McClain ladies fall short against Waverly in sectional play-in game 46-39

McClain’s Lady Tigers traveled to Adena High School on Monday night to take on Waverly, in a sectional play-in game pitting the eight and nine seed teams against one another, for the opportunity to challenge the number one seed Miami Trace Lady Panthers in the next round of the tournament.

The Lady Tigers of McClain rallied late in the game but, ultimately fell short against Waverly’s version of the Lady Tigers by a score of 46-39.

McClain was led in scoring by Emma Stegbauer with 11 points including a brilliant 5/6 shooting performance at the line. Jaelyn Pitzer finished the night with eight points, while Maddy Stegbauer had six and Bryn Karnes totaled 5 for the purple and gold.

Waverly was led in scoring by Zoiee Smith with 16 points including two three pointers to led the orange and black Lady Tigers.

The McClain ladies struggled mightily in the first half as Waverly employed a 1-3-1 defense that forced them to turn the ball over 12 times and held them to just nine points.

Waverly held a 22-9 advantage at the half as they scored in transition and executed well in their half court sets.

McClain head coach Jarrod Haines talked about the 1-3-1 defense and his team’s struggle with it in the first half.

“We knew it was coming from scouting reports. We knew exactly what we had to do we just didn’t take care of the basketball. We have to be stronger physically and mentally,” Haines said.

The third quarter saw McClain put up 12 points to eclipse their point total for the first half in the third quarter. However, the Waverly girls were hitting with consistency on the other end and netted 16 points of their own to extend their lead to 38-21 entering the fourth.

Haines talked about the game that Emma Stegbauer had for his team and how pleased he was with her performance.

“I thought Emma was just a ‘bulldog’ for us, especially there at the end and she shot the free throw well. I was very pleased with her performance especially there at the end, she really went out with a fight,” said Haines.

(Box Score)

WHS: 12-10-16-8

MHS: 7-2-12-18

Waverly: K. Knight 2(1)-7; C. Knight 4-0/4-8; Collett 1-2; Smith 4(2)-2/4-16; Hannah Robinson 2-4; Hailey Robinson 3-0/2-9

Totals: 13(6)-2/8-46

McClain: M. Stegbauer 3-6; E. Stegbauer 3-5/6-11; Adams (1)-3; Scott 1-2; Karnes 2-1/2-5; Coleman 1-2; Pitzer 4-8

Totals: 15(1)-6/8-39

Reach Ryan Applegate at 937-402-2572, or on Twitter @RCApplegate89.

Lady Tiger junior Kelli Uhrig shoots a short jump shot after beating two Waverly defenders off the dribble Monday night at Adena High School in a sectional play-in game.
http://www.timesgazette.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/33/2018/02/web1_Kelli-Uhrig-jumper.jpgLady Tiger junior Kelli Uhrig shoots a short jump shot after beating two Waverly defenders off the dribble Monday night at Adena High School in a sectional play-in game.

By Ryan Applegate

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