Tuesday, December 31, 2019

Elks Trample Lady Buccaneers


            Coming into Wednesday, December 9, 2015, The Xenia High School (XHS) Lady Buccaneers’ Basketball Team possessed an Overall 2015-2016 Season Record of 0-5. On 12/09/2015, XHS hosted The Springfield High School (SHS) Lady Wildcats. At the conclusion of that night’s contest, the Lady Buccaneers would be winless no more. By the Final Score of 64-52, XHS picked up its first victory. Guess what? Yours truly (Darryl L. McGee) WAS NOT in attendance! Due to a previously-scheduled commitment with “Xenia’s Word On The Street” (www.xeniaword.com), I was unable to attend the game. I will be completely honest. After I was informed of the game’s final result, I was upset with myself. The Lady Buccaneers finally win a game, and I was not present to witness it. Up until 12/09/2015, XHS has suffered through a very difficult season. With the exception of an Opening Night Loss (to Shawnee High School 45-34), the Lady Buccaneers have been blown out in four, consecutive games. After dealing with so many disappointing loses, the Lady Buccaneers could have easily given up and quit! Instead, the young women decided to continue the mission. Until the first victory was secured, the ladies were going to continue to fight on. For as long as I can remember, I have always heard people say the following. “The true nature of a person can be defined by how that same individual deals with adversity.” That statement applies to the XHS Lady Buccaneers! The team has heart. Regardless of whatever anyone thinks, a tough heart can never be held down.

            Tonight (Saturday, December 12, 2015), the XHS Lady Buccaneers host Greater Western Ohio Conference (GWOC) Powerhouse: The Centerville High School (CHS) Lady Elks. For the Lady Buccaneers, will their wave of momentum play a role in tonight’s game? We are about to find out! Centerville won the game’s tip-off. From 7:43 to 5:46, the Lady Elks went on a 9-0 Scoring Run. Xenia committed 2-Turnovers. For the first points of the game, Weston Minnich nailed a 3-Point Basket (7:43). At the 5:28 mark, Ahzjai Files picked up the Lady Buccaneers’ first points. Files made a 2-Point Basket. With 5:11 on the clock, Minnich hit another 3-Point Basket. Then, her teammate Victoria Harrison nailed a 3-Point Basket. At 4:36, a Timeout was called. CHS leads XHS 15-2. Centerville is dominating this game! The Lady Elks have been the closest thing to perfect as a team can be.

            Five seconds after the Timeout (4:31), Xenia turned the ball over. The Lady Buccaneers’ Turnover led to Centerville picking up 2-Points. Logane Brazile made 2-Foul Shots. XHS soon picked up 2-Points. Ella Welsh made a 2-Point Basket. Minnich countered with a 2-Point Basket. Then, the Lady Buccaneers obtained two more points (3:35). With 2:18 remaining in the 1st Quarter, Brazile made 2-Foul Shots. From 2:12 to 1:18, the Lady Buccaneers committed 2-Turnovers. The Lady Elks had 1-Turnover. CHS was penalized for a Defensive Foul too. With 1:10 on the scoreboard, XHS’s Jada Wallace stepped to the Free Throw Line. She successfully made 1-Foul Shot. A Timeout was then called. CHS’ lead was now 21-7. Before the end of the 1st Quarter, Brazile made a 2-Point Basket. XHS followed that up with a Traveling Violation. At the end of the 1st Quarter, CHS leads XHS 23-7.

            Centerville is doing everything right. Xenia is trying to do that too. Unfortunately, the Lady Buccaneers cannot get anything going. At times, they seemed to be extremely confused. At the 6:37 mark of the 2nd Quarter, Harrison made 2-Foul Shots. From 5:53 to 4:45, each team committed 2-Turnovers. With 4:40 remaining in the 2nd Quarter, the Lady Elks’ Kasey Perry made a 2-Point Basket. Each team went on to obtain a Steal. At 4:00, Brazile made a 2-Point Basket. Then, a Timeout was called. CHS leads XHS 29-7. With 3:29 on the scoreboard, Harrison made a 2-Point Basket. In just a little over one minute (2:22), XHS’s Lizzie Abbott picked up 2-Points. From 2:10 to 36.3 Seconds, each team committed 2-Turnovers. At the 1:16 mark, CHS’s Meghan Mattingly made 2-Foul Shots.

