Zoned out: ZHS girls struggle; Philo falls late

ZANESVILLE — Two days after its best win of the season, Zanesville returned to its old ways on Monday in an underwhelming 51-30 loss to visiting Columbus DeSales.

It continued a trend of inconsistency of which Lady Devils coach Jeff Moore has long grown weary.

He wondered aloud how a veteran team like his can beat one of the Licking County League's best in Watkins Memorial — on the road — only to return home two days later and post one of its worst offensive performances of the season.

He pulled his entire lineup midway through the fourth quarter in favor of used reserves, after his team committed its seventh turnover in a span of nine possessions.

That group scored the game's final 10 points, thanks to a pair of baskets from freshman Rayne Newman inside and 3s on back-to-back possessions from Amaya Seyfried. They were Seyfried's first varsity points, triggering a hearty celebration from players on the bench.

It was the offensive high point on a day the regulars had six total field goals and 27 turnovers.

"We didn't have very much energy from the start, and our offense wasn't where it should be," Zanesville junior Jersey Draughn said.

The Division I Stallions, from the Central Catholic League, entered at 12-4 and thrived scoring off of their trapping 2-3 and 3-2 zone defenses. They routinely picked off Lady Devil passes that were either telegraphed or errant.

The Stallions' lengthy front line of 6-1 Bridget Womber and 5-11 Jessica Salyer and Kenyatta Quinn, combined with the quickness of 5-8 senior Celina Davis, were a lethal defensive combination that used a strong transition game to overcome their own offensive shortfalls.

"We didn't have any anything to prepare for that," Draughn said of the zone.

After getting within 13-10 early in the second quarter on five straight points from Kylie Osborne, including a 3, the Lady Devils missed 12 consecutive shots to end the half. They trailed only 24-12 at the break, thanks to their own zone defense that forced nine turnovers and limited the Stallions to 8-of-22 shooting.

Newman muscled for a basket off a rebound to get Zanesville within 26-14 on its first possession of the second half, but it came up empty the next time down after getting a stop. It triggered a stretch of six straight possessions with turnovers.

DeSales had five of its own, however, and Zanesville actually stayed within 28-16 when Draughn hit two at the line with 2:41 left in the third quarter.

The dam officially burst when Davis had five points in an 8-2 run to end the quarter, as Zanesville went more than seven minutes without a field goal after Newman's basket and trailed 36-18 entering the fourth.

Kandrea Sowers' layup in transition with 5:22 left in the fourth, after Jordyn Miller and Quinn scored for DeSales, was Zanesville's second field goal of the half.

The Lady Devils finished 6-of-36 from the field, just two days after hitting seven 3s at Watkins.

"They're coming in 12-4, a Division I Central District team, they're good," Moore said of DeSales. "They're solid — they're everything I thought. They play a great, aggressive zone defense with their length, and the way they get to the ball is pretty daggone good. And they rebound. They came in and just took it to us, out-physicaled us."

The shooting woes actually stayed true to the way the team has produced, at least from the perimeter, for much of the season. Efficient shooting efforts have routinely produced wins.

Draughn, Newman and Seyfried had six points to lead Zanesville in scoring.

"The one word — consistency," Moore said. "We just can't put it together in a game, 32 (minutes) full. Saturday was as close as we have got. I give them credit, they played great Saturday. But it has to come back. Basketball is a game of consistency and effort. We've had a rough time putting both of those together."

With just five games left in the regular season as the Division II sectional tournament approaches, there isn't much time to stop the leaks in the engine. They figure to be a middling seed, like last season, when it lost in the district semifinal to Wintersville Indian Creek.

"We just need to continue to play our best and with high energy," Draughn said. "We're definitely capable of competing with them."

"We've got five games left and then the tournament," Moore added. "Hopefully it's important enough for them to come back and finish it up strong."

Shenandoah 57, Philo 47: Kadence Noll scored 17 of her 20 points in the final three quarters to pace the Zeps (8-6), who shot 33 free throws in a nonleague win against the visiting Electrics.

The game was tied at 42 after three quarters, but Philo (7-10) was held to only one field goal and five points in the final eight minutes. The Zeps, meanwhile, were 7-of-10 at the line in that span with freshman guard Mya Leach hitting 6 of 8.

Leach, who had 17 points, and Noll combined for 17-of-22 free-throw shooing. Brylee May added 12 points and Charli Wickham eight as only four Zeps scored.

Olivia Dement's 17 points paced Philo, which took a 29-27 halftime lead thanks to 11 points from Dement and 10 from post player Caitlin Rose. They managed only eight combined in the second half.

Rose finished with 12 points and Bri Wolfe eight for Philo, which hit 19 of 49 field goals, including 3 of 19 3s.

Shenandoah won the reserve game, 33-11. Olivia Fink had five points for Philo.

sblackbu@gannett.com; Twitter: @SamBlackburnTR

This article originally appeared on Zanesville Times Recorder: Zoned out: ZHS girls struggle in loss to DeSales; Philo falls late