Saturday, February 26, 2000
Cincinnati girls basketball roundup
Hicks' 41 not enough in loss to St. Ursula
BY CAREY HOFFMAN
Enquirer contributor
St. Ursula coach Tim Ballinger was barely kidding when he said he could have sent Michael Jordan out to guard Lebanon's Lindsey Hicks on Friday and come away unsuccessful. The nice thing for him was he could smile when he said it.
Ballinger and everyone else in attendance saw Hicks set a gym record for boys and girls with 41 points, but St. Ursula came away with a 77-60 victory in the Division I lower bracket sectional championship game at Milford.
St. Ursula (17-5) got a huge effort from senior center Gretchen Menke, who scored a career-high 33 points by running the floor and employing a wide variety of moves around the basket.
And where Lebanon had trouble generating offense outside of Hicks, Menke was backed up by sharpshooting guards Carmen Hogel and Kristen Mahon, who combined for 36 points of their own.
“Our guards were the difference,” Ballinger said. “They handled the ball so well and Hogel hit big buckets, plus (Christina) Fischer kept us so well in control.”
Fischer, St. Ursula's point guard, scored only three points, but had 11 assists. She also keyed St. Ursula's strategy to try to run the floor for easy baskets, which didn't work early. But it hurt Lebanon from the second quarter on.
Lebanon looked on its game when Hicks knocked in a deep 3-pointer to give the Warriors a 22-12 lead 6:17 before halftime. But St. Ursula found turned the momentum.
Hogel hit a 3-pointer, then Menke began to assert herself in running the floor, scoring three transition baskets. With 39.8 seconds left in the half, Menke scored on a conventional three-point play to tie the game at 30-30. She added another fastbreak layup 15 seconds be fore halftime to give St. Ursula a 32-30 lead at the break.
“We knew they were back on their heels by halftime,” Ballinger said. “Even our girls were talking, saying they had that look on their faces like they had a problem when they were leaving the floor.”
Lebanon (21-2) was never able to mount a serious run at St. Ursula's second-half lead.
As for Hicks, Lebanon coach Tom Hoverman said, “She can be a dominant player. We just felt Lindsey was our go-to person and we had to get her the ball.”
St. Ursula, in its first year in Division I after being bumped up from Division II, is headed to a district championship game matchup with unbeaten Mason, the state's top-ranked team, at noon on March 4.
LEBANON (60) — Prosperi 5 0 10, Siehl 1 1 3, Gregory 1 0 2, Gray 0 1 1, Pritchard 1 1 3, Hicks 14 10 41. Totals: 22 13 60.
ST. URSULA (77) — Fischer 0 3 3, Grogan 2 1 5, Hogel 5 5 20, Mahon 4 7 16, Menke 15 3 33. Totals: 26 19 77.
Lebanon ....... 13 17 14 16—60
St. Ursula ....... 9 23 23 22—77
3-pointers: L - Hicks 3; St. U - Hogel 5, Mahon. Records: L 21- 2, St. U 17-5.
Division III
• Wyoming 65, Fenwick 27, at Division III sectional at Mason — Wyoming went on a 21-0 run after the score was tied 6-6 early in the first quarter behind Maria McCarthy, who scored 10 of her 31 points in the first quarter. Jenny McGee added 14 points for Wyoming.
WYOMING (65) — Anderson 1 0 3, Hoyles 2 0 4, Fulton 2 1 5, Vehaeghe 2 0 4, McCarthy 13 5 31, Berkemeyer 1 0 2, McGee 5 1 14, Becker 1 0 2. Totals: 21 7 65.
FENWICK (27) — Dineen 2 0 4, Krebs 0 2 2, Bruggeman 1 1 3, Smith 1 0 2, Ionna 2 0 4, Brown 1 2 4, Becker 4 0 8. Totals: 11 5 27.
Wyoming ....... 14 15 22 14—65
Fenwick ....... 6 6 9 6—27
3-pointers: W—Anderson, McGee 3. Records: W 19-3, F 9-14.
• Madeira 62, CHCA 46 at Division III sectional at Mason — The Amazons had a 10-0 run at the start of the second quarter behind four points each from Amy Mackris, Lindsey Barnhardt, and Ann Staubach to upset No.3 seeded CHCA.
Bess Krietemeyer scored a game-high 23 points for Madeira while Karen Hewitt paced CHCA with 16 points.
CHCA (46) — Gentry 2 2 7, N. Bowden 0 3 3, Hewitt 5 4 16, Snyder 5 1 11, Holman 1 5 7, Stoops 0 2 2. Totals: 13 17 46.
MADEIRA (62) — Mackris 2 4 8, Staubach 4 4 12, Shaw 1 1 3, Krietemeyer 8 7 23, Davis 1 0 2, Barnhardt 6 2 14. Totals: 22 18 62.
CHCA ....... 9 5 9 23—46
Madeira ....... 11 14 15 22—62
3-pointers: C—Gentry, Hewitt 2. Records: M 16-6, C 18-3.
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