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Indian Creek finally gets over the hump

No. 2 Redskins knock off Minerva, advance to Division II sectional final

ROUGH REBOUND — Indian Creek’s Taylor Jones pulls down an offensive rebound past Minerva’s Coletta Miller and Jenna Walton during a Division II sectional semifinal on Wednesday. -Joe Catullo

WINTERSVILLE — The fourth time proved to be a charm for Indian Creek’s girls basketball team.

After falling in their past three Division II sectional tournament openers, the talented Redskins used a big second half and some outstanding free-throw shooting to earn a 60-47 victory over visiting Minerva Wednesday.

With the win, Steve Eft’s club, the second seed in the Eastern District, improves to 22-1 and moves on to Saturday’s sectional championship game. The ninth-seeded Lions drop the curtain at 13-11.

“It feels good to get that monkey off our back,” Eft said. “We haven’t won a sectional tournament game since I have been part of the girls program (he was an assistant for two years and is in his second season as the head coach).

“We haven’t had much success in openers, so it’s great to get that first win. Hopefully, we can keep it going. It’s survive and advance right now.”

The hard-playing Lions gave their hosts all they could handle in the first half. Creek used an 8-0 run (Taylor Jones started the spurt with two free tosses and ended it with a hoop in the paint) to grab a 14-8 advantage after the opening quarter.

Down 16-8 after Ally Tweedy scored off a nifty Makenzie Taylor pass, Minerva rattled off six straight points to pull within two. The Lions ended the half with a hoop and two free throw makes by Elyssa Imler and led 22-21.

Creek played the inside-outside game to perfection in the third and pulled ahead, 41-36. Kylie Kiger drilled a triple and knocked down a couple of outside jumpers. When the Redskins pounded the ball inside to Jones and Taylor, they drew numerous fouls. Jones went 4 for 4 from the stripe, while Taylor knocked down 4 of her 5 attempts.

The trend continued in the fourth, as Creek hoisted 18 freebies, canning 13. Jones drained 7 of her 8 free tosses.

With a little more than four minutes to go, the Redskins were up, 50-42. Minerva coach Mike Waller disagreed with a foul call against one of his players, drew two technicals and was ejected from the game.

Creek proceeded to go 4 of 6 from the stripe, then got a bucket from Taylor off an inbounds play to increase its advantage to 56-42 and basically put the game on ice.

“We knew it was going to be a tough matchup. They played us really tough up there earlier in the season (Creek earned a 43-27 triumph),” Eft said. “Coach Waller does a really good job with his team. We knew they would be prepared, and they were going to be physical. They wanted to take us out of our game. I thought our girls did a good job of keeping their composure, battling through the physicality of the game and really executing down the stretch.

“At halftime, we talked about getting the ball inside more. We thought we had an advantage with Jones and Taylor. Those two did a really good job for us. I thought Kylie had a strong game running the point for us. She does a good job of getting everyone in the right spots and just kind of settling us down. All the girls played really well. I’m really proud of them and the big second half we had tonight.”

Minerva hit 18 field goals compared to 14 for Creek. The Redskins, however, finished 30 of 40 from the line.

“Last year, free-throw shooting was our Achilles’ heel, but this year it really has become a strength for us,” Eft said. “We were really solid from the line. The girls worked hard on free-throw shooting in the offseason and the preseason.”

Creek had four players reach double figures. Jones led the way with 20, 14 coming via free throws. Kiger contributed 15, Tweedy 11 and Taylor 10.

“We’ve had it all year,” Eft said when discussing his team’s balanced scoring. “I think we’re at our best when we get three or four girls in double figures.

“I really think that’s what makes us such a tough guard. You can’t really focus on one or two players because we have other girls who can score as well.”

The talented Imler finished her high school career by scoring 19 points for Minerva. Junior Coletta Miller netted 13.

“Our girls played hard,” Waller said. “We had a game plan to take attack the rim, and we did that. We didn’t finish some of our drives early, and we didn’t take good care of the basketball. Creek didn’t miss their free throws, and we missed some at crucial times (the Lions were 9 of 19 from the line).

“There is a reason why Indian Creek has won 22 games this year. They are very good. Steve does a good job with his girls. I wish them well going forward.”

Creek outrebounded the Lions, 28-19. Kiger and Jones snared eight boards each.

UP NEXT

Indian Creek: Hosts sixth-seeded Warsaw River View in the sectional championship game. The tip is set for 2 p.m. The Black Bears advanced with a 59-48 victory over Indian Valley.

“I’ll get on the films and start working on the scouting report,” Eft said. “We’ll come in (today) and start preparing for River View.”

Indian Creek 60, Minerva 47

Minerva 8-14-14-11 — 47

Indian Creek 14-7-20-19 — 60

MINERVA (13-11): Imler 8 3-9 19; Foutz 0 0-0 0; Kendrick 1 1-2 3; Risden 0 0-0 0; Walton 0 0-0 0; Green 0 0-0 0; Murray 0 1-2 1; C. Miller 4 4-6 13; L. Miller 1 0-0 2; Cassidy 2 0-0 5; Slentz 2 0-0 4. TOTALS: 18, 9-19: 47.

INDIAN CREEK (22-1): Lewis 0 0-0 0; Kiger 5 3-4 15; Tweedy 3 5-6 11; Taylor 2 6-7 10; Starkey 0 0-0 0; Smith 0 0-0 0; Copeland 0 0-2 0; Clark 1 2-5 4; Jones 3 14-16 20; Ballato 0 0-0 0. TOTALS: 14, 30-40: 60.

3-POINT GOALS: Minerva 2 (C. Miller, Cassidy); Indian Creek (Kiger 2). REBOUNDS: Minerva 19 (Imler, C. Miller 5 each); Indian Creek 28 (Kiger, Jones 8 each). TURNOVERS: Minerva 15; Indian Creek 11.

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