Girls Best of the Break: Pleasant basketball busy over holidays
MARION — Girls basketball teams in the area were busy over the holiday break, and Pleasant's squad was busy and productive over the span.
The highlight of the break for the Spartans was winning its own William & Marjorie Grover Holiday Tournament. They opened with a 56-27 victory over Cardington and ended it with a 52-33 win over Bellefontaine for the championship. Avah Steele was named tourney MVP after scoring 22 points in the finale as eight Spartans scored in the game. The win made Pleasant 9-3 overall.
Also during the break, Pleasant rolled to a 66-42 win over Ontario where Steele had 26 points, Emerson Williams 14 and Whitney Waddell 11. In a 74-18 win over Galion, Steele led with 17 as Williams had 12 and Waddell nine.
The only blemish over the time was a 34-29 loss to Clear Fork where Waddell scored nine points to lead the effort.
Here are more highlights from over the holiday break for the area's girls winter sports teams and athletes:
∎ Steele wasn't the only area athlete bringing home hardware. Ridgedale bowler Aubrie Smith finished second at the Bucyrus Redmen Tournament, shooting 212-231-192 635 as the Rockets were 15th as a team.
∎ In girls basketball, River Valley took care of Highland 57-32 as Brooklyn Mosher scored 23 points, Megan Clausing added 10 and Morgan Nemeth dropped in nine for the Vikings. Highland's Guinevere Jackson scored nine points.
∎ Marion Harding played Ontario at Grant Middle School due to the Marion Harding Wrestling Classic being held at the high school. The Presidents won 43-37 with Anaiya Mitchell going for 16 points and five steals, Kamarice Jackson with 13 points and two blocks and Kacee Whitaker with seven rebounds.
Mitchell dropped 23 points and Jackson had 12 in a 52-48 loss to Clear Fork. In a 66-31 loss to Olentangy, Mitchell had 12 points and Whitaker seven rebounds. The Presidents beat Madison 38-30 as Jackson had 10 points.
∎ North Union held Jonathan Alder to three points in the third and fourth quarters each en route to a 42-36 win. Zoe Wedding had 10 points and six rebounds for the Wildcats, while Abbey Price had six rebounds and four steals.
In a 51-30 victory over Mount Gilead, North Union made 9 of 17 from 3-point range, and Mount Gilead was just 2 of 16 on threes. Wedding had 13 points, while Price had 12 points, five rebounds and four assists, and Allison Price had 11 points, four assists and three steals. No one for Mount Gilead scored more than six points.
Fairbanks beat the Wildcats 45-34 where the difference was at the foul line. The Panthers were 16 of 28 from the stripe, and NU was just 2 of 8. No one for North Union scored more than six as Jada Davis had six rebounds and Audrey Benedict five assists.
The Wildcats outscored Indian Lake 24-0 in the second period to take a 59-19 win. Allison Price led with 15 points, while Kennedy Harrah had 10 points and four steals, and Abbey Price had six assists. NU dominated Graham 65-15 with Allison Price putting up 13 points and three steals, Benedict 13 points and Abbey Price 10 points, five rebounds, five assists and three steals.
∎ Elgin fell to Northridge 53-38 with Sam Girton leading the Comets with 13 points.
∎ Northmor edged Danville 47-46. Madison Simpson paced the Golden Knights with 17 points and nine rebounds followed by 10 points from Riley Johnson, six steals from Lauren Johnson, nine rebounds from Emilee Jordan and eight rebounds from Emily Zeger.
∎ Utica topped Highland 36-25 as no one scored more than six points for the Scots. In a 59-26 loss to Shelby where Highland was outscored 18-3 in the third period, Kameron Stover had 11 points in the game for Highland. The Scots did earn a 57-17 win over Galion with Stover leading with 17 points.
∎ Cardington beat Centerburg 38-33 with Abigail Hardwick scoring 12 and Sam Miller-Spires 10. In a 48-36 win over Bucyrus, Hardwick came up with 20 points and Lydia Hess eight. The Pirates also edged Northmor 39-38 with Madison Caulkins getting 16 points for the winners and Emily Zeger getting 10 points, 10 rebounds and five assists for the Golden Knights. Simpson and Riley Johnson picked up five steals each for Northmor
Hess scored 11 in Cardington's 42-31 win over East Knox.
∎ Pleasant's bowlers beat Shelby 1,757-1,654 at Cooper's Bowl. Ashlyn Peters and Emily Seckel paced the squad with a 177-198 375 and 178-182 360 respectively. The Spartans dropped a match at Victory Lanes as Galion won 1,764-1,592. Seckel had a 340 series and Peters a 328 series.
∎ River Valley picked up a pair of wins, first beating Mount Gilead 1,696-1,435 at BlueFusion and then beating Shelby 1,899-1,541 at Dynasty Lanes. Alexis Manning had a 256 game and 440 series against the Indians as Shey Irwin had a 195 game and 372 series for MG. Manning shot a 238 against Shelby and Laurie Cox posted the highest series with a 367 for RV.
∎ Marion Harding was second at the Wildcat Baker Brawl with a score of 2,074. The Presidents lost to Shelby, 1,807-1,532 at Dynasty Lanes. Kenzi Vaught shot a 186-174 360 for the Prexies.
∎ North Union was clipped by Shawnee 1,800-1,775 with Rachel Anderson leading the Wildcats with a 252 series. In a 1,832-1,746 loss to London, Montana Donohue had a 300 series. Ben Logan beat NU 2,178-2,057 with Emma McCaul getting a 332 series for NU. The Wildcats competed in the Pioneer Baker Bash at Columbus Square Bowling Palace and finished 11th with a 2,226, 187 pins better than their effort in last year's event.
∎ River Valley and Highland sent athletes to the Watkins Memorial Girls Wrestling Tournament. Placing for the Vikings were Kaylee Sardina in sixth place at 130 pounds, Lila Mencer in seventh at 135 and Shayla Pappert in ninth at 120. For the Scots, Cameron Hilton was seventh at 125, Madalynn Morrison seventh at 235, Brianna Tuggle 11th at 130 and Caitlyn Thieret 15th at 155.
Coaches and statisticians are encouraged to send their results to Marion Star's Rob McCurdy at rmccurdy@gannett.com, 419-610-0998, Twitter @McMotorsport and Instagram @rob_mccurdy_star.
Marion Star Girls Best of the Break Performer Poll, vote:
Pleasant basketball's Avah Steele was named MVP of the second annual William & Marjorie Grover Holiday Tournament after scoring 22 points in a win over Bellefontaine in the championship.
Ridgedale bowler Aubrie Smith finished second at the Bucyrus Redmen Tournament with a three-game series of 635.
Marion Harding basketball's Aniya Mitchell scored 16 points with five steals in a win over Ontario.
River Valley basketball's Brooklyn Mosher scored 23 points in a win over Highland.
Cardington basketball's Abigail Hardwick scored 20 points in a win over Bucyrus.
Voting continues at MarionStar.com and its app through early Sunday morning.
In the last poll, Northmor basketball's Lauren Jackson who had 15 points and five steals in a win over Crestline, earned 229 of 316 votes (72 percent) to win it. Other nominees were River Valley bowler Alexis Manning, Ridgedale basketball's Lauren Leslie, Marion Harding bowler Kenzi Vaught and Highland bowler Elyssa Reigles.
This article originally appeared on Marion Star: Girls Best of the Break: Pleasant basketball busy over holidays
