(December 30th, 2014) – AYERSVILLE: Making it to the Consolation game of the Ayersville Holiday Tournament, the Lady Cadets of Hilltop found themselves in a battle with the girls from Continental. The two teams went at each other in full force in a seesaw affair, with each of them making strong runs as the contest progressed.
In the end, Hilltop got the better of their opponent, taking down Continental 44-35.
It was the Cadets who hit their stride first. They grabbed an early advantage, leading 12-6 by the end of the first period. Not to be outdone so easily, Continental found their offense in the second quarter and outscoring Hilltop 15-7. That put the girls from West Unity down 21-19 at the half.
Hilltop responded to the deficit by going on a 15-4 run that took up the entirety of the third quarter. Up 34-25 to begin the final quarter of play, the Lady Cadets only needed to keep pace with Continental to win. And that’s exactly what they did. Both squads totaled 10 points during that span, allowing Hilltop to maintain their 9 point lead to end the game.
The Lady Cadets shot the ball quite well, which played a major role in their victory. Shooting 33% from beyond the arc, they made 5 of their 15 three point attempts. Their inside shooting was solid as well, with the Cadet girls putting 35% of their attempts through the bottom of the net. Overall, Hilltop shot 34% from the floor.
Allie Schmitt led all scorers with 12 points, also pulling in 5 rebounds. Fellow junior Cadet Karissa Crisenbery wasn’t far behind with 9 points. Meanwhile, 2 successful three point shots helped sophomore Felicity Jackson to 8 points. The lone senior on the team, Destiny Denton, aside from her 4 assists, managed 7 points on the day, 4 of which came from the free throw line.
The charity stripe was kind to the Cadets in this game. With a 73% success rate, the Hilltop girls connected on 11 of their 15 extra point attempts. Continental was only able to make 47% of their free throws.
Though it was by a small margin, the Cadets outrebounded Continental. They were able to bring in 26 boards, while Continental grabbed 25 of their own.
This game came down to shooting. Hilltop shot the ball well from all over the court. Continental struggled from three point range, thanks in large part to a strong defensive effort around the perimeter by the Lady Cadets. Making a large percentage of shots, while preventing one’s opponent from doing the same is difficult to accomplish, though Hilltop made it look easy in this game.