Haley Cook of Marysville is fouled while driving to the basket Tuesday evening. The Lady Monarchs fell to Big Walnut, 39-31. (Journal-Tribune photo by Tim Miller)
Marysville’s girls basketball team staged a fierce second-half rally, only to see Big Walnut win Tuesday’s non-conference game late at the free throw line.
Things didn’t go well for MHS during the opening half of its 39-31 setback against the Golden Eagles.
Marysville’s offense finished the first two quarters with only 16 points as Big Walnut’s pressing defense forced a number of turnovers.
The second half was a much different story.
“We told the girls after the game that we were proud of how they came back in the second half,” said MHS head coach Brooke Young.
Marysville erased a 25-16 halftime deficit and later took a 31-28 margin when Tinley Graves knocked down a trifecta with slightly less than four minutes left in the fourth quarter.
Big Walnut’s Avery Schone took over for the next several minutes. She buried a three-ball and drove the lane for a shot that returned a 33-31 edge to the visiting team.
From there, the Eagles cashed on enough free throws to put the game on ice.
The Lady Monarchs’ offense went through a bit of a cold spell at times during the initial quarter.
Sydney Lee staked MHS to the lead with an early three-pointer.
Big Walnut ripped off five unanswered points before Graves’ first shot from beyond the arc later tied the battle at 7-7.
A basket by Alyssa Tarney sent the Eagles into the second quarter with a 9-7 edge.
Kass Lee’s transition bucket tied the game at 9-9 within the first minute of the second set.
Haley Cook’s shot with 4:43 remaining until halftime created another stalemate at 11-11 for the Lady Monarchs.
Back-to-back trifectas from Abby Brown and Tarney opened up a 17-11 spread for the Lady Eagles.
A pair of free throws by Schone gave Big Walnut a double-digit lead of 23-13 with 1:18 on the timer.
Karleigh Sutter of MHS dialed up a long-distance offering that pulled the Lady Monarchs (9-12) to within 23-16.
Tarney, however, swished a pull-up jumper that sent the Eagles into the turn with their 25-16 margin.
Payton Carter’s bucket pushed BW out to a 27-16 lead early in the third stanza.
At that point, the Eagles’ offensive game went through a prolonged cold spell with a number of turnovers and errant shot offerings.
A basket by Lee and free throws from Cook spurred the Lady Monarchs’ comeback and narrowed their deficit to 28-22 with slightly more than two minutes left in the third quarter.
Both teams swapped empty possessions, mainly on turnovers, for the time that was remaining in the period. BW took its six-point lead into the final set.
Cook nailed two more buckets to slice the Lady Monarchs’ gap to 28-26 within the first couple of minutes of the fourth set
Sutter tracked down the elusive pumpkin and drew a foul on a shot attempt.
She hit both charity tosses to deadlock the game at 28-all.
Graves then stepped up with a huge three-pointer that gave the Lady Monarchs their 31-28 margin at the 3:47 mark.
The game after that, however, started to go in Big Walnut’s direction.
Both teams exchanged turnovers before Schone’s trifecta knotted the score at 31-all.
Once she followed with another basket, the momentum began to shift.
Neither team backed down as the contest turned physical in its final minutes
Players from both sides hit the deck in attempts to preserve possession of the orange sphere.
MHS had fouls to give as the timer raced to less than 40 seconds.
The Lady Monarchs (who will close out the regular season on Friday at Upper Arlington) had to foul in order halt the clock.
In doing so, they eventually sent Big Walnut into the bonus.
Free throws from Schone and Abby Brown gave the Eagles their eight-point margin of victory.
Young said Big Walnut’s late defensive pressure led to a pair of missed layups by the Lady Monarchs.
“If we make one or both of those shots, this game goes in a different direction,” she said. “That was basically the turning point of this game.”
Big Walnut
Av. Schone 3-7-14, Tarney 4-0-9, Brown 2-2-7, Stewart 2-0-5, Carter 1-0-2, Thomas 1-0-2, Al. Schone 0-0-0, Maxeiner 0-0-0, Coleman 0-0-0. Totals 13-9-39.
Three-point goals: Av. Schone 1, Tarney 1, Brown 1, Stewart 1.
Marysville
Cook 3-4-10, Graves 2-1-7, Sutter 1-2-5, S. Lee 2-0-5, K. Lee 2-0-4, Hazelbaker 0-0-0, Olson 0-0-0, Cotner 0-0-0, Sloan 0-0-0, Brown 0-0-0. Totals 10-7-31.
Three-point goals: Graves 2, Sutter 1, S. Lee 1.
MHS’ jayvees ran their record to 19-2 with a 43-30 victory.
Abri Schmutz and Abbey Williams each led the Jr. Monarchs with nine points.