Perrysburg turns up heat on Mansfield
Jackets to face Notre Dame in regional semifinal
3/4/2012FINDLAY -- Winning a third Division I district girls basketball championship in four seasons came quite easily Saturday for Perrysburg.
The Yellow Jackets ripped through Mansfield in a 78-43 drubbing at Liberty-Benton.
Kelsea Newman pumped in a game-high 16 points, and Sarah Baer finished with 10 to lead the Yellow Jackets (19-4) to a win against the overmatched Tigers (8-15).
Taylor Knight added nine points, while Emily Treece scored eight and Megan Kaczinski seven for Perrysburg.
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The Yellow Jackets built a 42-24 lead by halftime and never looked back to earn a spot in a regional semifinal Tuesday at Central Catholic against Notre Dame, which beat Northview Saturday night.
"I don't know if we were taller than they were, but I thought we came in a little more aggressive than they were," Perrysburg coach Todd Sims said. "I also thought we did a really good job on the boards."
There was little the Yellow Jackets didn't do well in moving on to the next round of the tournament.
Besides rebounding well, they also defended quite well. The Tigers had a difficult time trying to bring the ball up court against Perrysburg's fullcourt pressure. Turnovers mounted for Mansfield, particularly in the first half when Perrysburg quickly jumped ahead and steadily increased the lead.
The Yellow Jackets led by as many as 20 points in the second quarter before a last-second shot by Mansfield's Imani Vickers cut Perrysburg's lead to 18 to end the first half.
"We've been pressuring teams really well quite recently," Sims said. "It's not always about stealing the ball. It's just as important to make a team feel not comfortable trying to bring the ball up court."
Perrysburg scored many of its points off fastbreaks as a result of Tigers turnovers. However, the Yellow Jackets did plenty of damage scoring baskets out of halfcourt sets.
Newman, who nailed three of Perrysburg's six 3-pointers in the game, scored 10 of her points long before the halftime buzzer sounded. The play of the Yellow Jackets' six-foot senior early in the game helped establish Perrysburg's dominance over Mansfield.
"We came in here, and we were confident," Newman said. "We knew what we needed to do and got it done."
Vickers paced the Tigers with a team-high 13 points, while Erika Hamner added eight.
Perrysburg's backups saw plenty of time in the second half after it opened the third quarter with an 11-5 run to go up 53-29 as Newman swished a 3-pointer.
With the Yellow Jackets in complete control, Sims sat his starters for most of the final quarter.
"We subbed today, and we didn't drop off any," Sims said.
Contact Donald Emmons at: demmons@theblade.com, 419-724-6302 or on Twitter @DemmonsBlade.