The Herald, Sharon,
PA Published Friday, Feb. 28, 1997

WINTER SPORTS Girls basketball

OHIO DIVISION III GIRLS BASKETBALL
Warriors 60
Lakers 39

Brookfield shocks Py Valley

By Ed Farrel
Herald Sports Writer

ANDOVER _ In their midst of his club's opening-period spree, Brookfield High School girls' head basketball coach Tim Filipovich had to remind his excited ballclub, ``Hey, it's not over ... it's not over.''

From a coach's vantage point, perhaps not. But from previously undefeated Pymatuning Valley's perspective, trailing 17-5 after one quarter, it was the beginning of the end.

action shot
Brookfield's Nadine Bayus brings the ball up court against Pymatuning Valley. Bayus powered the Lady Wazrriors in the second half with some key long-range shooting. (David E. Dale/Herald)

Despite rallying from an 18-point first-half deficit, PV fell victim to the long-range marksmanship of Brookfield's Nadine Bayus, and the Lady Warriors coasted to a 60-39 triumph in Ohio's Division III district semifinals Thursday night at PV.

By virtue of the victory, Brookfield (16-7) will meet Trumbull Athletic Conference rival Champion (16-6) _ a 58-55 overtime winner over Middlefield-Cardinal in Thursday's nightcap _ 2 p.m. Saturday at PV for the district championship.

When Erica Pashley scored on a baseline drive with 51 seconds remaining in the third period, Pymatuning Valley surged to within 32-29, as close as it had come to Brookfield since the game's outset.

That's when Bayus singlehandedly took the game by the throat.

Held scoreless and 0-for-3 from the field to that point, Bayus connected on back-to-back 3-point field goals, the second of which with 1.9 seconds left in the quarter, providing breathing room for Brookfield at 38-29.

Then at the outset of the fourth frame Bayus bucketed another pair of top-of-the-key treys, extending the Lady Warriors' margin to 44-29. PV drew no closer.

``We have been a team all year and at different times, different players have stepped up,'' Filipovich related. ``And that's one thing when we talk about being a team: You never know if it's gonna be your night, so you gotta stay in the game mentally, no matter how you played the last possession.

``She did a great job and we did a good job getting it back to her when she hit a couple,'' Filipovich said of Bayus' 5-for-5 second-half shooting performance.

With Shanice Chambers, Emily Pasquerilla and Shelley Lucas tallying six, five and four points, respectively, and PV committing a handful of turnovers, Brookfield bolted to a seemingly comfortable 17-5 margin by the first frame's conclusion.

However the Lady Warriors committed seven second-stanza turnovers, and a 4-point, 4-rebound performance by PV's Renee Freeman enabled the Lakers to draw within 25-15 at intermission.

A pair of buckets by Jessica Burlingham and four and three points, respectively, from Roberta Janowski and Freeman enabled PV to outscore Brookfield 12-6 during the first 5:14 of the third quarter. When Pashley answered a Tiffany Kirila free throw with that baseline move, Brookfield's bulge dwindled to three.

But Py Valley had no answer for Bayus.

``I think PV is an excellent basketball team, and I think we're playing well,'' Filipovich assessed. ``Is it an upset? Well, when this season started, it was zero-and-zero. Nobody had any wins and losses. We were undefeated and they were undefeated, and that (60-39) is how it ended up being.

``I think part of (Brookfield's postseason success) is the schedule we play,'' Filipovich continued. ``I think we play a lot of good teams, and we don't always have the best record coming in here, but I think that's crucial, I think that's real crucial. Not to take anything away from the league (East Suburban Conference) they play in, but I think we play a lot of good teams, and out of our league we play Boardman, Austintown-Fitch and Canfield, so we play a good schedule.

``I am real happy with the way they're playing,'' Filipovich said of his club. ``As long as we continue to play team defense and team offense, we can be in any game and have a chance to win.''


Notes: Brookfield connected on 23 of 49 (46.9 percent) floor shots and 9 of 11 (81.8) free throws, compared with respective totals of 15 for 39 (38.5) and 8 for 14 (57.1) for PV. ... the Lady Warriors outrebounded Py Valley (21-1), 29-25, despite Freeman's game-high 10 caroms. ... PV was guilty of 20 turnovers, Brookfield 16.

Ohio Division III
District semifinals
BROOKFIELD _ Reiser 1-2-2-4; Lucas 5-2-2-13; Kirila 0-1-2-1; Summerville 0-0-0-0; Keso 0-2-2-2; Bayus 5-0-0-14; Pasquerilla 3-0-0-6; Chambers 9-0-1-18; Obermiyer 0-2-2-2; Fonagy 0-0-0-0; Shoup 0-0-0-0; Vendemia 0-0-0-0. 3-pt. goals: Bayus 4, Lucas 1.
Totals: 23-9-11-60.

PYMATUNING VALLEY _
Jenkins 2-2-4-6; Janowski 2-2-2-7; Pashley 1-2-2-4; Casciola 1-0-0-2; Freeman 3-1-4-7; Bentley 1-0-0-2; Burlingame 5-1-2-11. 3-pt. goals: Janowski 1.
Totals: 15-8-14-39.
BROOKFIELD.......17  25  38  60
PY. VALLEY....... 5  15  29  39

Back to TOP // Herald Sports // Herald Home page

Internet service in Mercer County, only $20.95 a month!

Updated Feb. 28, 1997
Questions/comments: herald@pgh.net
For info about advertising on our site or Web-page creation: advertising@sharon-herald.com
Copyright ©1997 The Sharon Herald Co. All rights reserved.
Reproduction or retransmission in any form is prohibited without our permission.