Girls Basketball: Logan Elm Ends 14 Years of Frustration in 54-38 Victory Over Circleville
Article presented by Pickaway Ross CTC Adult Education …
Prior to Tuesday, the last time Logan Elm tasted victory was Valentine’s night 2013, a 49-41 decision.
Twenty-seven straight losses.
That string was snapped in a 54-38 LE win on the Braves’ home court, while string of a different kind was extended. The victory was Logan Elm’s 11th straight.
Kiki Ingram led all scorers with 29-points on a night she felt good about her shot. But it didn’t start out that way. After being fouled on a three-point attempt in the first quarter, the senior guard came up empty on all three free throw attempts. “I was really nervous” Ingram said after the game. “After those three shots, I knew I really had to lock in if I really wanted to win the game. I had to knock down some shots. I was like ‘What am I doing, I have to make at least one’, but that didn’t even happen.”
About the photo: Circleville’s Addison Edgington blocks a shot by Logan Elm’s Palynn Wray in the second half.
What followed, Ingram found her shot. She and Kimmy Petty nailed a pair of three’s to lift the Braves from a 10-5 deficit to a 16-12 lead after the first period.
Circleville forced Logan Elm to shoot from the outside using a two-three zone. After the Braves hit six-triples in the first half, they held a 33-23 lead at the half. Tigers head Coach Josh Blakeman said the intent of the zone was to take away those shots. “Our game plan was good… we just didn’t execute. The transition threes, we know those are coming. Everything they did, we knew was coming, we just didn’t take care of it. And we’ve got to take care of the basketball. That’s what it boiled down to.”
Once the Braves built a double digit lead, the Tigers were unable to get any closer than eleven points at 43-32.
Logan Elm controlled the clock and attacked the basket when necessary. They also found a way to limit the impact of Circleville’s Addison Edgington who averages 20.1 points per game. Edgington led the Tigers with 15-points.
The turnaround from the first meeting, a 63-47 Tigers victory last December helped propel the Braves approach for the second time around.
“This was about a great team effort” said Logan Elm’s Mike Schultz. “We started doing this Circleville prep weeks ago. We would put segments in our practice, 5-minutes here, 10-minutes there. But when Friday came around, we were very purposeful in everything that we did. The kids knew exactly what their assignment was gonna be and how it was gonna look, and by golly, everything came to fruition tonight.”
Schultz was extra happy with how his team handled each possession, knowing Ingram is going to get looks, but he was most pleased with how she’s been getting her teammates involved.
“We know she going to get her shots depending about what type of defense they’re going to be running, but we also know that over the past couple of weeks Kiki has not just scored, but she’s distributed the ball precisely. We were able to see that tonight.”
Kimmy Petty scored 11-points with Gillian Savage adding 5, Palynn Wray had 4, Kennedy Groff 3 and Maleah Gardner 2.
Circleville’s scorers behind Edgington were Maddie Balkeman and Brooklyn Cramer with 9-points each and Juliana Sims-Ross 3 and Kaylee West 2.
The Tigers (7-1) maintain a half-game lead on Logan Elm (6-1) in the MSL Buckeye. The Braves have a game to make up at Fairfield Union on February 12th. Circleville will wrap up its MSL season nine days earlier on February 3rd.
Circleville travels to Hamilton Township this Friday while Logan Elm heads to Liberty Union.
