Girls Basketball’s 13-10 Season Ends at New Philadelphia
New Philadelphia 47, Louisville 38
Louisville surrendered the final eight points of the game which turned a hotly contested DI Akron Sectional Final matchup into a 47-38 win for host New Philadelphia. With the loss, the Lady Leopards finish the 2014-15 campaign with a final record of 13-10.
Abby Beaver, Sabryna Benzel, and Sarah Lairson all finished with 9 points each to lead Louisville. Benzel also snagged a team-high 11 rebounds and had a game-leading 2 blocks. Lairson and Alexa Oberster also finished with 3 steals a piece.
The #2 seeded Quakers edged the #16 seeded Lady Leopards in each of the first three quarters as 
Louisville trailed 35-27 heading into the fourth. The Leopards answered back with an 8-1 run to start the final period to knot the game at 36-all with 3:53 left to play. A basket by Benzel kick-started the run. A few plays later, Grace Jackson’s steal and hustle led to a fast break score by Lairson.
After that, Oberster converted a bonus opportunity into a pair of made free throws to tie the game. However, New Philadelphia snatched the lead right back when Morgan McMillen buried a three-pointer just seconds later on the other end.
With two minutes to go, the Leopards would trim the Quaker lead to the narrowest of margins when Benzel scored off a Lairson in-bound pass. But a half minute later, McMillen connected on her fourth three-ball of the night to put New Philadelphia back up 42-38. The DI AP Poll Champion Quakers would hit 5 of 6 free throws down the final stretch to ice the game and improve to 23-1 on the season.
Jaida Carter finished with game-highs of 27 points, 11 rebounds, and 4 steals to lead the Quakers. McMillen also tallied 13 points and 3 steals for New Philadelphia.
With the loss, the Lady Leopards have now dropped their last four meetings against the Lady Quakers and trail the all-time series 3-6. Louisville is now 2-2 at New Philadelphia all-time. The Leopards have now lost their last five tournament games overall and are 42-39 in state tournament play all-time.
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