BELMONT — Kurt Kaufman is a man of great competitive intensity, but the tears streaming down his face showed the other side of the story.
Sitting alone outside of his team’s locker room following a 55-51 loss to top-seeded Steubenville, Tri-Valley’s veteran head coach agonized for his players after its season ended in a Division III district semifinal on Feb. 25 at Union Local.
The hurt was real.
“I’m so proud of these girls,” Kaufman said.
From the offseason injury to key starter and tallest returning player Annika Collet to the growing pains of a young core of players, the Scotties eventually found a winning formula in the final month.
Specifically, it meant an uptick in defensive aggression to pair with the steady backcourt play senior Maddie Garber. The result was nine straight wins, including six against teams with double-digit wins.
“We battled injuries in the summer,” Kaufman said. “You think you have what you think might be your nucleus coming and that changes. We’re forced to go super young ― and that’s not a bad thing, but obviously it takes growing pains and definitely had those.
“But gosh, we grew,” Kaufman added. “Wow. There were some times when we battled adversity and we just kept responding.”
And this game typified that.
A 28-14 second-quarter deficit to Steubenville grew to 38-22 in the third quarter after a 9-2 Big Red run to start the half. But the Scotties stormed back with a furious rally behind a venomous, trapping defense that fueled transition to get within 43-40 with 5:36 left in the fourth quarter.
They never got to the finish line, as Big Red standout Nylah McShan, a 5-8 senior averaging 20 points,10 rebounds and 3.6 steals per game, hit a back-breaking 3-pointer and sank two key free throws in the final three minutes. It came on the heels of three rally-killing threes from Bailee Beall in the first three quarters.
Tri-Valley still had life when Garber’ 3 with four seconds left cut it to 54-51 with four seconds left. But after a timeout to set up their defense, the Scotties failed to steal the inbounds pass and Beall hit 1 of 2 free throws to seal it.
Kaufman appreciated the resilience. His team almost completed the comeback, despite an 11-of-25 showing on free throws. Eight misses came in the second half.
That began and ended with its defense.
“Sometimes, when your back is against the wall, it’s better,” Kaufman said. “You fly around with a reckless abandon, and that’s kind of what we did. There was a structure to it, but we were just making plays.”
The loss overshadowed 33 combined points from Garber and 6-foot sophomore Emma Smith, who often dominated inside with 17 points and another double-digit rebounding effort. All but two of her points came after halftime.
Garber played all but two minutes of the first half with three fouls and never left the floor. Kaufman continued to offer praise for his glue player, one of the few in his rotation he won’t bring back next year.
“It’s no secret,” Kaufman said. “She had an amazing year. Maddie probably could have been a player that scored 15-18 points a game, but I don’t know that we would have been as good of a team. She was able to distribute to other people.
“She always drew the other team’s best offensive player, no matter if it was a post, no matter if it was a guard,” Kaufman said. “She just did so much for our team.”
As for Smith, she will return as the Muskingum Valley League’s top interior presence. In a reflection of the team overall, he saw her progress into a reliable player on the block, one whose defense often was overlooked.
“What did she have, 14 rebounds (in the district) against Zanesville,” Kaufman said. “She just keeps growing. You saw a jump her freshman year and as a sophomore. Her junior year, I think you are going to see Emma is a pretty dynamic player.”
Gnadenhutten Indian Valley 33, Philo 31: The third-seeded Electrics hit all three of their 3-pointers in the fourth quarter, but the 10th-seeded Braves (7-16) held on for a Division IV district semifinal win at John Glenn.
Halle Klaserner scored seven of her 14 points in the fourth quarter and Bailey McConnell had a big fourth-quarter 3, as Indian Valley, which overcame 6-of-14 foul shooting, preserved a 26-22 lead through 24 minutes.
McConnel had eight of her 10 points in the second half and Cassie Miceli had seven points as only four Braves scored.
Emily Stockdale scored nine points, Aubree Trout and Reagan Miller added seven and Rylie Trout six for Philo, which hit 12 of 33 field goals. Halli Harris had four assists and four steals.
Philo, which loses Harris and classmate Olivia Fink to graduation, finished 15-9.
Millersburg West Holmes 45, Morgan 41: The fifth-seeded Raiders (12-12) had 17 first-half turnovers in a Division IV East District loss at Tri-Valley High School.
Morgan, which trailed 36-27 after three quarters cut the Knights lead to 43-41 and twice had chances to tie or take the lead. Turnovers ended each possession, as it ended with 26 for the game.
Myleigh Williams scored eight of her 10 points in the second half and Gianna Myers and Myka Augenstein had eight points for Morgan. The Raiders were outscored, 15-0, from behind the arc.
Zalina Proper’s 19 points and Briar Cline’s 11 paced West Holmes (11-12), which faces top-seeded Carrollton for a regional bid.
Wintersville Indian Creek 40, Maysville 40: The Panthers ended a 10-14 season with a Division IV regional semifinal loss at Buckeye Trail High School.
This article originally appeared on Zanesville Times Recorder: Tri-Valley comeback falls short in rough night for MVL girls teams
Reporting by Sam Blackburn, Zanesville Times Recorder / Zanesville Times Recorder
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
