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MEDINA, OH- Tuesday night’s Regional Semi-Final was all Solon. The Lady Comets walked into Medina and put their foot on the gas against the Canton McKinley Lady Pups in a 61-40 win.
Solon came out the gates with extremely tenacious defense. The Comets did not allow a field goal until the 2:55 mark of the first quarter, when Ariahna Snell broke the Lady Pups scoring drought. The moral of the story did not change though, as it stood to be McKinley’s only field goal in the quarter.
The second quarter was all Lady Comets. The dynamic duo of Mackenzie (Junior) and Morgan (Senior) Blackford exploded in the quarter to give Solon a twenty-point lead at half. The two were finding ways to score inside and outside of the three-point line, as their teammates were doing a great way to force turnovers and get them the ball.
After the break, the second half started with a bang.
Mackenzie Blackford’s putback layup put her in the 1,000 point club and set the tone for the half. The game came to a brief stop to recognize the accomplishment, as the packed crowd gave the Junior guard a standing ovation.
Blackford becomes the third active player on the team with 1,000 points scored, the first time in the state of Ohio in the past 44 years.
After the game, Head Coach Trish Kruse said that Blackford was, “Extremely hungry. She wants it and is willing to do whatever it takes.”
The Lady Pups were able to chip away at the lead behind the scoring of Freshman Mya Taylor.
Taylor had 15 points in the leading effort for the Lady Pups, but it just wasn’t enough. Senior Forward Sydnee Bowden also provided solid defense and rebounding, contributing 6 points in the contest as well.
All in all, it was too little too late for McKinley. The added efforts from Chyanne Hatcher (14 points) and the defense of Kaylee Levebhagen propelled the Comets into the final.
The player of the game goes to Mackenzie Blackford, as she finished the night with 23 points on top of eclipsing 1,000 career points with the Lady Comets.
The Comets move on to Saturday’s Final and await the winner of Hoban and Midview.
