BERLIN, Ohio—Day three at the Classic in the Country always has the lofty standards of the events first two days to aspire to. Having the bar set that high is entirely appropriate as the event honors the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and wraps things up annually on the national holiday celebrating his birth. The 2013 Classic didn’t cut the last seven games any slack but each game more than lived up to the expectations of competitors, fans and recruiters alike in the Perry Reese Center on Monday.
As with days one and two, we’re taking a statistical look at the outcomes and performances from the final day of competition. Later this week Blue Star Media will post in depth evaluations of some of the top performers from the 2013 Classic.
The first game of the day had a missing element that most likely would have had a tremendous impact on the ultimate outcome. While Proctorville Fairland got the 60 – 47 win over Clinton Massie, it’s hard to imagine that injured (ACL) CM junior standout and nationally ranked forward Sydney Brackemyre might not have influenced the final score to some degree. As it was, Fairland utilized a 18 – 7 fourth quarter to break open a two point game and make the final margin a deceiving 13 points. Junior guard Chandler Faulks led the way for the Dragons with 20, 12 of which came as a result of her 4 for 10 three point effort. Minnesota early commit Tera Stapleton, a 6-4 2014 post, added a double-double with 13 points and 11 boards in the win. Clinton Massie got 14 from versatile junior swing player Kasey Uetrecht and another 10 from senior Mary Moyer. Both teams rebounded even at 37 for the game while Fairland finished with 13 turnovers to the Falcons 11. In the end Clinton Massie’s 24 percent second half shooting was their downfall despite getting seven more attempts from the floor over the course of the game.
The two teams in the day’s second game are impressive in a couple of ways. Toledo Rogers may have one of the deepest rosters of young talent in the Buckeye State and Winton Woods is playing and competing with a schedule that any team would find challenging. Rogers trailed by two after the first but turned the heat up and took a 27 – 22 lead into the locker room at the half. Winton Woods got four of those points back in the third and brought the win home in the fourth with a decisive 17 -6 final period. Despite the final margin of 55 – 48, there were 10 lead changes over the course of the contest and things were tied up five different times. The Warriors’ dynamic 2014 duo of forward Imani Partlow and guard Tyra James carried the load once again. Partlow finished with 19 points and 15 boards. She was 5 of 8 from the floor and 9 for 10 at the line. James posted 17 points going 7 for 15 on the night including some explosive drives that turned a few heads courtside. Rogers freshman standout Akienreh Johnson left no doubt that she’s going to make some noise in the 2016 class as she finished with 15 points that included some impressive results from her perimeter jumper. The Rams also got 10 from Eastern Michigan bound senior point guard Cha’Ron Sweeney and another 10 from junior forward Marquelle Williams. Williams also contributed eight rebounds in the loss. Sweeney is the lone senior on the Rogers roster that will have plenty of colligate traffic heading to Toledo over the next couple of years.
Canton McKinley had the unenviable task of taking on Regis Jesuit in the game following their first loss of the season. The Raiders came out swinging and the result was a first half that the Lady Pups would much rather forget. Regis opened with a 22 – 7 blitz in the first quarter and extended the lead to 34 -17 by the half. McKinley got their feet under them in the second half dropping both quarters by just five and three respectively, but the damage was already done as they fell 69 – 40. Junior Justine Hall continues to rise in the eyes of recruiters and led the way in the win with 23 points on 9 of 12 shooting. Fellow junior Jordan Molyneaux added 13 as a result of her 6 for 9 performance from the floor. Powerhouse junior swing Diani Akigbogun had 9 points and 8 boards but provided plenty of impact plays that simply don’t show up on stat sheets. For the game Regis shot a combined 52 percent, won the battle on the boards by 10 and forced their opponents into 27 turnovers. McKinley’s shooting was as cold as the temperature outside finishing at just 30 percent for the game with no players in double figures. Xavier early commit Marquia Turner, a junior guard, finished just 2 of 16 in the loss but still had moments that will serve her well at the next level.
