Carson Francis, Contributor
Southern Ohio Sports Authority is presented by OhioHealth.
CIRCLEVILLE — Sometimes, a good defense is all a team needs for a hard-fought win.
CREDIT: Derrick Webb/SOSA
Defense was the name of the game on Friday as Bloom-Carroll and Circleville battled it out in Mid-State League action. And, after a series of late, intense defensive possessions, and late-game heroics from Circleville’s Gabby McConnell, it was the Tigers who earned a 31-30 victory.
“We had a lot of defenses ready to throw at them so they wouldn’t know what to expect,” Circleville freshman Maddie Blakeman said. “We knew that we had nothing to lose tonight, so we could just come out and play hard and give one-hundred percent the whole night.”
The loss marks Bloom-Carroll’s first to a Mid-State League opponent this season.
“I thought our effort was tremendous tonight,” Circleville coach Brian Bigam said after the game. “We had girls battling through injury, we had girls just gutting it out, and we played with a lot of heart.”
Bloom-Carroll’s Tessa Brooks scored the only field goal in the first three and a half minutes of the game. But Circleville (9-3, 5-3 MSL) answered when Faith Yancey scored off of a steal to give her Tigers the lead before the Bulldogs carried a 6-5 edge at the end of the opening quarter.
The defensive intensity remained the same on both sides throughout.
Each team exchanged turnover after turnover until Brooks and Marissa Wilkinson each knocked down triples to give Bloom-Carroll a 19-14 advantage at the break.
“Offensively, our effort was sloppy at times,” Bigam said. “We were doing a lot of east and west dribbling in the first half and not really getting the ball inside. That’s credit to Bloom-Carroll’s defense. It was very good and we weren’t able to get to the basket.”
While Circleville’s offense found little success in the first half, its defense made up for it in the second two quarters, especially to start the third.
The ability to force turnovers allowed Blakeman to go to work with the ball, scoring six consecutive points for the Tigers. Circleville managed to hold Bloom-Carroll (9-3, 7-2 MSL) scoreless until the 1:26 mark when Brooks knocked down a triple to tie the game at 22-22.
Later, Brooks buried another triple from the corner to put the Bulldogs ahead 25-22 going into the final eight minutes of the game.
“We practiced really hard at pressuring them and throwing new things at them to try and catch them off guard,” McConnell said. “We knew the whole team was going to have to step up.”
Circleville was in need of a spark to regain momentum.
And when t was needed the most, McConnell answered with a 3-pointer. Then, highlighted by baskets from Maddie and Morgan Blakeman, the Tigers took a one-point lead at 30-29.
With Circleville looking to milk the clock late, Bloom-Carroll got the defensive break it needed. Wilkinson stole a pass and glided down the court for a layup, where she was fouled with 38 seconds left.
She split the pair to tie the game at 30-30.
It was in the ensuing moments that McConnell became the hero.
She took the ball at half-court, drove to the paint, drew a foul at the buzzer and went to the line with a chance to win the game. True to form, she answered the call and sank the first free throw try as her teammates and student section engulfed her in celebratory fashion.
“For her [McConnell] to hit a free throw with no time on the clock to win the game, that’s ice water in her veins in that situation,” Bigam said about McConnell’s game-winner. “I think each girl contributed in their own special way tonight and I’m really proud of them.”
Maddie Blakeman led all scorers with 14 points for Circleville while McConnell followed with eight of her own. Yancey also helped out, ending the night with six points.
Brooks led the Bulldogs with 13 points, followed by Wilkinson with nine.
“This started the second half of our season, and that win was really big,” Maddie Blakeman said. “We play for each other and not for ourselves. We played for each other, played hard and gave it all we had. So now, we’re going to roll from there and we need to see every team as the same.”
Circleville returns to action on Tuesday at Fairfield Union while Bloom-Carrol rebounds that same evening, hosting Liberty Union.
SPONSORED BY BO LACEY CONSTRUCTION
