Brock Netter, Editor
Southern Ohio Sports Authority is presented by OhioHealth.
LOGAN — Eastern Meigs isn’t supposed to be here.
At least, if you’re looking at where the program was on paper at this time last year, that’s what you’d say.
But it’s incredible how much can change in one season with the right people, a different mindset and when players buy into a program.
And now, the Eagles, who won just two games all of last year, are one win from a date with Dayton.
While knocking down seven 3’s on the night — six in the first half alone — Eastern Meigs used a huge second quarter push to earn a decisive 49-33 victory over Green in Thursday’s Division VII regional semifinal.
CREDIT: Brock Netter/SOSA
“We had a clear game plan and worked on it all week, surrounding [Green’s Abbie] Knapp and [Laney] Strickland,” Eastern Meigs coach Hayden Plummer said. “I told the girls before the game that the opening two minutes are going to set the theme for the game, especially defensively. If we shut those two down, they’d have to find other avenues to score and mentally, that can be draining to a team.”
“I thought Emeri Lloyd did a great job guarding Knapp, and that Ashlynn Thomas did a great job on Strickland. That defensive energy helped us get rolling offensively, we knocked down some shots and stayed focused on doing our job.”
While the shooting handled itself, the Eagles (19-5) also had a decisive rebounding advantage and the hustle was evident from the opening tip.
The tone was set in the first quarter where the Eagles held an 11-2 advantage on the glass, and they poured it on until the final buzzer by winning the battle of the boards by a 32-18 margin.
“It’s all about effort. Whatever deficiencies a team had, they can be hidden a little bit by competing and playing extremely hard, which we did tonight,” Plummer said. “We were diving for loose balls, getting after those 50-50 balls, boxing out and when a game is really physical, you either shut up or shut down, and we weren’t backing down.”
Green’s Laney Strickland and Sydney Bainer each knocked down a triple early in the first quarter, but they were matched by Eastern Meigs’ Makenzie Robertson and Kyrstin Fackler.
The Eagles then went on a 6-0 run behind Emeri Lloyd and Braelyn Simpson to go ahead 12-6 before taking a 15-8 lead into the second.
The second was where the Eagles turned things up a few notches.
Lloyd connected from deep, followed by a pair of free throws from Ashlynn Thomas to take a 22-13 lead.
What followed was one dagger 3 after another — two from Robertson and one from Lloyd.
A bucket from Simpson closed the half and the Eagles won the frame by an 18-5 tally, taking a decisive 33-13 lead into the break — one that remained in double digits throughout the rest of the night.
“We’ve seen a lot of zones this year, so learning to attack it has been a huge point of emphasis all season long,” Plummer said. “We’re a team that likes to pass the ball. Sometimes, we get a little too pass-happy and don’t attack. But for us, it’s all about getting downhill, getting two feet in the paint, finding the open shooters on the outside and being shot-ready.”
Lloyd finished with a game-high 17 points, followed by Fackler stuffing the stat sheet with 12 points, eight assists and seven rebounds. Simpson also helped out with a double-double of 10 points and 13 rebounds.
For Green (18-5), Knapp finished with 17 points and seven rebounds while Strickland had 10 points and nine boards.
While the Bobcats’ season comes to an end, Eastern Meigs returns to action at 7:30 on Saturday in a Division VII regional final against Strasburg-Franklin, who defeated Fisher Catholic to advance.
That game will happen at Logan High School.
“We have one focus and that’s getting to Dayton. But it all starts with practice and putting in that hard work to make it there,” Plummer said. “It’s been 12 years since a regional title has been in Reedsville, so we want it really bad. Strasburg is a really good and physical team. But so are we, and it’s going to be a battle for 32 minutes.”
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