Derrick Webb

Derrick is SOSA's chief content coordinator and has worked for the Chillicothe Gazette, the Portsmouth Daily Times and Eleven Warriors. He's a 13-time award-winning journalist, a self-proclaimed baseball purist, a suffering Bengals fan and has never met a stranger.

Adena gets defensive, starts conference play with win at Southeastern

November 27, 2022
, 10:40 am
, Gamers

The Warriors improve to 1-1.

Derrick Webb, Staff Writer

Southern Ohio Sports Authority is presented by OhioHealth.

CHILLICOTHE — There may be a cast of new faces on Adena’s bench this winter, but the Warriors’ relentlessness on the defensive end remains the same.

Adena’s Emma Garrison scored 10 points and grabbed 10 rebounds in Saturday’s win at Southeastern.
CREDIT: *Derrick Webb/SOSA*

After a hard-fought season-opening loss to West, the Warriors bounced back with an impressive 38-28 win at Southeastern on Saturday, opening Scioto Valley Conference play.

The Panthers scored 28 points. The Warriors (1-1, 1-0 SVC) forced 30 turnovers.

“It’s a little bit different this year. We’re not getting up in the full court quite as much, but we still think we can be a team that gets up after you in the half court,” Adena coach Andrew Day said. “We want to make things uncomfortable.”

Mission accomplished.

Southeastern (1-1, 0-1 SVC) never could find a rhythm offensively, shooting 11-of-35 from the field and 2-of-10 from long distance. And just when the Panthers grabbed a burst of momentum, the Warriors had an answer prepared.

“I think our older girls, our returners, are taking that leadership responsibility and really trying to show the younger players how we do things,” Day said. “That results in success.”

Tale of the tape

The Panthers took a 3-0 lead when Gabby Pernell dialed long distance early in the first quarter but Adena’s Sydney Ater followed with a 3 of her own. Later, with Southeastern leading 7-5, Kiera Williams and Emma Garrison hit back-to-back buckets to put Adena up 9-7 with 1:42 left.

Garrison ended the quarter with a bucket at the 1:14 mark, making it an 11-7 lead after one.

Jacey Smith extended the lead to 13-7 to begin the third before Garrison and Kamryn Sowers scored in back-to-back fashion, pushing the lead to 17-10 with 3:31 to go before halftime.

The first half’s final score came with 2:09 left, courtesy of Garrison, and put Adena ahead 19-10.

Williams started the third with a score before Southeastern’s Morgan Ware followed suit. That’s when Caelan Miner gave the Warriors a 24-13 lead with a deep splash at the 5:19 mark.

However, the Panthers had a final push in them.

PHOTOS: Images from Adena’s win over Southeastern

Pernell, Reese Ruckel and Reagan Ruby combined for a 7-0 run, cutting the deficit to 24-20 and forcing Day to signal for a timeout.

“I just told them to settle down and be strong with the basketball. We had a couple of turnovers that led to easy baskets,” Day said. “So it was about not giving the ball away and just running our offense and being patient.”

That’s exactly what happened.

Adena got back to doing what it had been doing best — forcing turnovers.

Ater hit a big-time 3 to extend the Warriors’ lead back to seven at 27-20 before her teammates made it a 32-21 advantage after three frames.

“She’s a kid that’s grown every year that’s she’s been in our program,” Day said of Ater. “She just gets better and better every day. She comes ready to work hard and you see the results. She’s seeing that hard work pay off.”

Ater scored again with 6:47 left in the fourth before Williams hit a pair of free throws to make it a 36-23 count.

Southeastern’s Grace Wireman logged an old-fashioned three-point play with 3:11 left, making it 36-28 and ending a 5-0 burst, but a basket from Adena’s Caroline Corcoran ended the night’s scoring and sealed a bounceback win.

“Portsmouth West was a really good team. They’re physical and they get after you,” Day said. “We needed to bounce back and get back after it. We needed a win. Thankfully, we were able to do that and get one.”

Adena’s Kamryn Sowers shoots during Saturday’s win at Southeastern.
CREDIT: *Derrick Webb/SOSA*

Stat book

Garrison led all scorers, logging a double-double with 10 points, 10 rebounds, six steals and four assists while Williams ended with 10 points, four rebounds and three steals. Ater finished with eight points.

For Southeastern, Pernell led the team with seven points and four rebounds while Ruckel added six points and four boards. Wireman also helped out with six points.

What’s on tap

Both teams are back in action on Tuesday in league play.

While Southeastern entertains unbeaten Piketon, Adena travels to Westfall.

“We work on boxing out a lot because we’re going to have to be a team that’s physical when it comes to rebounding,” Day said. “We have to work hard at that because we’re not overly tall. We also have to be efficient offensively and we can’t turn the ball over a lot. We still had too many tonight I feel like. That’s got to be who we are.”

BOX SCORE

Adena: 11-8-13-6 — 38

Southeastern: 7-4-10-7 — 28

Adena: 15-47 FG, 5-11 FT, 3-12 3pt., 30 rebounds (Garrison 10), 19 turnovers, 8 assists (Garrison 4). Scoring: Garrison 10, Williams 10, Ater 8, Miner 3, Corcoran 3, Smith 2, Sowers 2.

Southeastern: 11-35 FG, 4-8 FT, 2-10 3pt., 30 rebounds (Ware 7), 30 turnovers, 3 assists (Ware 2). Scoring: Pernell 7, Wireman 6, Re. Ruckel 6, Ware 3, Ruby 3, Ro. Ruckel 2, Rebman 1.