HUBER HEIGHTS — By virtue of the team’s commanding 58-44 win over Wayne, Jan. 31 in the Premier Health Good Samaritan gymnasium, Beavercreek claimed its first Greater Western Ohio Conference title in 10 years.
A strong 14-2 scoring run in the final four minutes of the third quarter enabled the visiting Beavers to finally get a double-digit lead over the upset minded Warriors.
Lexi Moore got the run started with a freethrow score midway through the quarter. Bailey Draughn then hit a 3-pointer from the left wing to extend the lead to 34-30. Then, Moore’s nifty back-door pass led to an Alyssa Hall score to put Beavercreek out in front 36-30 with 2:59 left in the third quarter.
After an inside score from Wayne’s Lovie Malone a minute later, Draughn drove in from the left side for a score, Moore scored a layup from the right side, Carmen Williams got into the scoring run with a score off Kirsten Williams’ steal, then Carmen scored again with a driving score before the quarter buzzer sounded to give Beavercreek a solid 44-32 cushion with the formality of a fourth quarter yet to go.
“The kids were phenomenal at the end of that third quarter,” Beavercreek coach Ed Zink said. “The lead went from four points to 12 in a matter of minutes. They just did a great job. This is probably as well as we’ve played in crunch time in a long, long time. I’m so proud of how well they played.”
Beavercreek (15-3, 10-0 GWOC National East) enjoyed a rather balanced scoring attack as well.
Draughn led the Beavers with a 15-point effort, with 10 of those points coming in the second half. Moore and Carmen Williams each scored 14. Alyssa Hall, Kirsten Williams and Michaela Rhoades combined to score the other 15 points.
“This clinches the league title for us,
and we’ve now won 14 straight games. We haven’t lost in two months, and they’ve all been by double-digit scoring margins,” Zink said. “These kids had a nice run in the tournament last year, and they’ve continued to play hard, and they’ve earned this. They deserve it. They’ve worked hard, and they play so darn well, especially defensively. They deserve this, and I’m proud of them because of how hard they’ve worked for it.”
The last time Beavercreek had won a GWOC title came during the 2008-‘09 season when they shared the crown with Fairmont. The Beavers also won the title in the previous 2007-‘08 season.
Wayne coach Travis Trice was still talking to his players and couldn’t be reached for comment. Maya Donson and Nyla Hampton led the Warriors (11-8, 6-4 GWOC National East) in scoring with 11 points each.
Both teams are back in action on Saturday, Feb. 3. Beavercreek has an 11:30 a.m. road game in Riverside against Stebbins, while Wayne will host Springfield for a 1 p.m. contest.
