Marysville’s Caitlin Cotner (left) stretches to save the ball from going out of bounds Friday evening against Central Crossing. The Lady Monarchs rallied in the second half for a 48-34 victory.
(Journal-Tribune photo by Tim Miller)
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There are times when a basketball team just has to take a halftime break and push the reset button.
The Lady Monarchs of Marysville did exactly that during the turn on Friday evening.
In doing so, they rallied for a 48-34 victory over Central Crossing.
“We had a lot of girls frustrated at halftime (as MHS trailed 25-17),” said coach Brooke Young. “We stressed to them that they had to refocus and go out and fight hard during the second half.”
The reason for the Lady Monarchs’ frustration was the fact that things just didn’t go well offensively during the first two quarters.
MHS had a number of good looks at the basket, but had trouble getting those shots to fall.
A three-pointer by Logan Brown gave Marysville a 5-4 edge just two minutes into the game.
From that point on, however, the offense went into a deep funk.
The Lady Monarchs went four minutes without scoring until Kassidy Lee’s free throw cut the Comets’ edge to 8-6.
Crossing’s Haley Cox, who led all scorers with 13 points, buried a long trifecta for an 11-6 lead.
Ali Washington scored in transition after the visitors broke Marysville’s press.
Sydney Lee scored a bucket to pull MHS to within 13-8.
Washington again sprinted the floor for a shot that sent Central Crossing into the second period with a 15-8 lead.
Another three-ball from Cox pushed Crossing out to a double-digit lead of 18-8.
The Comets’ biggest margin of the night came when Georgia Lakso’s jumper added two more points to their lead.
Both teams then spent several minutes coming up with empty possessions, either due to turnovers or errant offerings at the hoop.
More than three minutes elapsed until Brown’s jumper moved the scoreboard for the Lady Monarchs.
MHS’ offense perked up during the final two minutes of the quarter.
Cassidy Francisco scored on the low block, while Kassidy Lee took a pass from Caitlin Cotner and tallied a bucket on a nifty spin move in the lane.
That shot reduced the Comets’ lead to 22-15.
Cox drilled another three-pointer for a 10-point spread.
Karleigh Sutter, though, scored for MHS and pulled the team to within eight points at the break.
Tinley Graves banked in a three-pointer for Marysville at the start of the third quarter.
Sutter and Sidney Lee followed suit as the Lady Monarchs took a 26-25 edge within the first two minutes of the period.
Central Crossing regained a 26-25 lead when Washington converted a steal into a layup.
The lid clamped back down on the bucket against the Lady Monarchs for the next several minutes.
The team had several good looks at the basket, but simply couldn’t get the pumpkin to drop.
The Comets didn’t have much better luck as Marysville’s defense thwarted a number of possessions at the opposite end of the floor.
Young, in particular, cited the defensive work of Haley Cook and Kassidy Lee.
“We alternated them on Cox, who is Central Crossing’s top player,” she said. “Haley and Kassidy did a good job of face-guarding her.”
That defensive pressure limited the Comets to just six points as MHS pulled to within 31-28 by the end of the stanza.
Cox was completely shut off the scoreboard during the final eight minutes.
Sutter scored after rebounding her own miss to tie the game at 33.
Emily Daniel was fouled in transition. Her two charity tosses gave the Lady Monarchs (5-2) a 35-33 lead.
Marysville never relinquished the upper hand the remainder of the game.
Kassidy Lee nailed a jumper off a screen and later sank a free throw to give MHS a 38-33 advantage.
A charity toss by Lakso narrowed Crossing’s gap to four points.
Sutter, though, gave the Lady Monarchs a bit of breathing room at 40-34 with a basket.
Brown scored on the offensive glass for a 42-34 margin.
With 3:44 left to play, Marysville began to sense victory was within its reach.
MHS took its first double-digit lead of 44-34 when Daniel split a pair of defenders and drove in the lane for the basket.
“Emily played very well tonight,” said Young. “She showed a lot of senior leadership.”
The Lady Monarchs began to milk the clock with each ensuing possession.
The Lee Sisters sank free throws down the stretch to provide for MHS’ final margin of victory.
Young said the outcome was a matter of the Lady Monarchs, who will travel to Olentangy Liberty on Tuesday, basically wanting the game more than their opponent during the second half.
“Central Crossing fought harder than we did during the first half,” she said. “We told the girls at halftime that we would have to go out and fight for everything during the second half.
“That’s what they did.”
Marysville
S. Lee 2-4-9, K. Lee 2-5-9, Sutter 4-0-9, Brown 3-1-8, Daniel 1-2-4, Francisco 2-0-4, Graves 1-0-3, Cook 1-0-2, Cotner 0-0-0, Colopy 0-0-0. Totals 16-12-48.
Three-point goals: S. Lee 1, Sutter 1, Brown 1.
Central Crossing
Cox 4-2-13, Lakso 3-1-7, Washington 3-0-6, Mann 3-0-6, Edwards 1-0-2, Revilla 0-0-0, Rosado 0-0-0, Berete 0-0-0, Cabrera 0-0-0. Totals 14-3-34.
Three-point goals: Cox 3.
MHS’ jayvees upped their record to 6-1 with a 63-18 triumph during the preliminary game.
Maddie Colopy scored 19 for the reserves.