By John Bombatch
JAMESTOWN — Greeneview coach Tim Hoelle knows he doesn’t have much size or height in his Rams girls basketball lineup this season, so he’s finding other ways to win.
On Thursday night, Hoelle’s smaller bunch out-hustled Mechanicsburg for a solid 64-38 Ohio Heritage Conference win in the Gary Bradds Memorial Gymnasium.
Unofficially, the mini Rams outrebounded Mechanicsburg 48-33.
The Rams also used an in-your-face full-court press for nearly the entire contest, and it gave the Indians fits. Also unofficially, Mechanicsburg turned the ball over 37 times (to 21 times for Greeneview).
“We’ve been working on our rebounding positioning in practice. After a recent game against Northwestern, that’s one thing we’ve been really working on. I thought all our girls played hard tonight, especially in rebounding, so I’m real happy with that,” Hoelle said.
The two teams traded the lead six times in the opening quarter, but a Faith Strickle score halfway through the period, then Sydnie Sonneman’s jumper from the right side two minutes later, gave the Rams the lead for good.
Sonneman hit seven 3-pointers in the game to finish with a game-high 27 points. Strickle and Kristen Combs each added nine points in the win, and six other Greeneview players scored at least two points.
Greeneview (4-0, 2-0 OHC) hit nine 3-pointers, to one for Mechanicsburg.
Hoelle said the full-court pressure is something Greeneview opponents can expect to see this season.
“Tonight, we just knew that personnel-wise it was something we felt we needed to do,” Hoelle said. “Mechanicsburg, they always play hard. Coach Dodane always has her players ready to play, so it’s good to get a win against a quality opponent like that.”
‘Burg coach Christie Dodane said there was one primary difference that determined Thursday’s outcome.
“Too many turnovers,” she said as she left the Indians lockerroom. “We didn’t handle their pressure and they sped our game up. And when we did take care of the ball, we just shot shots that we had no business shooting. We weren’t taking our time and running through things.
“(Greeneview) was very successful at causing turnovers and speeding up our game.”
Mikayla Dodane led the Indians (1-2, 0-1 OHC) with 14 points, and Elly Schipfer finished with 10.
Up next lies what could be a key OHC battle between Greene County rivals Greeneview and Cedarville. Depending on whether Cedarville won Thursday night at West Liberty-Salem, both teams could enter Saturday’s contest in Cedarville undefeated overall with identical 2-0 records in the conference.
“Cedarville is much improved,” Hoelle said of Saturday’s 1:30 p.m. contest. “They just keep getting better and better, so we’re really looking forward to that one.”
Mechanicsburg’s next game is also Saturday. Their conference game is a 7 p.m. matchup against South Charleston Southeastern.
