SHELBY — Don’t call this Crestview girls’ basketball team a Cinderella story. In that fantasy tale, the heroine was given all her dreams come true.
These Cougars earned every thing they received, including a ticket to the Division III district semifinals on Thursday night.
No, those dream didn’t continue, with Crestview (17-8) dropping a 61-42 decision to Margaretta (20-4), the district’s top seed.
But that defeat didn’t put a dent on a remarkable season — and the careers of six Crestview seniors (Anna Stimpert, Reagan Emmons, Jacqueline Baith, Kiah Ison, Reegan Givens and Kennedy Hickey).
“We have six seniors and I think three of them have played all four years,” Crestview coach Aaron Goon said. “And these seniors have been a part of at least 73 wins.
“Our girls did a lot of good things this season. I think they kind of exceeded a lot of people’s expectations. A lot of people were picking us for 10 or 11 wins. We actually thought we could get to 20. These girls really came around,” Goon said.
BAD THIRD: At halftime, it looked like the sixth-seeded Cougars were poised to perhaps stage another upset. The scored was tied at 12 after one quarter and Crestview trailed just 29-24 at the intermission.
That’s when disaster struck.
Margaretta canned its next six shots, including four triples, in the first 2:40 of the third period to break the game open and take a 45-27 lead. There was still some 17 minutes of basketball to play, but the game was out of hand.
It was not an unusual effort for a Margaretta team that outscored its opposition 65-39 on average this season.
“Our girls played hard, made a few mistakes and (Margaretta) capitalized on them,” Goon said. “Against a good team, it’s hard to come back once it starts rolling downhill like that.
“I told the girls I was proud of them; we just came up a little short tonight. I would like to go back and start that second half again, but it doesn’t guarantee that the outcome would be any different. Margaretta is a pretty good team.”
STATISTICALLY SPEAKING: Sophomore Kathleen Leeper led Crestview with 11 points while 6-foot-2 freshman center Kenedi Coon added 10. Ison had seven while Stimpert and Baith had five each.
Sophomore Taylor Maison led Margaretta with 16 points. Junior Kennedi Hilton and sophomore Jayden Moore each had 14.
Margaretta shot 38 percent from the field (23-60), compared to 37 percent for Crestview (17-46). The Polar Bears had a 32-25 rebounding edge while the Margaretta pressure forced Crestview into 16 turnovers.
UP NEXT: Margaretta advances to the district title game at Shelby on Saturday at 1 p.m. against No. 2-seed Western Reserve, which knocked off Seneca East, 44-43, in the first game on Thursday night.
