Ava Wilkerson of Marysville goes up for a shot against St. Mary’s on Saturday. The Lady Monarchs won their ninth game of the season.
(Journal-Tribune photo by Tim Miller)
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Marysville girls hoop coach Klarke Ransome liked the numbers he saw after Saturday’s non-conference victory over St. Mary’s.
One that obviously stood out was the Lady Monarchs’ 59-43 triumph.
There was another set of numbers the coach especially liked and it came in the form of a 35-22 rebounding advantage.
Hitting the boards with authority is something the second-year coach has continued to stress.
“When we rebound well, we can get things going on the other end of the floor,” said Ransome. “Today, we were able to do that.”
JoJo Eberhart and Leah Brown both grabbed nine boards to lead the effort.
“They’re basically our point guards,” Ransome said. “When they rebounded well, they got our offense going.”
Eberhart played a huge role at the start of the contest.
She scored on four possessions as the Lady Monarchs (9-3) climbed to an 11-0 lead.
Alyssa Strahm’s trifecta put the first MHS markers on the board.
Marysville’s defense once again proved suffocating, shutting down driving and passing lanes.
The Roughriders weren’t able to do much except swing the ball around the perimeter.
Nearly five minutes elapsed before St. Mary’s got the ball inside MHS’ defense.
Noelle Ruane took an entry pass, scored on the low block and was fouled.
She missed the charity toss, but added two from the line during the Riders’ next possession.
Abri Schmutz tickled the twine on a three-ball to push Marysville out to a 14-4 lead with 90 seconds left in the period.
The teams swapped ball exchanges as the stanza came to an end.
A three-pointer from Kendall Dieringer helped St. Mary’s narrow its gap to 16-9 within the first couple of minutes in the second set.
The Lady Monarchs then got back on track.
It began when Ava Wilkerson dribbled past the St. Mary’s defense for a layup.
She later fed the ball to Brown for a bucket and added a transition basket as MHS climbed to a 24-9 margin.
Ransome said Wilkerson has posted some solid games since coming back from an injury after the first of the year.
Strahm swished a pair of free throws and Eberhart scored on the offensive glass to elevate Marysville to a 28-9 lead.
The Riders finally reached double digits when Ruane sank a free throw.
Meghan McKinney came off the bench to hit a jumper as MHS pushed out to a 31-12 margin.
St. Mary’s responded on a pair of free throws with four ticks left until halftime.
Brown, though, was not content to go into the break with a 31-14 lead.
She quickly dribbled the ball up the floor and let fly with a long three-point attempt.
The ball went into the basket at the horn, sending MHS into the turn with a 34-14 advantage.
The Lady Monarchs (who will host Hilliard Davidson tonight) held comfortable double-digit leads for the entire second half.
A traditional three-point play from Schmutz made the score 49-28 with 1:27 left in the third period.
Brown added a free throw as MHS took a 50-33 spread into the final eight minutes of action.
Strahm knocked down her second three-ball of the game early in the fourth quarter.
That gave the Lady Monarchs a 56-35 lead.
MHS’ advantage stood up well during the final six minutes of the game.
Marysville
Eberhart 6-1-13, Straham 3-4-12, Brown 2-4-9, Wilkerson 3-2-9, Schmutz 2-2-7, Krutowskis 1-1-3, McKinney 1-0-2, C. Lee 1-0-2, Groves 0-2-2, G. Lee 0-0-0, Williams 0-0-0. Totals 19-16-59.
Three-point goals: Strahm 2, Brown 1, Wilkerson 1, Schmutz 1.
St. Mary’s
Ruane 5-3-13, Hesse 3-6-12, Dieringer 4-2-12, Jacobs 0-2-2, Rable 1-0-2, McGlothen 1-0-2. Totals 14-13-43.
Three-point goals: Dieringer 2.
The MHS jayvees won the preliminary game, 37-23.
Grace Groves led the Jr. Monarchs (10-2) with 10 points.