            With 3.9 Seconds remaining in the First Half, a Technical Foul was called on Centerville’s Blythe Wesney. Xenia’s Welsh stepped to the Free Throw Line. She went on to successfully complete 2-Foul Shots. At the end of the 2nd Quarter, CHS leads XHS 33-11. The story of the First Half is simply the following. Centerville’s Defense has completely smothered Xenia’s Offense. The Lady Buccaneers cannot get any type of momentum going. That is exactly how much Centerville’s Defense has locked them down. The Lady Elks’ Defense has been sticking to Xenia’s Offense like glue. The Lady Elks have made mistakes. However, Xenia has not had much success with capitalizing off of Centerville’s mistakes. The only thing which has stopped Centerville (at various times) has been the Lady Elks themselves. The Lady Buccaneers sure cannot stop what the Elks are bringing. As far as “Speed” goes, Centerville has it. The Lady Elks are doing a great job of using it. At times, Centerville has been too fast for Xenia. The Lady Buccaneers were unable to keep up.

            At 7:11 of the 3rd Quarter, Xenia’s Breanna Burnette made a 2-Point Basket. Centerville’s Jasmine Broner soon picked up 2-Points. With 6:36 on the scoreboard, the Lady Buccaneers’ Cora Stevens nailed a 3-Point Basket. Twenty seconds later (6:16), Perry made a 2-Point Basket. After the Lady Elks go on to turn the ball over and get penalized for a Defensive Foul Violation, Welsh picks up 2-Points (5:08). At the 4:55 mark, Harrison hits a 3-Point Basket. From 4:20 to 3:01, each team commits 1-Turnover. Each team makes a 2-Point Basket. With 2:45 remaining in the 3rd Quarter, Brazile makes 2-Foul Shots. Stevens goes on to make 1-Foul Shot. Sandwiched in-between a series of Turnovers, Brazile makes 1-Foul Shot. CHS commits 1-Turnover. XHS commits 3-Turnovers. With 21.7 on the clock, Mattingly makes a 2-Point Basket. That would be the final points scored in the 3rd Quarter. At the end of the 3rd Quarter, CHS leads XHS 47-21. The Lady Elks are still in firm control of this game.

            From 7:48 to 6:16 of the 4th Quarter, Centerville committed 2-Turnovers. Xenia had 1-Turnover. At 7:30, the Lady Buccaneers’ Infiniti Carr made 1-Foul Shot. After CHS turned the ball over, the Lady Elks soon had the ball again. Brazile makes a 2-Point Basket (5:53). Each team proceeds to go on a 3-0 run. At the 4:11 mark, the Lady Elks stole the ball. Five seconds later (4:06), Lizzie Steiner makes a 2-Point Basket. During the play, she was fouled. After she successfully makes her lone Foul Shot, CHS takes a 30-Point Lead (55-25) over XHS. With 3:38 on the clock, the Lady Buccaneers turned the ball over. XHS soon found itself with the ball again. The possession ended when Carr makes a 2-Point Basket. From 3:05 to 2:35, four, consecutive Foul Shots were made. CHS’s Alexis Hutchison makes two of them. Stevens makes the remaining Foul Shots.

            After the Lady Buccaneers turned the ball over, the Lady Elks’ Alyssa Walker picked up 2-Points. Twenty seconds later (2:03), Burnette makes a 2-Point Basket. From 1:50 to 1:22, Centerville goes on a 5-0 run. Blythe Wesney nailed a 3-Point Basket. From 1:13 to 55.5 Seconds, Cora Stevens goes on a 5-0 run. At the 55.5 mark, she hit a 3-Point Basket. With 18.0 Seconds remaining in the game, the Lady Elks’ Defense picked up a Steal. No more points would be scored in the game. The Centerville High School (CHS) Elks would go on to win the game. In a dominating fashion, the Final Score was 64-36.

           

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