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Yappi.com writer ALLIANCE—Canton McKinley’s 66-57 win over the Lake Blue Streaks in the Alliance girls’ sectional-district second round game was costly. “Once we lost head coach Mark Hyser, it would have been easy for us to fold up the tent and go home but we came together as a team,” interim head coach Gary Trbovich said. “Everyone stepped us and carried us to victory.” Hyser was ejected with 3:23 remaining in the third quarter after protesting a call. He was assessed a technical foul and told by a referee to sit down. He was then quickly assessed a second technical foul when he said something else while turning his back. The official who ejected Hyser afterwards declined to comment on the situation. Under OHSAA guidelines, any coach or player who is the recipient of two technical fouls is automatically banished for two games. Basically, Hyser would be done for the rest of the season and the only way he will come back on the bench is if and only if the Lady Bulldogs can win the sectional-district championship, otherwise his suspension will carry over to the 2006-07 season. Aside from that, Canton McKinley overcame a halftime-deficit to the Blue Streaks and outscored them 39-25 in the second half to set up a third meeting with Youngstown Boardman in next Thursday’s sectional-district semifinal at 6 p.m. inside the Alliance High School gym. “We won twice against Youngstown Boardman earlier this season and we have done a good job against them in the two games we won,” Trbovich said. After a first quarter which saw the Bulldogs take command early on, the Blue Streaks caught fire while Canton McKinley went cold. The Bulldogs misfired on their last eight shots and found themselves down 32-27 at intermission, courtesy of a Lake 9-0 run to end the quarter. The third quarter is when things really got intense. Hyser was on his way out of the gym after being ejected and that is when tensions rose. Following a jump ball situation, Lake forward Brandy Gang went to the ground on a hard takedown by Bulldogs center Kristen Schoolcraft. Schoolcraft and Gang engaged in a brief staring match before both girls were restrained and warned by the all-male officiating crew. Both teams were warned also but the damage had been done. “We were not backing down after that madness,” Trbovich said. “We had the Bulldogs on the ropes after that (Hyser’s ejection). They were getting frustrated and we had them going,” Lake head coach Thom Grubb admitted. “After they lost their coach, they tried to do some dirty stuff to our players and we knew they were going to do that because that is how they are. But we just failed to take advantage of their frustrated state.” Lake did not help their matters also in the second half as they only converted on two of 13 three-point baskets attempted in the quarter. Overall, they made four of 21 attempted three pointers outside the arc. “We basically stayed in our zone and got some pressure on their shooters. We forced them into bad shots or shots they did not want to take,” Trbovich said. Bianca Hooten led the Lady Bulldogs with 20 while Gang led the Blue Streaks with 17. Canton McKinley ended the game on a decisive 7-0 run to end the Blue Streaks’ season. Grubb was gracious in defeat afterwards. “I want these girls to remember this 13-9 year for what it was worth,” he said. “The future looks bright for these young women. They will learn from this bitter taste of defeat and they will come back a better basketball team.” Trbovich plans to get to work on the challenge of the Spartans. “We are going to break down film on them and try to throw some things at them that they haven’t seen,” he said. “It’s not going to be easy but we are going to go for the third win over them.” Canton McKinley survived Lake’s challenge but the costliness of the win will not be determined at least while they are still in the tournament hunt. STATS Field goals: Canton McKinley 25/54 (46%), Lake 18/54 (33%). Three-point goals: Canton McKinley 3/10 (30%), Lake 4/21 (19%). Free throws: Canton McKinley 13/19 (68%), Lake 12/19 (63%). Turnovers: Canton McKinley 19, Lake 28. Fouls: Canton McKinley 16, Lake 18. Rebounds: Canton McKinley 25, Lake 23. Technical Fouls: Canton McKinley head coach Hyser 2, 3:23 third. Ejected: Canton McKinley head coach Hyser, 3:23, third.
Alliance Sectional-District second round game: Boardman 55, GlenOak 32 ALLIANCE—Led by Courtney Schiffauer’s 22 points, Youngstown Boardman turned back the challenge of the GlenOak Eagles in the first game of a doubleheader inside the Alliance High School gym. Boardman held GlenOak without a field goal for 7:40 of the third quarter to pave the way for their second tournament win. “That was decisive because we came out and we took it to them. I was real happy defensively with our effort in the second half,” 25th year Lady Spartans boss Ron Moschella said. “We are looking forward to the challenge of Canton McKinley. They are a tough team we will play Thursday.” |
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