Shelby's fourth-quarter defense key in MOAC slugfest with Clear Fork

SHELBY — Shelby senior Demi Hipp looked up at the scoreboard with 5:43 left in the game after Clear Fork's Lyvia Davis calmly sank two free throws to give the Colts their first lead of the game.

It was 39-38 with her team trailing as she took the inbounds pass and calmly worked her way through the Colts' full-court press and made a perfect pass to fellow senior Audi Albert on a back-door cut to put the Whippets back on top. She didn't look back up at the clock until there was 1:20 left and the Colts were still stuck at 39 points and the Whippets held a comfortable 45-39 lead as they prevented Clear Fork from scoring for a full 4:23.

It was that fourth-quarter defensive effort that helped Shelby (8-3, 5-1) pick up a 48-46 victory and remain in a tie for first place in the Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference.

"I think they dialed in a little more on the defensive end and stuck with their matchups," Shelby coach Natalie Lantz said. "We went straight man-to-man and I thought we made great defensive plays in crunch time. They toughened up and dialed in on doing their job on the defensive end especially after Clear Fork shot it so well."

Hipp knew the Whippets needed to make something happen in that span because their offense wasn't going to lead them to victory. Instead, it was their defense that turned into offense as Trinity Baker scored in the paint after Albert's layup regained the lead. Albert also connected on a pair of free throws followed by a Hipp free throw to make it 45-39 with 1:20 left in the game.

"Some of our easy layups were falling at the beginning," Hipp said. "So we knew we had to step up our defense and force some steals so we could get some easy transition points. We picked up the defensive pressure and it helped us. Sarah Reiser in the paint was phenomenal on the help side and she deserves a big shoutout."

Shelby took a 29-22 lead into the halftime locker room and led by 10 before Clear fork's Annika Labaki nailed a 3-pointer right before the end of the first half to make it a seven-point game. Shelby started the third out on fire building a 36-22 lead before Labaki again put out the fire with a 3-pointer with 3:33 left in the third for the Colts' first points of the quarter. Clear Fork closed out the third on an 11-0 run to make it 36-33 at the start of the fourth.

But when they trailed 14 points midway through, the Colts had to exert a lot of energy to even get back into it.

"It is hard to spot a team like Shelby 14 points and expect to come back, tie the game and go on to win," Clear Fork coach Scott Sellers said. "We were able to fight back against Mansfield Senior and Bellevue and get back in both of those games like we did tonight. I love the effort from our kids and I am proud of the way they fought back because they never quit against a very good Shelby team. But when you spot a team of this caliber 14 points, it is very rare that you can come back and win. We just came up a little bit short."

The Colts (6-4, 4-2) did manage to take the lead for a brief moment but Shelby made free throws down the stretch to come away with the two-point victory. Hipp drained a free throw to put her team up four with 13.6 seconds left pretty much putting the game on ice.

"We didn't make our bunnies," Lantz said. "I feel like this was a gem we could have put away in the first half, but we just didn't finish well. We may have missed 12 layups in the first half and that is a huge difference right there. We are young and still fighting and learning. Thankfully, free throws won it for us in the end. We wanted the ball in Demi's hands and she did a great job of knocking those down and helping us finish."

Hipp finished with 10 points, six assists and three rebounds while Baker led the team with 13 points five boards and four assists. Albert and Eve Schwemley added eight points apiece. But it was everyone who picked up the defensive effort at the end.

"Our communication has been lacking a little bit and we have been focusing on that in practice and during that stretch, we communicated as well as we have all year," Hipp said. "Some of us got beat tonight a couple of times, but our help and rotations were great."

Sellers was extremely happy with his team's effort all night, especially in the first half. Implementing a full-court press to speed the game up, the Colts saw success turning Shelby over a lot in the first half, but they just couldn't turn them into points. Clear Fork forced four straight turnovers to start the game but didn't score on the other end on any of those extra possessions.

"I bet when we watch film, it will show that in the first half, Shelby had a lot of turnovers," Sellers said. "The problem was, we had as many plus a couple more when we were on offense. Our pressure was effective in the first half, but I think we handled pressure poorly on our end. But we will learn from it. This was a high-caliber, clean and gritty, tough game. I am very proud of our kids. It is unfortunate someone has to lose a game like this."

Lantz thought the majority of the turnovers were self-inflicted.

"It was a lot of unforced turnovers," Lantz said. "Instead of turning and moving up the court, we took two dribbles backward and turn it over instead of having a 3-on-2 and scoring. We have been pressed all season and we have handled it well so tonight was nothing different than we have seen, so I am not sure what was going through their minds. I don't think we were focused really well in that aspect of the game. These youngsters put so much pressure on themselves and when that happens, they think instead of reacting. But, in the end, when it counted, we closed it out and walked away with a win."

Clear Fork played its 10th game of the season as the midway point is quickly approaching. A two-point loss to the four-time defending MOAC champions is a good building block for the rest of the season, but the Colts are at a point in the program where the close losses are expected wins instead of moral victories.

"Two years ago, two-point losses were nice to have," Sellers said. "But I think we have evolved as a program where these sting a lot more than they used to. But after every win and every loss, it is always the same thing for us. We sit in the locker room, I tell the kids how unbelievably proud I am of them, I encourage them to go home and watch film that night, go out and hug their parents, get on the bus and shake everyone's hand with a great attitude and I continue to be very happy with how they conduct themselves in wins and losses. It says a lot about them as players and the culture we are building. As bad as this loss stings, there were a lot of positives to take away.

"I absolutely love this team, these players and these coaches," Sellers added. "That’s a scrappy, competitive, hard-fought game on both sides, unfortunately, we came up just short, and congratulations to Shelby. My message after games, win or lose, is always the same though, and it always will be, and that is I’m incredibly proud of all of them, I’m so lucky to have a group with their commitment, class, attitude and effort. Tonight’s no exception."

The Colts were led by Lilly Wortman and Annika Labaki with 12 points apiece as Labaki nailed four 3-pointers to give the Colts seven on the day. Pacey Chrastina had nine points in the loss.

Shelby sits tied atop the MOAC standings with River Valley and reached the midway point of the season sitting nicely at 8-3. After losing three All-Ohioans to graduation and another key contributor to a knee injury, Lantz couldn't be more pleased with where her team is at right now.

"I feel pretty good at 8-3 with what we have been through to start the season," Lantz said. "I couldn't be more pleased and I think we are getting better. We beat a very physical and tough team in Medina and then didn't play our best game tonight, but still found a way to win. We are still on that roller coaster and hopefully, consistency will follow. It is a young group and we will keep getting better and having fun. I love them and love how hard they play and never give up on a play. I am proud of them."

Hipp agrees.

"I am feeling better because we can see improvement from game to game," Hipp said. "That win over Medina was huge for us and gave our younger players a lot of confidence that if we can beat Medina, we can compete with everyone in our league."

Shelby has more than a week off before returning to the court on Jan. 6 at home against Ontario. Clear Fork travels to Loudonville on Tuesday.

jfurr@gannett.com

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This article originally appeared on Mansfield News Journal: Shelby Whippets beat Clear Fork Colts in Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference Girls Basketball