Easily one of the most anticipated match ups of this year’s Classic pitted Ohio powers Twinsburg and Reynoldsburg. Twinsburg is coming off back to back state titles but lost McDonald’s All-American Melina Howard to graduation and the University of Maryland. Unfortunately for Reynoldsburg they didn’t lose Purdue signee Ashley Morrissette. The 5-9 combo didn’t do it single handedly but she was most certainly the catalyst behind the 45 – 38 win. Morrissette finished with 20 points on 8 of 16 shooting, went 2 of 4 from three point range while adding 4 assists and 2 steals for good measure. The Raiders actually held the lead after the first and third quarters but a 15 – 3 explosion in the final period sealed the win for the Firebirds. Char-dell Dunnigan, bound for George mason, had eight points and 10 boards while coming up with some critical play down the stretch for Coach Julie Solis. High profile junior post Alyssa Rice was the only Reynoldsburg player in double figures, finishing with 17, but could muster just three rebounds in 30 minutes of play. In fact Twinsburg dominated the boards with a healthy 31 – 20 margin over the course of the game. Junior Nicole Orr had just six in the loss but continues to demonstrate a game on the rise. Senior Yamonie Jenkins who blistered Memphis Central on Sunday was ice cold at 0 for 8 as was usually reliable fellow senior Shiloh Murphy who came home 0 for 6.
One of several down to the wire games in the 2013 Classic, the Pickerington North – Solon match up had the outcome in doubt from start to finish. North had a 24 – 19 edge at the half and still held a four point lead heading into the fourth quarter. Enter Solon junior guard Kristen Confoy who, despite shooting 8 of 20, made some critical plays down the stretch and helped her Comet teammates come away with a 49 -48 win. Countering Confoy’s play was Pickerington North sophomore guard Emily Thomas. Finishing with 16, she was 6 for 12 for the game including 3 for 6 from deep. Thomas, who is wishfully listed at 5-6, continued to make plays that kept things interesting until the final buzzer. North’s defense limited Xavier signee Martha Thompson to just seven points but Solon returned by favor holding the Panther’s Dayton commit Christy Macioce to eight. Solon won the battle on the glass 32 -25 but committed 21 turnovers to the North’s 15. Solon also connected as a team at a 44.2 percent clip while North followed closely at 41.9.
West Holmes jumped out on North Canton Hoover and held on down the stretch to post a 56 -51 win. The Division II Knights had their D-I big sisters reeling at the half as they raced out to a 36 – 18 lead. Shooting 52 percent over the first two quarters they took a lead they would not give up the entire game. Hoover got competitive in the third outscoring West Holmes 9 to 7 and then followed that with a 24 -13 edge in the fourth coming up just short in the end. The Knights did get into their bench early in the final period and had to bring back some starters for the last few possessions to protect the lead but the game was never really in doubt. Senior guard Rachel Morrison had 11 in the win and Laina Snyder finished with 10 which put her over the 1000 point mark for her career. Junior guard Julie Worley scored 17 for Hoover while zeroing in on 7 of her 12 attempts. Ashland bound senior Kelsey Peare had 12 in defeat as did junior guard Kelsey Lensman.
In an Ohio Division I versus Division IX battle, the underdog came out on top in the event’s final game. Then again, it’s hard to ever consider a Dave Schlabach coached Hiland team any type of underdog. The Hawks led the scoring in both the first and second quarters going into the intermission with a 20 – 15 edge on Uniontown Lake. The Blue Streaks kept things even in a 16 all third period before Hiland added three more to the lead in the fourth and posted a 58 – 50 win. Hiland junior shooting machine Regina Hochstetler continued her scoring output finishing with 30 points on 10 of 16 shooting that included 6 for 10 from downtown. Hochstetler got help from fellow 2014 point guard Kendra Schlabach who utilized a 6 for 11 effort from the floor that include 2 threes of her own totaling 17 on the night. While Hiland was putting up the points they were having trouble shutting down Lake senior forward Mckenna Stephens. The 6-1 Stephens is reportedly bound for the Michigan State softball program but put the bat down and produced 26 points and eight rebounds in the loss. Lake shot 50 percent as a team to Hiland’s 40. They also rebounded within two of Hiland’s total but had double the turnovers and gave up 10 threes making the road an uphill battle.
