Southern Ohio Sports Authority is presented by OhioHealth.
WELLSTON — In the postseason, anyone can beat anyone at any time.
Throughout the first half of Tuesday night’s Division VII district semifinal, Green was on the ropes and thought its impressive season could end early.
A slow start had the Bobcats working from behind as they trailed 27-23 to Symmes Valley at the break.
However, Green (21-1) flipped a switch in the second half and fired on all cylinders offensively. A combined 48 points from Abbie Knapp and Mattie Hayslip, highlighted by some 3-point fireworks in the third quarter from Hayslip, lifted the Bobcats to a 59-50 win over the Vikings — booking a spot in Saturday’s district final.
CREDIT: Sam Walsh/SOSA
“This is great, because in the first half, I was concerned. We typically live and die by the 3 when they take Abbie away, and we went cold tonight. We were concerned at halftime, but our team never quit,” Bobcats head coach Melissa Knapp said. “The key was when Mattie Hayslip got hot and she hit a few 3’s. That was our pivotal point in the game. We haven’t played from behind much this year, outside of Notre Dame and Huntington. I think once we got through that panic, Mattie hit those 3’s and Abbie started to score more, and we were able to go with that.”
The Vikings (10-12) started the game on a 4-0 run and, from there, controlled the pace for the first eight minutes.
Thanks to its efforts on the offensive glass, out-rebounding the Bobcats 12-7 in the frame, Symmes Valley was able to create many second chance opportunities. This made way for Lydia Saunders to put up nine first quarter points and help Symmes Valley build a 16-13 lead after one.
Although Green was able to keep things close in the second, the Vikings had one point of emphasis on the defensive end — limiting Green’s ability to score inside and force the Bobcats to settle.
Symmes Valley’s defense did just that, and even though Abbie Knapp was able to score a few times inside, finishing the first half with 13 points, the Vikings were able to neutralize Knapp’s supporting cast and stay ahead in the rebounding battle, bringing a 27-23 lead into the intermission.
If Green wanted to fight back and get in front, it was going to need someone to step up and take the pressure off its leading scorer.
Mattie Hayslip knew just what to do.
After Green fought its way back to force a 36-36 tie late in the third, Hayslip caught fire from beyond the arc. The sophomore knocked down three triples on consecutive tries to put her team ahead, giving the Bobcats a 46-38 advantage heading into the fourth.
“I don’t know if it just clicked in her head that it was time to take over, because we’ve had that on numerous occasions this year, where she’s just taken over,” Knapp said. “If she sees Abbie struggling, it’s in her head that she can take over. They’ve been playing together since the third grade. As [Hayslip] is getting older, she’s getting more experience and has learned to just play ball.”
PHOTOS: Images from Green’s district semifinal win over Symmes Valley
Despite absorbing the blow, Symmes Valley was far from ready to call it quits.
Now trailing by 10, the Vikings had to act fast. After a basket in the paint, SV forced a turnover with 4:49 left before calling a timeout. When they broke the huddle, the Vikings found more help by way of back-to-back scores from Brenna Tibbs and Kaitlin Maynard, cutting the deficit to 48-44 with 4:20 remaining.
Coach Knapp then called a timeout to get her team refocused. When the team came out of the break, all eyes were on Abbie Knapp to lead Green to the finish line.
“The leadership is starting to show with [Abbie Knapp]. She’s growing up, and I’d say she’s closer to junior year than she is to freshman year. She’s becoming one of our leaders when we’re counting on sophomores to lead us,” Knapp said. “You can see that leadership role with Abbie. The girls respect her, and when Abbie is leading the ship, they’re going to follow her.”
Knapp stayed aggressive in the paint and used her height advantage to grab nine rebounds in the fourth quarter alone. She also made numerous trips to the charity stripe and converted when her team needed it most — pulling Green away from Symmes Valley and sending the Bobcats to the district final with a 59-50 triumph.
“I knew Symmes Valley was not going to quit. I told our team to take care of the basketball, limit turnovers and make smart decisions. You get a crew going at the end of the game with five that were clicking, and we didn’t sub,” Knapp said. “I told our team to play like we’re ahead. We’re ahead, so make smart decisions. Making those free throws was also huge. Abbie made a couple free throws toward the end to put us up by seven and that sealed the deal.”
The Bobcats were led in scoring by Knapp, who posted a 28-point, 15-rebound performance, while Hayslip followed with 20 points and made 3-of-4 shots from deep.
Symmes Valley was led by Saunders, who finished with 18 points. Tibbs contributed 14 points and grabbed five boards on the evening.
The Bobcats will advance to Saturday’s Division VII district final at 5 p.m., back at Wellston High Schoo. They’ll meet with South Gallia, a 59-34 winner over Southern.
There, the Bobcats look to bring home their first district title since 1993.
“Winning a district would mean so much. The alumni are backing us, and this community supports this team. If you saw the crowd at Notre Dame, it was unbelievable, and we’re going to bring that same crowd here on Saturday,” Knapp said. “We’re going to bring out the pep buses, and we have community members that support that. Everybody’s rooting for us. The boys have been here when they won a district two years ago, when my son was on the team. It’s the girls’ turn this year, I guess you could say. I really believe that once we settled down in this gym, we were fine, and I think going into Saturday, the nerves won’t be there as much.”
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