Published Thursday, March 6, 1997
HIGH SCHOOL GIRLS STATE BASKETBALL PLAYOFFS
Rams 53
Warriors 35
Brookfield ousted
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FINE SEASON ENDS IN OHIO `SWEET 16'
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Mineral Ridge advances to the Region 9 finals
By Brad Isles
Herald Sports Writer
ALLIANCE, Ohio _ ``Unfinished business'' has been the rallying cry for the Mineral Ridge girls basketball team the entire season, and the Lady Rams seem intent on doing what they couldn't do last year _ finishing it off by making it to Columbus.
Mineral Ridge took one more step towards that goal with a decisive 53-35 victory over a streaking Broofield team in the Division III Region 9 semifinals Wednesday night.
Brookfield's Shelley Lucas (14) lifts a jumpshot over the arms of Mineral Ridge's Amy Bundy. (David E. Dale/Herald)
And it was a big step. One year ago, in the Division IV regional semis, 10th-ranked and 21-2 Mineral Ridge lost to the Zanesville Rosecrans Bishops, 73-53. That loss created the motto of ``unfinished business'' or UFB as it's printed on the back of the Lady Rams' warm-up shirts.
The Lady Rams (20-4) will now play Chagrin Falls, 55-48 victors over Chippewa Wednesday, in the Region 9 finals Saturday afternoon at 1:30 at Mount Union.
According to Brookfield (17-8) coach Tim Filipovich, it all came down to experience. Even though Mineral Ridge lost last year, the experience the team garnered from that setback was invaluable.
Mineral Ridge starts four seniors, all of whom played in last year's regional semifinal. Brookfield has just three seniors on the entire team, and only one who starts.
``We just really didn't execute,'' Filipovich said. ``When you get to this point, anybody can leave here. You can get out of here and get down to states, if you can handle your nerves. I don't know if we did that as well as we should have.''
The Lady Warriors' nerves showed early, as they had a difficult time breaking a full-court, trapping press laid on by Mineral Ridge. It forced Brookfield into 15 first-half turnovers and 31 for the game.
Perhaps more telling of Brookfield's demise was its perimeter shooting. If the Lady Warriors did break the press and get into their half-court offense, it proved inept against Mineral Ridge's strong zone defense.
Not wanting to get the ball inside around the Lady Rams' towering frontcourt of 5-10 Rebecca Sylak, 5-10 Amy Bundy and 5-9 Lauren Hamilton, Brookfield was forced to the outside.
The past few games, Brookfield hasn't had a problem from the perimeter, connecting on more than five 3-pointers per game in the playoffs. But the Lady Warriors were just 3-for-15 Wednesday behind the arc. For the game, they shot 29 percent (13-for-35) from the field.
``I thought we did a great job of taking it away,'' Mineral Ridge coach Jerry Postlethwait said of Brookfield's perimeter game. ``We did a good job of defending the skip pass.''
One trey, however, did keep the Lady Warriors in the game in the third quarter. Emily Pasquerilla hit from the left wing at the 3:45 mark to cut the Lady Rams' lead to 35-25.
But a foul shot by Sylak and hoops by Bundy and Katie Powell quickly pushed Mineral Ridge's lead back to 15 and the Lady Rams went on to lead 40-27 heading into the fourth.
Brookfield's Tiffany Kirila passes over Mineral Ridge defender Amy Bundy as Lady Warriors' Nadine Bayus trails the play. Brookfield's season came to an end in Ohio's ``Sweet 16'' following a loss to the Lady Rams. (David E. Dale/Herald)
``They matched up with our shooters,'' Filipovich said. ``We didn't move the ball very well (against the zone). We were just a half-step behind them the whole game.''
Guard Christy Reiser led Brookfield with nine points, but was 3-for-10 from the field. Forward Nadine Bayus chipped in eight points on 2-for-9 shooting.
Defensively, the Lady Warriors couldn't match up with Bundy. She had a huge first half, helping Mineral Ridge to a 29-16 halftime edge, with 11 points and 12 rebounds.
She hit inside at the 3:34 mark of the second quarter to give the Lady Rams a 23-12 lead. After consecutive hoops by Erin Hladiuk, Bundy closed out the first-half scoring with another layup.
Bundy finished the game with 15 points and 18 boards to go along with three assists and two steals.
Sylak chipped in 12 points and six rebounds for the Lady Rams, and helped pad their lead in the fourth quarter. Her foul shots with seven minutes remaining pushed Mineral Ridge to a 44-29 lead.
Bayus countered for the Lady Warriors with a 3-pointer to cut the Lady Rams' lead to 12, but that would be the closest Brookfield got the rest of the way.
``We just didn't have it tonight,'' Filipovich said. ``That's part of the pressure of being here.
``But my kids deserve a lot of credit. If winning districts was an easy thing, everybody would be doing it.''
Ohio Div.III Region 9 Semifinals
BROOKFIELD _
Lucas 2-0-0-4; Bayus 2-2-4-8; Chambers 2-0-0-4; Pasquerilla 2-0-0-4; Reiser 3-3-5-9; Mohney 1-1-2-3; Mag. Mortimer 0-0-0-0; Kirila 1-0-1-2; Man. Mortimer 0-0-0-0. 3-pt. goals: Bayus 2, Pasquerilla 1.
Totals: 13-6-12-35.
MINERAL RIDGE _ L. Hamilton 4-1-3-9; Bundy 7-1-3-15; Sylak 4-4-7-12; C. Hamilton 1-2-3-4; Hladiuk 3-0-1-6; Postlethwait 0-0-0-0; Mauer 0-0-0-0; Powell 2-2-3-7. 3-pt. goal:
Powell 1.
Totals: 21-10-21-53.
BROOKFIELD....... 8 16 27 35
MINERAL RIDGE....14 29 40 53
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Updated March 7, 1997
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