PREP ROUNDUP | Dalton stuns Wooster in three overtimes in girls basketball thriller
GIRLS BASKETBALL
Dalton 69, Wooster 63 (3 OT)
In a wild one in the Boneyard, Dalton earned a huge win on the eve of the tournament draw by stunning Wooster. Ella Lunsford was dynamite in the fourth quarter and first overtime period, and Addesa Miller carried the torch through the final two overtime periods.
“Wooster has had a really good season. They play a lot of teams tough and have a lot of kids who can really shoot it,” said Bulldogs coach Katie Miller. “It was a very good team win for us.”
With Dalton leading 31-28 entering the fourth quarter, Lunsford delivered nine points en route to 17 points and nine rebounds before fouling out in the second overtime.
“We all started passing the ball like coach was asking and we all had confidence in our abilities,” said Lunsford about heating up in the fourth quarter. “All my teammates and coaches really encouraged us to play Dalton basketball.”
Miller then cleanly buried a 3-pointer to force a third overtime on a play specifically designed for the talented Bulldogs guard, who came off two screens and popped open on left wing.
“I was in a cold spell, having missed my last 12 3-pointers,” said Miller. “But when that left my fingers, I knew it was going in. When it did go in, it felt amazing and it gave me such a confidence boost, and I knew that me and my teammates could do this.”
Marley Clark, Mia Weaver and Kylee Johnson also delivered down the stretch and in the third overtime. Clark (seven points) had a bucket, Weaver hit two free throws and Johnson scored five of her 12 points in the final overtime.
Weaver capped her night with four points and 14 rebounds for Dalton.
“After Ella fouled out, I knew I was going to have to step it up,” said Miller. “So did all my teammates, who played their roles amazingly. Marley just was cleared today, played a ton and played like a beast.”
Both Lunsford and Miller recognized the enormity in the win.
“This was a huge win for us to get up our confidence up heading into the postseason,” said Lunsford.
“We had a been sticking with good teams this year, but always falling short,” said Miller, who finished with 22 points and six rebounds. “Tonight we came together as a team and proved to ourselves and our coaches we could do it. This was an amazing win and a huge huge confidence boost for us.”
The Generals were led by Nora Levy, who scored to force overtime at 45-all and finished with 13 points, six rebounds and eight assists. Eily Badertscher scored a team-high 22 points and had six rebounds, Tori Pettorini had 12 points and six boards, and Grace Grey finished with four points and 10 rebounds.
“We have gotten to feel high emotions of an overtime win and now we experienced the low emotion of one,” said Wooster coach Alex Kacere. “It’s all a good learning experience for us and I’m happy we battled. We wanted it and it just didn’t go our way.”
Smithville 65, Central Christian 7
Smithville downed Central Christian behind Naomi Keib, who hit three 3-pointers and scored a team-high 20 points.
Also playing well for the Smithies were Aly Wickens (11 points), Madi Singer (nine) and Kailynn Wickens (seven).
The Comets were paced by Laura Nunes with four points.
BOYS BASKETBALL
Norwayne 75, Wellington 58
Norwayne outscored Wellington 47-27 in the middle two quarters to earn a nonleague at home.
Isaiah Portis connected on four 3-pointers and scored a team-high 27 points and Justin Rupp added 18 points and six rebounds. Also playing well for the Bobcats were Ethan Hann (13 points) and freshman Park Metsker (five points, four assists).
Central Christian 58, Kingsway Christian 31
Caden Granger had three 3-pointers and scored in a team-high 22 points to lead Central Christian past Kingsway Christian.
Tyler Bonner added 16 points and Thatcher Rohrer 12 for the Comets.
BOYS/GIRLS BOWLING
Wooster 2305, Lexington 2107 (Girls)
Lexington 2702, Wooster 2517 (Boys)
Abbie Leiendecker and Justin Parks both had big nights to lead Wooster in an Ohio Cardinal Conference battle with rival Lexington. Leiendecker fired a 475 series with games of 238 and 237 to lead the girls to a win, and Parks had a 206-268—474 to pace the boys in a shootout loss.
Rebecca Stinchcomb added games of 176 and 191 for a 367 total, and Kayla Ling had a 315 series with games of 166 and 149.
For the Generals boys, Sam Fleming rolled games of 204 and 202 for a 406 series. Also contributing were Isaac Ebie (193 game), Dawson Gaynor (184) and Mark Blough (174).
This article originally appeared on The Daily Record: Ella Lunsford, Addesa Miller, Kylee Johnson power Dalton
