UTICA — The view at the top of the Mid-Buckeye Conference just got a little more cloudy. Utica’s girls basketball team jumped to the top of the standings on Thursday night and now shares the spot with Johnstown and Loudonville. The Redskins defeated the Redbirds, 44-41, in an action packed game.
The crowd was treated to an intense matchup between two of the MBC’s best teams. Both teams battled until the very last seconds of the game when Utica (3-2, 2-1 MBC) was able to overcome a seven-point halftime deficit to secure the victory.
“Every win is important right now, especially early in the season,” said Utica head coach Michelle Snow. “This win boosts the confidence and gives us some momentum before we go into Christmas break. It was nice to get a home win in front of our home crowd and I really believe the difference in the game was the crowd. They did a nice job of giving us the intensity that we needed.”
From the start it was obvious that this game was going to be a tight contest. The teams traded baskets for much of the first half until Loudonville (2-1, 2-1 MBC) was able to gain a slight edge which they turned into the seven-point halftime lead. Utica came out firing in the second half however, and was not about to let Loudonville pull away.
“At halftime we made some adjustments and the girls definitely picked up their defensive intensity,” Snow said. “We were much more patient offensively than we were in the first half and we got some easy baskets in transition.”
The Redskins outscored the Redbirds 29-19 in the second half to get the huge win and shake up the standings in the highly competitive MBC. Much of the scoring presence for Utica was carried by post player Tamra Londot. Londot lead all scorers with 15 points and proved to be a difficult challenge for the Loudonville squad to stop.
“[Tamra] did a nice job,” said Snow. “To her credit she did what she needed to do both offensively and defensively. Our guards did a nice job of getting her the ball in a position where she could score. It was a total team effort, you like to see everyone step up, but her play was exceptional.
“I thought the seniors tonight really stepped up,” continued Snow. “They got us in the position we needed to be in to get the win. When you are down at halftime it’s really tough to come out of the locker room and battle back. I think our leadership was an encouragement, it’s going to take that for the rest of the season to get us where we want to be.”
“We needed this win, it was a confidence booster,” Londot said. “It was a very intense game and this is just a really big win for us.”
Loudonville let a golden opportunity to take control of the MBC standings escape but they never quit in the game. They had the lead for the majority of the game before Utica mounted their late game comeback to make things very interesting at the top of the conference.
“We were more than in this game,” said Loudonville head coach Joy Taylor. “We had the lead for most of the game so it’s frustrating to come out with a loss. We didn’t take care of the ball and turned the ball over way too many times to expect to win. It’s a tough loss to take.”
Loudonville will look to bounce back on Saturday when they host Fredericktown. Utica hopes to continue to roll as they face Centerburg at home. Both games get underway with junior varsity tip-offs at 1 p.m.
In junior varsity play, Utica defeated Loudonville 46-19. Utica was lead by Marci Newton, who scored 15 points. Jordan Morrow had 11 points and Myrande Wolfe added 10 points. Loudonville was lead by Lynn Hulver who scored 11 points while Mara Cooperrider added seven points.
