SOUTH WEBSTER — Playing in tournament-type atmospheres in what is just the 13th varsity contest of the high school career for many of the players in one’s main rotation can be difficult.
However, that experience can prove beneficial for many of the players involved down the road if handled correctly.
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In a potential preview of what could be a OHSAA Division VI postseason affair down the line, the South Webster Jeeps’ girls basketball program rallied from a 47-38 deficit with a spirited 10-0 run to take a 48-47 advantage with 55 seconds remaining in its contest against the Coal Grove Hornets’ girls basketball program.
However, Coal Grove (10-3) was able to go 6-of-8 from the free throw line in the fourth quarter and hit four free throws inside the contest’s final 45 seconds to obtain a 51-49 win over South Webster (6-7) in a nonconference matchup that was held at South Webster High School.
Despite the setback, the Lady Jeeps continued to show progress, overcoming a 16-5 second quarter spurt by Coal Grove by outscoring the Lady Hornets 44-35 in the first, third and fourth quarters combined.
Their effort in moving past the setbacks in the second frame had head coach Ryan Dutiel raving about his main rotation of players, which includes four freshmen starters in Emma Campbell, Ava Claxon, Violet Edwards and Natalee Eskridge.
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“Even with having four games this week, we played very hard and the effort was there,” Dutiel said. “In the second quarter, we went through a stretch where we missed a lot of shots we should’ve hit, but overall, the defensive effort, minus a couple of possessions, was right where it should be. Those freshmen are growing up right in front of us. They don’t play like freshmen anymore.”
In the opening quarter, however, it was a senior who stepped up to the plate to lead the charge early on.
Playing with the passion that has made her such a critical component to any South Webster team that she’s been on, Lady Jeep senior Addi Claxon ripped the cords to begin the game by making each of her first three attempts from long distance to ignite an early spark, giving South Webster a 15-10 lead in the early going with her nine points in the opening quarter of play.
South Webster freshmen Violet Edwards, who used her straight-line speed to wreak havoc early on, and Ava Claxon combined for seven points themselves with Claxon banking in a three-pointer to beat the first-quarter horn as the Lady Jeeps took an 18-14 lead after the opening frame.
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“Addi’s a really good shooter,” Dutiel said. “When she squares up, she can be lethal. She’s our leader and she set the tone right away with what we were going to do, and her teammates just jumped on board and ran with it.”
Foul trouble and an off quarter from a shooting standpoint proved to be bugaboos for South Webster in the second quarter as Coal Grove led at the break, 30-23, but the Lady Jeeps adjusted at the break and changed up its defensive looks, holding the Lady Hornets to three field goal conversions in the third quarter and outscoring Coal Grove 5-1 to end the third with Campbell’s runner on the right block dropping to pull South Webster within four, 38-34, after the first 24 minutes of action.
“That was something that we talked about,” Dutiel said. “We switched up our defenses, and that helped a lot. We figured out that pressing them wasn’t in our best interest, so that kept us from putting ourselves in situations where we were going to really be in further trouble with where we were at there, and we talked about walling up on people and bring help-side defense when necessary. We talked about that in the locker room and we emphasized that every time we got a chance.”
Despite entering the fourth quarter with four players having three fouls in Campbell, Edwards, Eskridge and Ava Claxon — and Eskridge receiving her fourth foul midway through the fourth quarter — South Webster’s heady play defensively kept the Lady Jeeps around.
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Then, down by a 47-38 tally with just 2:40 remaining, Ava Claxon kicked things into high gear.
In a span of 40 seconds, Claxon knocked down a jumper from just inside the three-point line on the right wing, then got out in transition following a missed shot attempt by Coal Grove and brilliantly knifed her way through the teeth of the Lady Hornets’ defense for as fluid of an and-one finish as one could hope to find, cutting the 47-38 margin down to a 47-43 count.
This was a spark to what was a furious rally.
Older sister Addi then received a pass from Campbell in the right corner and knocked down her fourth three-pointer of the contest, bringing South Webster to with one, 47-46, with 1:10.
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The run then reached its climax right at the one minute mark, when Ava Claxon, following a pair of South Webster fouls by Addi Claxon to force Coal Grove into pressure situations on inbound passes, picked off an errant Lady Hornet pass by using her long stride to knock the attempt toward South Webster’s goal, and come up with the ball en route to a free run at the rim, converting a layup to turn the nine-point deficit into a one-point South Webster lead.
The freshman talent finished with a game-high 23 points, scoring 17 of those tallies in the second half to will South Webster down the stretch offensively.
“Ava is a special player,” Dutiel said. “She’s really good. She’s going to naturally go through the learning curve of playing varsity basketball against a well-coached, quality team like Coal Grove. Nick (Miller) does a great job. Ava, there at the end, wanted the ball. That’s the first time that she’s brought that up, and that shows a lot of growth and confidence in that she believes that she can get the job done. Her teammates are totally on board with it, and they all play together. I couldn’t ask for more out of them.”
Coal Grove, however, did its job down the stretch on the opposite end of the floor. After getting free on the ensuing possession, a foul led to two converted Lady Hornet free throws that gave Coal Grove the lead with under 45 seconds to play. Nick Miller’s group’s 75 percent conversion rate at the charity stripe in the fourth quarter proved to be just enough to hold off South Webster’s scrappy comeback effort.
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Despite the loss, the game continues to show the progression of the Lady Jeeps’ squad. Six of South Webster’s seven losses have come by 11 points or less, with each of its last four losses by just single-digits. Another battle against a highly-competitive Minford squad awaits Monday at Minford High School.
“Every game in our league, right now, is just a battle,” Dutiel said. “There’s a lot of parody. I’m not saying that everybody’s equal, but at any given night, if somebody isn’t on their ‘A’ game, they can get knocked off. We’ve got a lot of talent in the SOC III, and a lot of very skilled and excellent coaching, too. We’ll be ready. We’re going to take Sunday off and let those legs rest, and then come in Monday and be ready to go. I’ll look at the film and see what things we can do with our matchup on Monday.”
