Alyssa Strahm (right) of MHS tries to keep the ball from going out-of-bounds at Westerville South on Monday. The Lady Monarchs fell, 46-26. (Journal-Tribune photo by Tim Miller)
“That was the first team we’ve faced this season that really got up in our faces and pressured us.”
Those were the words of Marysville High School girls basketball coach Klarke Ransome after Monday’s 46-26 loss to Westerville South.
The contest was the first game of a girls-boys matinee doubleheader on the Wildcats’ home court.
The Lady Monarchs (2-1) got off to a quick start and held a 5-0 lead after a transition basket by Ava Wilkerson.
At that point, however, Aja Austin, South’s 6-1 post player, took over.
She broke the scoring ice for the Lady Cats with a bucket at the 4:10 mark of the initial stanza.
Austin tallied six more points in leading South to a 10-6 margin at the end of the period.
Marysville’s Kass Lee worked hard on defense to try and keep Austin from scoring on the low block.
The South cager, though, just had too much size and strength.
“We thought about changing defenses and packing a zone in against her at times during the game,” said Ransome. “Once we were down, however, we had to keep fighting them quickly, which meant we really couldn’t pack in a defense.”
Still, the Lady Monarchs put up a big fight during the second period.
An old-fashioned three-point play by Austin pushed the Wildcats out to a 17-8 lead with 2:58 remaining until halftime.
Wilkerson tickled the twine with a trifecta that pulled MHS to within 17-11.
Austin scored on the offensive glass, but Lee went to the basket in transition.
A charity toss by Wilkerson and a field goal and free throw by Ava Krutowskis closed the Lady Monarchs’ gap to 20-17 at the turn.
A bucket by Lee narrowed the margin to 25-21 early in the third quarter.
Marysville’s offense, however, struggled for much of the stanza.
South went on a run, with Austin scoring two buckets for a 32-21 Westerville advantage.
MHS, which will host Mechanicsburg on Wednesday, could not make much of a dent in its deficit.
The Lady Cats took a 36-23 margin into the final eight minutes of play and coasted to the victory.
Westerville South
Austin 12-4-28, N.Guice 3-1-7, Z. Guice 2-2-6, Jones 1-0-3, Robey 1-0-2, Swanson 0-0-0. Totals 19-7-46.
Three-point goal: Jones 1.
Marysville
K. Lee 4-3-11, Wilkerson 2-1-6, Krutowskis 2-1-5, Brown 1-1-3, Graves 0-1-1, Schmutz 0-0-0, C. Lee 0-0-0,Sloan 0-0-0, Williams 0-0-0, Strahm 0-0-0, Eberhart 0-0-0. Totals 9-7-26.
Three-point goal: Wilkerson 1.