerson later scored on an offensive rebound and Strahm drilled a three-ball that sent the Lady Monarchs (8-3 overall and 4-1 in the OCC) into the ensuing quarter with an 11-5 lead.
Wilkerson opened the second stanza with a three-pointer that stretched MHS’ advantage to 14-5.
Marysville closed down passing and driving lanes that thwarted the Lady Vikings’ offensive opportunities.
Trifectas by Wilkerson and Strahm stretched Marysville’s lead to 24-5 with slightly more than a minute until the break.
River Valley went on a 7-0 run and halved its deficit to 24-12 at the turn.
Things got a bit uncomfortable for the Lady Monarchs (who will play at Hilliard Darby on Friday) during the third set.
RV’s Brooklyn Mosher and Hannah Logan knocked down three-pointers around several other Viking baskets.
With 3:32 left in the third quarter, the Lady Monarchs’ advantage slipped to 27-22.
Strahm, however, came to the rescue when she hit nothing but net on two additional trifectas.
Her final long-ball of the period sent MHS into the ensuing stanza with a 34-24 lead.
“We knew River Valley wasn’t going to go away,” said Ransome. “They made a run at us, but we responded.”
The Lady Monarchs put an air-tight seal on their defense during the last set.
River Valley came up with nothing but empty possessions against MHS’ stout defense and was shut out over the final eight minutes.
Madi Sloan grabbed an offensive rebound from her own miss.
Her stickback pushed Marysville out to a 37-24 lead.
Leah Brown threw in a trifecta that expanded MHS’ margin to 42-24 near the midway point of the quarter.
Both teams played the remainder of the game by essentially exchanging possessions.
MHS’ final markers came on free throws by Sloan and Abbey Williams.
Marysville
Wilkerson 8-1-19, Strahm 4-0-12, Brown 1-1-4, Sloan 1-1-3, K. Lee 1-0-2, C. Lee 1-0-2, Krutowskis 0-1-1, Williams 0-1-1, Graves 0-0-0. Totals 16-5-44.
Three-point goals: Strahm 4, Wilkerson 2, Brown 1.
River Valley
Mosher 3-4-11, Logan 3-2-10, Fogle 1-0-2, Roseberry 0-1-1, Hecker 0-0-0, Corwin 0-0-0, Snyder 0-0-0, Griest 0-0-0. Totals 7-7-24.
Three-point goals: Logan 2, Mosher 1.