ATHENS — It’s tough to fill an arena as large as the Convocation Center in Athens for a high school basketball game but a pair of talented athletes going toe-to-toe can make the cavernous old gym feel full of excitement.

South Webster’s Kayla Cook and Eastern Meigs’ Kasey Turley led their teams to the Division IV District Championship game where both seniors showed their big game ability.

In the end it was Cook, who scored 33 points with 17 rebounds, and the Lady Jeeps that got the edge as South Webster defeated Eastern Meigs 62-58 on Wednesday. The win gave South Webster its fourth-consecutive district title.

After a dominant opening quarter the Lady Jeeps found themselves in a battle. The Lady Eagles turned to Turley and crept back into the game, outscoring South Webster 48-41 in the final three quarters.

Turley scored 28 points with seven rebounds and two blocks, keeping pace with Cook for most of the contest.

“We had a 15-point lead at one point and they called a timeout and I said ‘this team is a good team,’” South Webster coach Kristie Johnson said. “They aren’t ranked just because, they’re a good team. They can come back and they did. Luckily we were able to answer baskets there at the end and made things happen. They started fouling and we had the ball in the right person’s hands. We were able to hold them off.”

The hands Johnson referred to were those of Cook who hit seven free throws in the final five minutes of the game.

Early in the contest South Webster got a boost from the outside shooting of Kaci Messer. Messer hit three first-half threes and Taylor Queen hit another to help the Lady Jeeps to a 34-24 halftime lead.

“We came out hot hitting the threes, which of course helps tremendously,” Johnson said. “We knew that they were going to make an adjustment and start covering us outside and they did.”

Messer finished with 12 points and Taylor Queen scored eight points and Kendra Clark scored six.

South Webster also outrebounded Eastern 36-32.

“We knew coming in something that would be huge is rebounds,“ Johnson said. “We even said even if we just outrebound them by a couple we’ll be OK.”

South Webster will face Waterford in the regional semifinal on March 11 at Pickerington North High School at 6:15 p.m.

Eastern Meigs 10 14 17 17 — 58

South Webster 21 13 16 12 — 62

Eastern — Pullins 6 2 14, Turley 12 0 28, Connery 4 2 10, Rawson 1 0 2, Holter 2 0 4. Totals 25 4 58.

South Webster — Messer 4 1 12, Clark 2 0 6, Queen 3 0 8, Hanes 1 0 2, Cook 12 8 33, Montgomery 0 1 1. Totals 22 10 62.

3-pointers — Eastern 4 (Turley 4); South Webster 8 (Messer 3, Clark 2, Queen 2, Cook)

Records — Eastern Meigs 20-3; South Webster 18-5

Waterford 71, Clay 35

ATHENS — Just three and a half minutes into Clay’s Division IV District Final contest with Waterford on Wednesday the Lady Panthers found themselves trailing 9-0. At the end of the quarter Waterford led 21-5 en route to a 71-35 victory at the Convocation Center in Athens.

Waterford continued to expand its lead through pressure defense and by crashing the boards on offense. The Wildcats outrebounded Clay 38-19, grabbing 21 offensive rebounds.

“We’re standing and watching,” Clay coach Kevin Castle said. “They were just killing us on the glass. When they missed they got opportunities to put them back… You can’t let a team that caliber shoot the ball two or three times on one trip.”

While Waterford took the lead quickly, Clay did make the Wildcats earn their points with a zone defense that held Waterford to just one point in the first two minutes of the game.

“We thought our best bet was to zone them up,” Castle said. “When we had that zone they missed a few in the beginning. We weren’t really doing anything with the ball ourselves on the offensive end. “

Clay was led in scoring by Holly Hempill’s 10 points and Katherine Bauer’s nine points.

The good news for the Lady Panthers though is that the entire team is expected to return next season as Clay’s roster has no seniors.

“Does that guarantee you success for next year,” Castle said. “No it doesn’t. But we’ll come back and work hard and they’re a great bunch of kids. I’m just really really proud of them for the year they’ve had.”

Waterford was led by Sina King’s 26 points and seven rebounds. Waterford’s Emily Brown scored 19 in the win.

JOHN STEGEMAN can be reached at jstegeman@heartlandpublications.com

Clay 5 10 9 11 — 35

Waterford 21 17 23 10 — 71

Clay — Bauer 2 5 9, Beegan 1 0 3, Spriggs 1 0 2, Hempill 4 2 10, Craft 1 0 2, Carter 1 1 3, Pelfrey 1 1 3, Stewart 1 0 3. Totals 12 9 35.

Waterford — Drayer 2 0 5, Bosner 4 0 8, Brown 8 3 19, King 10 5 26, Paxton 1 0 2, Offenberger 0 4 4, Barker 3 1 7. Totals 28 13 71.

3-pointers — Clay 2 (Beegan, Stewart); Waterford 2 (King, Drayer)

Record — Clay 15-8