WILMINGTON – Facing another of the region’s tougher teams, Wilmington rose to the challenge, knocking off Oxford Talawanda 55-53 Wednesday in a non-league girls basketball game Fred Summers Court.
After slaying the state’s ninth-ranked Division II (Associated Press) team, Clinton-Massie, and giving 12th-ranked (Division II) Miami Trace everything it could handle in a two-point loss, the Hurricane (9-9) overcame a 12-point deficit to knock off the Division I Braves (12-6).
“I don’t think you can ever count us out,” Wilmington head coach Mark Short said. “We’ve won some games this year that we wouldn’t have won last year. If you look at us, we are so small compared to everybody. But they just have that something in them.”
That something was a 16-4 run to turn a 24-12 deficit into a 28-all tie at the break, an 11-0 run to go up 41-32 with 5:19 left in the game, and the wherewithal to withstand two Talawanda rallies.
The Braves rattled off five straight points to pull within 41-37 midway through the final period. With another five-point spurt minutes later, Talawanda was down just 49-48 with 1:17 remaining.
“This is a big win for us. We just beat a Division I team that came off a big win against (Southwest Ohio Conference leader) Little Miami,” Short said. “We made some mistakes down the stretch, but made some plays down the stretch. That’s a team that’s maturing.”
One of those plays was Leah Frisco’s nifty move to split three defenders to give Wilmington a 51-48 cushion.
Ten seconds later Katlyn Jamiel put Wilmington up 53-48.
Talawanda responded with a three but Mya Jackson and Frisco sandwiched free throws around a Talawanda empty possession to help seal the win.
Jackson finished with team-high 17 points. Jamiel joined her in double-figures with 11 points. Frisco and Faith Sanderson just missed double-figures with nine each.
Talawanda’s Emma Wright led all scorers with 21 points. Addie Brown chipped in with 13. Wilmington held 6-0 post player Sarah Beth Richter, the SWOC’s third-leading scorer at 13.1 points per game, to four points.
SUMMARY
Jan 27, 2016
@Fred Summers Court
Wilmington 55 Talawanda 53
T 17.11.04.21…..53
W 08.20.08.19…..55
(53) TALAWANDA (fg-ft-tp) – Lindley 0-2-2, Richter 2-0-4, Wright 6-8-21, Brown 3-7-13, Coleman 3-0-6, Woodruff 1-0-2, Brunner 1-2-5, Total 16-19-53. 3-point goals: 2 (Wright, Brunner). FTM-FTA 19-24, 79 percent.
(55) WILMINGTON (fg-ft-tp) J. Johns 0-0-0, Jackson 5-7-17, S. Johns 2-2-6, Quallen 0-0-0, Sanderson 3-2-9, Jamiel 4-2-11, Edingfield 0-1-1, Stewart 1-0-2, Frisco 4-1-9, Total 19-15-55. 3-point goals: 2 (Jamiel, Sanderson). FTM-FTA 15-26, 58 percent.
