WINDHAM, OH- Marty Hill Court was the scene of the Division IV / Region 13 Sectional semi-final matchup between the 23rd seeded Newton Falls Tigers and 12th seed host Windham Bombers. The Tigers were looking to carry the momentum of a two game winning streak into the tournament while the Bombers were trying to regroup from a three game losing streak.
It was a sluggish low scoring start for both teams that stayed scoreless midway through the first quarter before Tigers senior guard Danielle Drake hit a three for the first bucket of the game. Soon after sophomore forward Madison Davis would hit a three of her own with 2:25 to play in the quarter to give Newton Falls a 6-0 lead. Windham would finally get on the board on a Briah Daniel score with 1:03 to play. The Tigers led 6-4 after one.
The Bombers would take their first lead of the game just over a minute into the second quarter after a Mariah Woods free throw and a Lorena De Oliveria score inside putting them up 7-6. The Tigers would come back with six straight points on a three ball by Kennedy Howard and an and-one conversion by Morgan Kendall giving them a 12-7 lead. Daniel would get a bucket for Windham before the half making it a 12-9 Tiger lead at the break.
Windham came out of the half with more aggression on offense. After a split of free throws for the Tigers, The Bombers rolled off six straight points including four from Daniel to take a 15-13 lead. Newton Falls answered right back with back-to-back three balls from Drake to re-take a 19-15 lead. De Oliveria would close out the third quarter with four straight points to tie it up at 19 heading to the win or go home fourth quarter.
Newton Falls opened the final quarter on a 6-1 run taking a 25-20 lead with just over three minutes to play. A De Oliveria score inside and a pair of Briah Daniel free throws cut it to a one point game at 25-24 with just over two minutes to play. Unfortunately for Windham that would be their final points of the game. Newton Falls finished off the game at the free throw line going 5/6 to take home the 30-24 Sectional semi-final win.
It was a rough go of it for the Bombers who had several careless turnovers and shot under 20% from the field for the game.
Danielle Davis led the way for the Tigers with 10 points and 3 three balls.
Briah Daniel and Lorena De Oliveria both scored 10 points in the loss with De Oliveria chipping in with 10 rebounds.
Newton Falls will travel to 13 seed Easton Canton to take on the Hornets in the Sectional Final on Saturday at 1:00 PM.
Unofficial stats:
Newton Falls:
Danielle Drake: 10 pts
Madison Davis: 5 pts
Chloe Butler: 4 pts, 5 reb
Windham:
Briah Daniel: 10 pts, 5 reb
Lorena De Oliveria: 10 pts, 10 reb
Mariah Woods: 4 pts, 6 reb
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