FREDERICKTOWN — The Centerburg Trojans had to fight off several comeback attempts by the Fredericktown Freddies, a team out to prove that it’s still in the race for the Mid-Buckeye Conference title.
The Trojans prevailed — more like survived — by the score of 46-40, to claim first place outright in the conference.
Centerburg (10-3, 7-1 MBC) came out with two big runs that decided the game. The first came in the second period, with Fredericktown holding a 16-13 lead. Breanna Campbell, Mackenzie Stoyle and Stacy Fielding scored on consecutive possessions to put the Trojans ahead. Meghan Altizer would add two baskets. Defensively, the Trojans started playing better defensively, sticking to every Fredericktown player and forcing mistakes. The Freddies ended the half with seven straight turnovers (they had just three before the run) as Centerburg outscored its opponents, 17-4, to take a 30-20 halftime lead.
“We don’t keep deflections as a statistic,” said Centerburg head coach Todd Nauman. “But (Louisville head coach) Rick Pitino does. He keeps track of how many, and what do they do with them. We had a lot of deflections.”
In the second half, Fredericktown chipped away at the lead. With three minutes left in the third, Fredericktown’s Jessica Gable blocked a shot then, on the ensuing possession, grabbed a loose ball rebound and alertly called timeout. The Freddies scored on the inbounds play to put them within six.
Early in the fourth, Gable found Emily Williams for a basket to bring the deficit to three, 36-33. Fredericktown (7-5, 3-5 MBC) then tied the score at 38 with 4:47 to play on a 3-pointer by Lyndsay Briegel.
