Hoover Ends Lady Leps Season 64-46
VIDEO:
North Canton 64, Louisville 46
The North Canton Hoover Vikings outscored the Lady Leopards 41-20 in the second half en route to a 64-46 victory in the Division I District Semifinals at Alliance’s Harry Fails Gymnasium Thursday night. Brianna Libertore led the Lady Leps with 17 points and 13 rebounds. Alyssa Jones also added 15 and Mackenzie Storlie dropped in 10 in the loss.
The Lady Leps played their hearts out, fighting to the bitter end.
Several Louisville miscues and 3 opening quarter three-balls by Hoover gave the Vikings a 13-7 lead at the end of the first quarter. But the Lady Leps bounced back in the second quarter. Jones scored off a pass from Molly Brown in transition that kick-started a 7-0 run. Libertore picked off a pass on the other end and the Lady Leps offense set up a wide-open Storlie, who buried the trey to cut the deficit to just two. On the next possession, Jones sank two free throws to tie the game at 15 all and just like that the Lady Leps were right back in the game.
Hoover scored the next four points, but the senior captain was relentless. Jones buried a three-ball that dropped so perfectly straight into the basket it nearly missed the net on the way down. Jones scored 13 of her 15 points in the first half. Next in the channel lineup following the Jones Show was the Libertore Show. She left her comfortable surroundings in the post and hit two long jumpers in a half minute span to give the Lady Leps their first lead of the game at 22-21. Not long after, Libertore added 4 more points to her total giving her 8 points in just 80 seconds. The Lady Leps leaped into the locker room with a 26-23 lead.
However, things came undone in the second half for Louisville. Shots would not fall for the Lady Leps and turnovers were not at a premium. Meanwhile, the Vikings were hitting from beyond the arch again, netting 3 for the quarter. Natalie Sarbaugh banged home two of those triples and scored all 13 of her points in the second half. Hoover went on a 13-2 run to take a 39-32 lead with a little over two minutes to go in the period.
Hoover went rampant in the final quarter by outscoring the Leopards 23-10. The Vikings were making everything and their defense frustrated Louisville to no end. Kelsey Peare poured in half of her game-high 18 points in the final period to help the Vikings advance to the District Championship. It was an unfitting end to a fantastic season for the Lady Leps.
It was a season where they finished 20-3, beat an unbeatable in the opening round, went 6-1 against Federal League foes, and won the NBC Outright. There is nothing to be ashamed of and plenty to praise of the girls that wore the blue and white this year.
STATISTICS:
LEOPARDS: Libertore 6 5-8 17, Jones 6 2-2 15, Storlie 2 4-6 10, Bricker 1 0-0 2, Brown 1 0-0 2, TOTALS 16 11-16 46.
3PT (3): Storlie (2), Jones (1)
TEAM FT: 11-16 69%
REBOUNDS (33): Libertore (13)
VIKINGS: Peare 6 5-7 18, Sarbaugh 3 5-6 13, Wheeler 4 0-0 8, Roan 2 0-0 6, Stroemple 2 2-4 6, Warren 2 2-4 6, Pavkov 2 0-0 5, Lensman 1 0-0 2, TOTALS 22 14-21 64.
3PT (6): Roan (2), Sarbaugh (2), Pavkov (1), Peare (1)
TEAM FT: 14-21 67%
REBOUNDS (35): Warren (14)
