John Bruce, Staff Writer
Southern Ohio Sports Authority is presented by OhioHealth.
CHILLICOTHE — On a night when shots weren’t falling, Huntington made sure to elevate all other aspects of its games.
By dominating the glass and the turnover differential, the Hustlin’ Huntsmen were able to pull away from Wellston on Monday for a season-opening 41-23 win.
Huntington (1-0) came out of the gates ice-cold from the field, only making 2-of-20 shot attempts in the opening quarter — made worse by the fact that Nora Moore put Huntington in front on the team’s first shot attempt of the game.
CREDIT: Derrick Webb/SOSA
Somehow, however, the Rockets were actually colder, only hitting 1-of-11 attempts in the period, which was a driving layup from Kimmi Aubrey late in the quarter.
But despite the chilly shooting and being undersized, the Huntsmen dominated the offensive glass as Allie Baker, Leah McCloskey and Moore kept plays alive throughout, giving their teammates ample opportunities to score.
“They had to play big down there,” Huntington senior Emma Hinshaw said of her teammates. “[Huntington] Coach [Kyle Uhrig] basically said that if we could get it, get it, just don’t foul. We can trust them [to rebound in the post]. They can get the job done.”
And, finally, Huntington took advantage of it in the second quarter.
3-pointers from Jaden Lamerson and Baker, alongside a deep deuce from Tori Smith, helped the Huntsmen build a comfortable lead. Meanwhile, Wellston began to use its size advantage inside as Sammie Cottrill and Lauren Cheatham both had post finishes, seemingly setting the offense down.
The Rockets were able to pull some momentum together at the end of the first half when Madison Potts was fouled on a deep 3-point attempt in the final second. Potts calmly knocked down all three free throws to cut Huntington’s lead to 21-10 at the break.
But Wellston would never get any closer.
In the third, Hinshaw began to take over, scoring eight of her 11 points and causing multiple turnovers defensively. Behind Hinshaw and Smith, the Huntsmen managed to force 11 turnovers in the quarter to build their lead to 35-17.
“I relied a lot on my teammates to get me going,” Hinshaw said. “If I missed a shot, I knew I could rely on them to get it and to put it back up for me.”
The final eight minutes were played out with both teams subbing liberally, but not before Moore scored back-to-back buckets to move into double-digit scoring figures.
On the night, Huntington outrebounded Wellston (0-1) by a 43-19 margin while forcing 23 turnovers and only losing seven possessions of its own.
Baker led all scorers on the night with 13 points while Hinshaw and Moore each tallied 11 points for the Huntsmen.
Baker and Hinshaw each pulled down a team-high nine rebounds while Hinshaw also passed out a game-high four assists and added four steals. Smith had a game-high five steals for the Huntsmen in the win.
Wellston was led in scoring by Cheatham with eight points while Cottrill scored seven points and pulled down a game-high 10 rebounds.
Both teams return to action on Tuesday. Wellston hosts Oak Hill and the Huntsmen open Scioto Valley Conference play, hosting Zane Trace.
“We want to get off to a quick start and make sure we don’t get down if we miss shots,” Hinshaw said. “We just have to make sure we stay down on defense and stick together as a team.”
SPONSORED BY MCDONALD’S
