By Drew Terhall

DailyAdvocate.com

ANSONIA — The Mississinawa Valley High School girls basketball team is now on an 11-game winning streak after defeating Ansonia High School, 80-38, on Jan. 21.

Mississinawa Valley head coach Michael Paige said the team came into the game wanting to work on certain areas of the game for when tournament time came around.

“There was a couple different things we wanted to do differently today, try some things out offensively. We were able to do that today. Really working on boxing out, pushing the floor and trying to play fast,” Paige said.

The Lady Blackhawks scored 27 points in the first quarter. They came out in sync on the offensive end. On defense, they were able to cause turnovers and not give up open looks in the paint.

At halftime, the Lady Blackhawks were up 41-14. They were owning the glass and held a firm grip on the game.

The Lady Tigers continued to fight in the second half. After scoring 14 points in the first half, they scored 14 in the third quarter alone.

The three-point shot helped the team gain some rhythm on offense. Ansonia had four three pointers in the third quarter. They just couldn’t get past the turnovers.

Ansonia did all they could on defense. The Lady Tigers played physical and forced Mississinawa Valley to move the ball around for an open shot.

But, it was a pick your poison situation for Ansonia. The Lady Blackhawks had four players score double-digit points and eight players total scored in the game.

Paige said when sophomore Taylee Woodbury started to get into a shooting slump earlier in the season, the team stepped up and many players gained the confidence to let it fly.

While everyone on the team should their scoring ability, there are still things the Lady Blackhawks have to clean up. But overall, the team is trending towards the right direction before tournament play.

“We gave up a lot of open threes that we shouldn’t have gave up. We definitely got stuff to work on, but I’m happy where we’re heading so far,” Paige said.

Woodbury led all scorers with 22 points with 16 of those points coming in the second half. Freshman Brooklynn Seubert had 13 points. Juniors Brenna Price and Ingrid Ojeda both had 10 points.

For Ansonia, junior Brenna Schmit led the team with 12 points while her twin sister Bailey Schmit had 11 points. Both players made three three-point shots in the game.

The Lady Tigers will next play at Franklin Monroe on Jan. 26. The Lady Blackhawks will host Union City High School on Jan. 24 and then travel to Preble Shawnee on Jan. 26. Preble Shawnee is undefeated in conference play.

Contact Daily Advocate sports editor Drew Terhall at [email protected]