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CHILLICOTHE — When push came to shove in the biggest moments on Wednesday, Circleville did exactly what it does best.
Feed Addison Edgington and play tight defense.
The sophomore standout completely took over in the second half, finishing with 23 points and leading her Tigers (20-4) to a 46-25 victory over McClain in a Division IV district semifinal.
“This was back-to-back games that I thought we played tight in the beginning, but I was really happy with how we adjusted,” Circleville coach Brian Bigam said. “We had a decent idea of what McClain was going to do, but I thought the girls did a great job defensively of cutting off the passing lanes and turning some turnovers into points on the other end.”
CREDIT: Derrick Webb/SOSA
While the story of this game is all about the second half, McClain (22-2) took the fight right to Circleville out of the gates.
Paisley Pryor opened the game with a bucket, followed by a triple from Larah Hanson that put the Tigers ahead, quickly, 5-0.
However, Circleville responded with a 6-0 run behind Maddie Blakeman, Mallory McConnell and Kaylee West to take a 6-5 lead before McClain split a pair at the line to make it 6-6 at the end of the first quarter.
“We forced so many passes early into an area where there’s nothing there,” Bigam said. “We talked constantly about making the skip pass if the double team is there. Once the ball is moving, it’ll open the floor up to where we can run our offense and dump the ball inside, into the post.”
Both teams turned the ball over five times in the opening frame, and despite that number continuing to rise, the rate of scoring started to increase as well.
Henson buried back-to-back 3’s while Circleville continued attacking inside as Edgington scored twice, alongside a bucket from Blakeman, to keep pace, and the game tied at 12-12.
Pryor later scored to tie the game at 14-14, but just before halftime, Edgington notched a rebound and a put back that gave Circleville a 16-14 lead at the break.
It was a sign of things to come.
“Addison is so good about finishing around the rim. McClain put a double team on her, but that also opened the door for Mallory to score an easy bucket,” Bigam said. “Sometimes that turnaround isn’t always there for Addison, but it was in her bags of tricks and she used it pretty well.”
That bucket was exactly what Edgington needed to wake up, and the Tigers never trailed again.
PHOTOS: Images from Circleville’s district semifinal win over McClain
She scored on two consecutive trips down the floor, followed by a bucket from Blakeman for a 6-0 run to create separation and give Circleville a 22-14 advantage.
From that point on, it was all Edgington as the 6-foot standout scored her team’s next seven points to match McClain’s seven points, making it 29-21 heading to the fourth.
“We had to get something going coming out of halftime,” Edgington said. “I knew I had to get a feel for the defense to see how they were playing me and then adjust from that. Once I figured that out, I was able to make my move and score some baskets.”
With momentum on Circleville’s side, Edgington was determined to put McClain’s season to bed.
She ripped off six straight points to open the fourth, pushing the lead to 35-21.
Circleville’s defense did the rest of the work as it forced more than 20 turnovers on the night, holding McClain to just nine points in the second half.
“How we run our defense changes game to game based on the personnel on the floor,” Bigam said. “One thing that really changed in the second half was our communication. We were identifying players in the zone, which we weren’t doing very well in the first half. McClain was trying to attack us in the blind spot along the base line that took Addison out of the post early, and we marked where Hanson was since she killed us with three 3’s in the first half.”
In addition to Edgington’s stat line, West added nine points for Circleville. Pryor ended the night with 10 points to lead McClain.
Circleville returns to action at 5 p.m. on Saturday at Southeastern High School in a Division IV district final against undefeated Fairfield Union, who defeated Hillsboro to advance.
The Tigers dropped two contests to the Falcons earlier this season. Third chances don’t come around too often, but you can bet your bottom dollar that the Tigers will be ready for this one.
“They know us and we know them. It simply comes down to limiting our turnovers and handling their pressure,” Bigam said. “Keeping them off the boards is the big one, [Fairfield Union’s Christian] Thompson is such a great athlete and we can’t let her have any second chance opportunities. In both games, we were down one heading into the fourth and we had double-digit turnovers. That’s not going to win a game against them, so we have to take care of the ball.”
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