John Bruce, Staff Writer
Southern Ohio Sports Authority is presented by OhioHealth.
WILLIAMSPORT — Early in the season, it can take teams a bit to find the right mix between new and returning players.
However, through two games, you wouldn’t know Piketon’s rotation has four freshmen in it.
On Tuesday, the Redstreaks got 31 of their 50 points from freshmen as they stormed Westfall early, and held on late, for a 50-45 win to open Scioto Valley Conference play.
It was actually the Mustangs who shot out of their corral in the early minutes. Junior forward Aubrey Clark scored twice inside the paint and Adrian Moehl buried a triple from the wing to put Westfall out in front.
CREDIT: Derrick Webb/SOSA
But from there, Piketon freshman Laila Kelley started to put her stamp on the game, scoring at all three levels to help the Redstreaks (2-0, 1-0 SVC) stay close. Kelley knocked down a triple from the wing, a mid-range shot in the paint and then a pair of layups to score her team’s first nine points.
Once Abrial Johnson and Laney Brown scored on back-to-back possessions for Piketon, the Redstreaks never trailed again.
Westfall (0-2, 0-1 SVC) had led 11-7 a little over five minutes into the contest. The next time the Mustangs scored, they trailed 22-11 midway through the second quarter.
“Coach just told us we needed to make sure we were locked in and motivated,” Kelley said. “So we just came in with a good mindset that we were going to go out and just start off strong and do our best.”
During the 15-0 run, Piketon received scores from Brown, Johnson, Kelley, Dani Ritchie and Jaylin Forbes as the ‘Streaks spread the wealth, giving the Mustangs difficulty of knowing who’d score next. The exclamation point on the run came when Kelley drove baseline and hit a floater through contact for the hoop and the harm.
On the defensive side of the ball, Johnson, Kelley and Ali Taylor harassed Westfall’s ball-handlers into seven turnovers in the second quarter, limiting quality looks.
And with Westfall beginning to refind their footing late in the half, Piketon was still able to push out to a 31-18 halftime lead.
Coming out of the break, it was much of the same for the Redstreaks as they built their lead to as large as 17 points at 40-23 late in the third. But a furious rush to end the third gave the Mustangs life.
It began with a wing 3 from Kyleigh Mercurio, before a score through contact from Paige Weiss and a late 3 from Marianna Packer. Those three scores aided Westfall in cutting the deficit to 41-31 through three quarters.
Throughout the fourth, Piketon was able to keep the Mustangs at arm’s length, but missed free throws to keep the score interesting. That’s until another freshman toed the line for the Redstreaks. Forbes, who came off the bench, stepped up and buried a pair at the line to give the ‘Streaks a 50-41 advantage in the final minute — more than enough room to hold off the Mustangs.
“She’s a great freshman that comes off the bench and brings so much energy to the team,” Kelley said of Forbes. “You know what you’re going to get from her every single time and that’s one-hundred percent out of her. When she makes a bad decision, she always makes up for it. She’s just a great teammate to have.”
Westfall finished the scoring with buckets from Weiss and Mercurio in the closing seconds, but it wasn’t enough to complete the comeback at home.
Kelley led all scorers with 17 points — 14 of which came in the first half — while Forbes also hit double-digit scoring figures with 12 points. Brown pulled down a game-high 12 rebounds and blocked two shots. Johnson finished the game with nine points and a pair of steals.
“I had to put my head in the game because it wasn’t at first,” Johnson said. “I drove to the basket and got my points. Laney is definitely our main rebounder and she definitely helps our team. She’s the only [center] we have. We’re a pretty small team. So she definitely helps and she’s a leader.”
Westfall was led by Clark’s 12 points, while Mercurio and Weiss each provided a spark off the bench for the Mustangs, scoring eight and seven points, respectively.
Both teams return to action on Saturday in SVC play. The Redstreaks will travel to Southeastern while Westfall takes the short trip to Frankfort to battle Adena.
“I think our biggest thing is just keeping our head up, especially on the press,” Kelley said. “We need to slow down and take our time. We know we have good ball-handlers and good post players that can help us. So we just need to take our time and work through things.”
BOX SCORE
Piketon: 15-16-10-9 — 50
Westfall: 11-7-13-14 — 45
Piketon: 19-41 FG, 11-28 FT, 1-6 3pt. Scoring: Kelley 17, Forbes 12, Johnson 9, Brown 5, Ritchie 3, Daniels 2, Taylor 2.
Westfall: 16-55 FG, 10-19 FT, 3-19 3pt. Scoring: Clark 12, Mercurio 8, Weiss 7, A. Moehl 6, Patete 6, Packer 5, R. Moehl 1.
SPONSORED BY BO LACEY CONSTRUCTION
