Journey Blevins of North Union leaps for a layup after stealing the ball and breaking away from the Northmor defense during a Division III Central District Sectional Semifinals basketball game at North Union. The Lady Cats dominated the game winning 52-10.
(Journal-Tribune photo by Sam Dillon)
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The Lady Cats of North Union opened their Division III basketball tournament season with a dominating 52-10 win over Northmor on Tuesday. The one-sided contest came as no surprise to Lady Cats head coach Rachel Weaver.
“I think these five seniors don’t want it to be over,” she said. “They understand that every game could be their last at this point and they are willing to put in the time to prepare for every opponent we are going to see.”
The Lady Cats’ preparation came earlier in the campaign when NU faced off against the Golden Knights during the regular season.
NU won that game as well, but only by a margin of 44-33.
Weaver believes the reason the game was different this time around was due to several solid practices leading up to the contest.
“The biggest focus the last few days in practice has been in ‘your shorts’, man-to-man defense, getting back to basics, keeping the ball in front of you and staying in your stance,” said Weaver. “I think that led into our game today.”
The defensive preparation was evident from the opening tip as the Lady Cats kept he Lady Knights off the scoreboard until the final two minutes of the opening quarter.
Journey Blevins, Madison Amstutz and Maddi Ruhl knocked down three-pointers as North Union took a 19-3 advantage by the end of the first period.
The Lady Cats kept the offensive tempo high during the ensuing set, as Blevins tallied eight points.
Ruhl added another trey, while Avery Clark cleaned up the boards with seven rebounds and two stickbacks.
As a result, the Cats took a 42-7 lead into the half.
“They (the Lady Cats) came out with energy,” said Weaver. “I was concerned because we saw Northmor earlier this year.
“We went up there and beat them, so I was a little concerned about coming out lackadaisical. Our practices have been full of these hard energy-filled moments and I think that is what set the tone in the first quarter.”
Both teams came out to a running clock in the second half, which is new this year to the Ohio High School Athletic Association basketball tournament.
If the score margin reaches 35 points or greater in the second half, the clock does not stop running.
The running clock sped up the tempo of the game, but NU’s defense was stedfast, only allowing the Golden Knights three points to finally reach double digits.
NU allowed the clock to wind down in the final quarter to wrap up the game in only 54 total minutes.
The Lady Cats will move on to their next tournament opponent, Newark Catholic, who is the third-seeded team in the Central District.
The Green Wave will take a 19-3 record to their first tournament game on Saturday. Despite the high seed, Weaver believes her seventh-seeded Lady Cats are up to the challenge.
“It is all about preparation,” she said. “If I get these girls as prepared as possible before they go into a game, that is when they perform at their best.”
The game will be played at Newark Catholic High School at 1 p.m.
North Union
Blevins 7-0-15, Amstutz 4-2-11, Ruhl, 3-2-11, Day 3-0-6, Stofcheck 2-0-5, Clark 2-0-4, Marvin 1-0-2. Totals 22-4-54.
Three-point goals: Ruhl 3, Blevins 1, Amstutz 1, Stofcheck 1.
Northmor
Boggs 1-0-3, Miracle 1-1-3, Ditullio 1-0-2, Farley 1-0-2. Totals 4-1-10.
Three-point goal: Boggs 1.