CARROLL — The Bloom-Carroll girls’ basketball team was right there the entire game against visiting Circleville on Nov. 25. Still, it couldn’t quite get over the hump, and more importantly, couldn’t get a key defensive stop when it needed it against the Tigers.
Each time it looked as if the Tigers were gaining momentum and looking to pull away, Bloom-Carroll would battle back. Trailing by six points midway through the fourth quarter, the Bulldogs were able to stay within striking distance and cut the deficit to one point with 1:31 remaining.
However, Circleville was able to seal the deal by holding Bloom-Carroll scoreless the rest of the way and went 6 of 10 at the free throw line to close out a hard-fought 59-52 Mid-State League-Buckeye Division victory at Tom Petty Gymnasium.
“I felt like we were scoring with them, but we just couldn’t get those timely stops,” Bloom-Carroll coach AJ Ireland said. “They had those timely scores where it was just momentum killers for us.”
The Tigers always had an answer each time the Bulldogs got close. Bloom-Carroll cut the deficit to 53-52 with just over a minute before the Tigers turned to their one-two punch of Addison Edgington and Maddie Blakeman, who connected on 3 of 4 free throws in the final minute, and Edgington was 3 of 6 during that stretch.
The duo combined for 48 of the Tigers’ 58 points. Edgington scored a game-high 32 points and grabbed 10 rebounds. She did most of her damage in the second half, scoring 23 points in the final two quarters, including 16 in the fourth. Blakeman added 16 points and seven assists.
“Edgington is a good player, and an all-league player the last two years,” Ireland said. “She is big, she has good touch, good hands, and she runs the floor well.”
The game was close throughout with the first quarter ending in a 10-10 tie, and at halftime, the Tigers held a 21-19 advantage. Heading into the fourth quarter, the Bulldogs trailed 38-34.
Early in the fourth quarter, Circleville was gaining momentum and had a six-point lead, but the Bulldogs’ Riley Westall drained three 3-pointers. Whitney Passen had a key jumper and then hit a pair of free throws to cut the margin to 53-52.
Passen led the Bulldogs with 20 points, including four 3-pointers, and Westall added 12 points. Stella Haughn finished with seven points, five rebounds and five assists, and Josie Burr chipped in seven points and eight rebounds.
“This was a good learning opportunity for us,” Ireland said. “We are young and inexperienced. We don’t have a lot of returners, so it was good for our girls who had to step into new and different roles for us. We have to learn from it and improve from it.”
Tom Wilson is a sports reporter for the Lancaster Eagle-Gazette. Contact him at 740-689-5150 or via email at twilson@gannett.com for comments or story tips. Follow him on X at twil2323.
This article originally appeared on Lancaster Eagle-Gazette: Bloom-Carroll falls just short in season-opening loss against Circleville
Reporting by Tom Wilson, Lancaster Eagle-Gazette / Lancaster Eagle-Gazette
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