Lady Senators settled in: West wins going away in D-III district semis

LUCASVILLE — In the first half of Wednesday’s Division III, Southeast District No. 2 semifinal, the Portsmouth West Lady Senators set the tone.

Thanks to a 14-5 second quarter after leading by nine through the first eight minutes, the No. 2 seed Lady Senators took a 35-17 halftime lead over No. 11 seed Minford.

Senior Sydney McDermott found herself a home in the far corner opposite of West’s bench, sinking three-of-four three pointers from that spot en route to a season-high 19 points.

West senior Sydney McDermott buries one of her three first half three pointers during the Lady Senators’ 54-34 win over Minford in a Division III district semifinal at Valley High School.

Courtesy of Joey Shupert, photojoeonline.com

West would go on to win the second half 19-18, earning a 54-34 win to advance to Saturday’s Southeast No. 2 district championship game.

Coach Larry Howell credited his team’s defense in their win, discussing their game plan for how they could guard the Lady Falcons after 10 and six point wins during the regular season.

“We worked all week on guarding high-low action from Minford, and we did a pretty good job at defending that,” Howell said. “The 17 points they did score (in the first half) they had to earn them. We wanted to really push the ball, share it. Sydney’s been shooting the lights out for the second game in a row. We get Emma attacking downhill, just played good team basketball. Executed the game plan to a tee.”

“They didn’t miss. When you have a team that’s that talented and they (West) shoot like that, we really struggled,” Minford coach Chuck Miller said, after the game. “They hit shots, but the shots they hit were open. It’s the first time all year our man defense has kind of let us down. We worked in the paint and got scores, but we turned the ball over too much. That’s a good team.”

The Lady Senators were led in scoring by junior Emma Sayre who finished with a game-high 20 points.

Sayre played far above her listed five-foot-two height, finishing at the rim over taller defenders and in a crowded paint with consistency.

“She’s fearless, she’s our little pit bull,” Howell said, of Sayre. “She allows us to play at two speeds — we can push it up the floor and when we need to slow it down she calms the storm for us. A tough player who I’m glad is on our team.”

Minford made a run in the second half, cutting West’s lead to 12 with five minutes to go.

However, when the Lady Falcons attempted to press while trying to cut deeper into their deficit, the Lady Senators responded by bypassing their pressure.

Minford was led in scoring by sophomore Lindsee Williams who finished with a team-high 14 points.

Portsmouth West senior guard Lexi Deaver (22) brings the ball into the front court during the Lady Senators’ win over Minford in a D-III district semifinal.

Courtesy of Joey Shupert, photojoeonline.com

“We cut it to 12 about five minutes ago, had to ratchet it up a bit and try to press in the half court. Tried to press in the full court and you can’t against this team — they’ve got too many ball handlers and too many guards,” Miller said. “It’s almost impossible to turn them over, every loose ball they get. They’re a senior laden team that’s coached extremely well.”

A successful season by all accounts for the Lady Falcons — and a promising future ahead.

Minford returns each of their players from this year’s team with no seniors, and will also bring back will-be senior Kynedi Davis who missed her junior year with a knee injury.

“Everybody coming back and got a year of experience,” Miller said. “Kynedi Davis our lone junior and probably the best player on the team, she’ll be back next year. We’ll be a year stronger and older. Our future’s bright but we’ve still got to work. We’ve got to work for this because it’s not going to come easy. But we’ve got a good group that works hard, so next year looks like a pretty promising year hopefully.”

West advances to Saturday’s Division III district championship where they’ll face Portsmouth at Waverly’s Downtown Arena.

Portsmouth defeated Adena 61-34 in their own district semifinal in Wednesday’s nightcap.

A win for the Lady Senators on Saturday would be their first district title and regional appearance in program history.

Tip-off from Waverly is set for 3 p.m.

“We were really focused on getting this district semifinal game and advancing, taking it one game at a time. We played Adena early in the season, Garrison’s a tough matchup. Haven’t seen Portsmouth much but I know they have some really talented players. We’re going to sit here and see what game plan we can come up with.”

***

BOX SCORE

Minford 12 5 9 8 — 34

Portsmouth West 21 14 11 8 — 54

Minford (15-9): Lexi Pendleton 0 0-0 0, Maggie Risner 1 0-0 2, Ava Cronin 2 0-0 4, Baylee Hammonds 1 0-0 2, Emma Carter 0 0-0 0, Brylen Scarfpin 0 0-0 0, Lexi Conkel 1 1-2 3, Lindsee Williams 6 2-2 14, Marlee Pendleton 4 1-1 9, Haleigh Snyder 0 0-0 0, Lainey Howard 0 0-0 0, Riley Kasee 0 0-0 0; TOTALS: 15 4-5 34; Three-point field goals: 0

Portsmouth West (22-1): Maelynn Howell 3 0-0 6, Sydney McDermott 7 2-4 19, Emma Sayre 6 8-9 20, Lexi Deaver 2 2-4 7, Charlie Jo Howard 0 2-2 2, Kate Rollins 0 0-0 0, Elisha Andre 0 0-0 0, Rylee McDermott 0 0-0 0, Kamryn Spriggs 0 0-0 0, Kayla Throckmorton; TOTALS: 18 14-19 54; Three-point field goals: 4 (McDermott 3, Sayre 1)

Reach Jacob Smith at (740) 370-0713 ext. 1930, by email at [email protected], or on Twitter @JacobSmithPDT © 2023 Portsmouth Daily Times, all rights reserved