SIDNEY — Mechanicsburg opened up a quick lead and buried Jackson Center, 50-18, in the Division IV girls basketball sectional on Tuesday.
The Indians jumped out to a 16-0 lead and the margin only got wider from there.
Pressure defense kept the Tigers off the scoreboard and the Indians bullied the ball inside offensively.
In all, Jackson Center turned the ball over 27 times.
“That was the key to the game, I think. I was really proud of the girls. They came right out after it and were hungry for the win,” MHS Coach Christie Dodane said. “I was so excited over on the sideline I could hardly contain myself because I was so proud of the way they started. I think it really set the tone.”
At the half, Mechanicsburg led, 29-5.
While the Tigers showed a bit more spark in the second half, things didn’t exactly get better, with Mechanicsburg pushing the lead out to as many as 33 points a couple of times. While a 35-point lead and a running clock looked inevitable, it never quite happened for the Indians.
“I did feel like in the second quarter we let down a little bit. That hype at the beginning and we dominated and then I felt like we backed off,” Dodane said. “And in the second half, yeah. We kinda let down a little bit and the steam was let out a little bit. But everybody got to play, and that’s a positive.”
Grace Forrest led the Indians with 15 points, Morgan Hamby had 10 and Emma Violet scored 8. Kasey Schipfer, seeing her first significant action of the season, had 7 points and 9 rebounds and sister Elly Schipfer had 6 points and 8 rebounds.
“It was all of them. Violet came out attacking and hit a couple of key shots. Schipfer did a nice job rebounding. Hamby did a nice job inside and Grace, of course, did a nice job taking care of it for us and pushing them,” Dodane said.
Mechanicsburg (15-8) advances to play Ansonia here on Saturday at 11 a.m.
