DRESDEN — Tri-Valley’s late-season surge turned into a tournament-opening win on Feb. 18, thanks to a second-half defense that has been a driving force for much of the past month.
Ashland’s 57 points in the regular-season finale aside, the Scottie haven’t allowed more than 50 points since a 63-36 road loss to Bloom-Carroll on Jan. 15.
That trend continued in a 44-22 win against visiting New Philadelphia in a Division III district game that saw the Quakers managed just three second-half field goals.
The win sent the third-seeded Scotties (17-6) into a road affair against No. 2 seed Zanesville (14-8) at 1 p.m. on Feb. 21 at Winland Memorial Gymnasium with a semifinal berth at stake.
New Philadelphia, with mostly underclassmen, finished 17-6 under coach Kevin Cornell.
‘Peaking at the right time’
Senior Maddie Garber, who scored a team-high 12 points, said the team’s focus on defense began once the coaches felt more comfortable with the offensive production in late January.
The win against the Quakers was the team’s eighth straight, with wins against two 19-win teams in Ashland and Sheridan. The latter, on Feb. 7, avenged a loss to the Generals in Dresden and proved to be a turning point in the season.
It not only gave the Scotties an inside track to get a share of the Muskingum Valley League-Big School Division title, but it offered a needed confidence boost that it could beat a strong opponent.
They haven’t looked back.
“We’re peaking at the right time,” senior Maddie Garber said afterward. “Defense is what we have been hammering in practice. … We know that can really be a difference maker in games, and especially in close games.”
Tri-Valley coach Kurt Kaufman has been appreciative.
“We’re just trying to get better each day, every practice,” Kaufman said. “Credit to our girls, defense isn’t the most fun thing to work on, right? But we have worked on it a lot and they’ve done a really good job.”
Reese Lamonica, who had 10 points, said the team has shaken free from the doldrums that held the team back in its five losses through Jan. 10. She agreed that it started with the defense improving.
She also felt it took time for the volleyball players and basketball players who didn’t play volleyball to find their chemistry.
“We had a spurt there where we weren’t very confident,” Lamonica said. “We weren’t shooting our best, playing our best defense. But Maddie helps us a lot. When she goes on a run, it’s like it gets the the whole team moving.”
Garber keeps rolling
Naturally, Garber’s 12 points led all scorers in a game where offense was a challenge for both teams at times.
But when it mattered most, in a deciding 10-3 run in the third quarter, it was her seven points with a big 3 that pushed a six-point game to 31-21. She assisted on another basket in the frame.
Given the effectiveness of Tri-Valley’s defense, which didn’t allow a Quaker to score more six points, it was a steep mountain to climb.
Garber, third-team All-Ohio as a junior, had a career-high 31 points in the win against Ashland.
“She is playing like a senior should play at the end of the year,” Kaufman said. “She’s confident, leading, both on the court and the intangible things on the court that just make a difference.
“She is a remarkable leader,” Kaufman added. “She has the respect of everybody in the locker room, and when Maddie talks everybody listens. She is the leader that makes you want to play hard for her.”
Lamonica echoed that.
“She is one of our biggest leaders,
Quakers already have eye on 2027
After staying within 25-19 in the second, despite the team’s offense struggles, the damn eventually broke after a stretch of one field goal in a 12-minute span in the third and fourth.
Cornell called the runouts in that time, when Garber and Lamonica did much of their damage, “momentum killers.”
Chalk it up to a learning experience for a team that won four straight entering tournament play.
“I’ve got to give them credit,” Cornell said. “They just defended us very well in the second and Coach Kaufman is a great coach. They’re just so disciplined and I thought our inexperience maybe showed at times here. We didn’t screen very well and then we’d miss some shots. That was a five-point game early in the third quarter and you can’t miss shots. They kind kind of made us pay.”
There are reasons for Phila fans to be optimistic.
Six-foot freshman Abbey Sweitzer and classmate Khloe Sours, another 6-footer who had six points against Tri-Valley, lead a promising group of underclassmen that also includes sophomore starter Aubrie Wells. She is 5-9.
Junior starter Lily Zimmerman also returns, as senior Katelyn Mamula is the only starter vacating.
“We brought one starter back this year and won 17 games,” Cornell said. “We were proud of them. But we gotta get back to work and get more disciplined if we want to be in these games next year.”
sblackbu@usatodayco.com; X: @SamBlackburnTR
This article originally appeared on Zanesville Times Recorder: Tri-Valley thwarts New Phila, eyes ZHS in girls district tourney
Reporting by Sam Blackburn, Zanesville Times Recorder / Zanesville Times Recorder
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
