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BAINBRIDGE — You wouldn’t have to travel that far back in time to find Paint Valley’s girls basketball program hoping and praying for a sectional championship victory.
CREDIT: Derrick Webb/SOSA
But now, it’s become an expectation.
The Bearcats, after a 10-year sectional title drought, have now won three straight. The latest came on Wednesday with a 48-20 decision over visiting Trimble.
“It means the world,” Paint Valley coach Tristan Norman said. “That’s especially true for our seniors. A couple of them have kind of been in the background of the last couple [sectional championships]. This year was their turn to keep that trend going. It’s special and not everybody gets to do it.”
Paint Valley’s seniors — namely Averi McFadden, Kendall Dye, Bella Stauffer, Mackenna Heath and Kara Free — certainly played important roles in Wednesday’s victory.
However, a freshman led the Bearcats in both scoring and rebounding.
Karris Dye, Kendall’s younger sister, turned in a 14-point, 12-rebound double-double alongside six steals. Her physical style of play and relentlessness on the glass gave the Tomcats fits all night long.
“When you get Karris in her zone and get her focused in her zone, she’s one of those kids that, athletically, has it all,” Norman said. “She has a God-given ability. So when she can walk in and do her thing, which is put the ball in the hole and rebound the basketball, she can be a complete player. She has things she can get better at. But she’s someone who has the opportunity to keep this [sectional championship] trend going.”
Tale of the tape
Paint Valley’s Averi McFadden and Kendall Dye combined to give the Bearcats a 5-0 lead early on before Bella Stauffer dialed long distance for an 8-0 edge at the 3:45 mark in the first quarter.
The Tomcats (4-15) finally got on the board with two free throws from Rilynn Fouts with 2:28 to go before Stauffer again hit a triple, making it 12-2. Trimble’s first field goal came with 1:49 left, a 3 from Fouts, rounding out the first quarter’s scoring.
PHOTOS: Images from Paint Valley’s sectional final win over Trimble
In the second, the Bearcats piled onto their lead by earning second chance looks at the basket.
Following a 3 from Jayleee Orsborne to cut PV’s lead to 12-8, the Bearcats went on a 9-2 run behind the efforts of McFadden and Karris Dye, who became dominant under the bucket.
By halftime, after a jumper from senior Kara Free beat the buzzer, PV owned a 23-12 advantage and had out-rebounded the Tomcats 14-6 — which eventually ballooned to 30-15 by the end of the evening.
The same trend continued in the third as Karris Dye scored and Bella Stauffer scored all seven of the Bearcats’ points in the quarter. Meanwhile, the team’s defense held Trimble to just a single point as PV took a 30-13 lead into the final eight minutes before shifting into cruise control.
“Defense and rebounding are two things that we, as a program, want to be a staple. We want that to be who we are and what we do,” Norman said. “You don’t have to be the best athlete or the best player to do those things. It’s all heart and hustle. So we take pride in those things.”
Stat book
Following Karris Dye’s final statistics was McFadden, who tallied 12 points and five rebounds while Stauffer finished with eight points and five assists. Kendall Dye also helped out with six points, four boards and two helpers.
Fouts led Trimble with nine points while Orsborne had six points and a team-high five rebounds.
What’s on tap
While Trimble’s season reaches its end, Paint Valley advances to a Division IV district semifinal.
The Bearcats will meet with Eastern Meigs — a 62-25 winner over Eastern on Wednesday — at 8 p.m. on Feb. 23.
The plan to advance is simple. Norman’s group is looking to control what they can control while not bothering to fix what isn’t broken.
“We have to focus on ourselves and get better at things we can get better at,” Norman said. “A big thing for us has been that opponents don’t want to guard us man-to-man. It seems like everyone wants to throw a zone defense at us. It’s been a bit of pain for us throughout the year. But I feel like over the last couple of games, we’ve started to see what we want to see. That’s a big thing for us, continuing to improve our offense against the zone.”
BOX SCORE
Trimble: 5-7-1-11 — 20
Paint Valley: 12-11-7-18 — 48
Trimble: 7-40 FG, 4-6 FT, 2-15 3pt., 15 rebounds (Orsborne 5), 18 turnovers, 6 assists (Weber 4). Scoring: Fouts 9, Dane 6, Orsborne 5.
Paint Valley: 16-49 FG, 10-23 FT, 6-28 3pt., 30 rebounds (Ka. Dye 12), 8 turnovers, 11 assists (B. Stauffer 5). Scoring: Ka. Dye 14, McFadden 12, B. Stauffer 8, Ke. Dye 6, Crum 3, Free 2, Conley 2, S. Stauffer 1.
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