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Frontier girls advance in sectional play

Frontier’s Lexi Brookover holds the ball during a sectional girls basketball game against Shenandoah Thursday night in New Matamoras. RON JOHNSTON The Marietta Times

NEW MATAMORAS — Good things usually happened when Kylie Daugherty attacked the basket.

The 5-foot-10 junior scored a game-high 20 points to help Frontier High defeat visiting Shenandoah High, 48-36, in an Ohio Division IV girls’ basketball sectional opener Thursday night.

“We pushed ourselves,” said Daugherty, who was eight of 11 from the foul line.

“We wanted to get over that sectional hump. We haven’t been able to get past it the last two years. It’s been rough.”

Frontier (17-6 overall) — which beat Shenandoah twice during regular season play — is now scheduled to host Bishop Rosecrans in a second round sectional game Saturday at 7 p.m.

“It’s a good feeling,” said FHS head coach Scott Murphy.

“You know, sectional games are never easy in our division and where we have to go play. Anytime that you can get a win and move to the next one, it’s just a great feeling. It’s good for these seniors and our whole team.”

Frontier junior Tiffany Graham and senior Nikki Haught added 11 and 10 points, respectively. Lexi Brookover grabbed six rebounds while Sammi Morris had five. Morris also had five assists and Graham three steals.

“That’s the things about it, a lot of times, it’s somebody different,” said Murphy of the scoring balance. “Daugherty and Lexi are our main scorers, but on any given night, we’ll have another girl step up. They’re so unselfish, and sometimes maybe a little to with the extra passes. But that’s what it takes for us to win.”

Shenandoah (14-10) was paced by junior Taylor Franklin, who tallied 17 points. Jacie Clifton chipped in with 12.

“She was the main person we had to guard,” said Haught of Franklin. “She’s a heckuva player, but we just had to stop her.”

Haught got into foul trouble with four trying to guard Franklin. But the Zeps’ leading scorer struggled at the foul line, making just five of 14. As a team, SHS converted just six of 18.

“Some games, we shoot really good at the free-throw line,” said Shenandoah boss Sean Beskid. “And sometimes we shoot really bad. Tonight was one of those bad nights.

“The girls played hard, though, but we just made too many mistakes and didn’t play good enough to win. A couple of times, we didn’t match up and they got layups.And then we had turnovers at critical times.”

Haught had Frontier’s only field goal plus a pair of freebies in the first quarter. But Daugherty was able to get to the foul line and make four of six to give the home team an 8-7 advantage. Keeping the Zeps close, Clifton scored two baskets and Franklin had one and a free-throw.

In the second quarter, Daugherty continued to penetrate the lane and scored seven points to help the Cougars take a 19-17 halftime led.

“At halftime, we just wanted to make sure we rebounded better in the second half,” Daugherty said. “We didn’t rebound that good in the first half.”

Added Murphy, “We had some lapse on rebounds at times.”

About midway through the third quarter, Shenandoah took its first lead of the contest, 26-25, on Clifton’s triple. At the 2:44 mark, Graham got it back for FHS when she converted two freebies. But then Franklin’s putback put the Zeps ahead, 28-27.

After the Cougars closed out the third with a 5-0 run on Haught’s deuce and Brookover’s three, they never looked back.

Sparked by Daugherty, Graham, and Haught in the fourth quarter, Frontier slowly but surely stretched its lead into double digits in the final seconds.

“I think defensively we stepped up when we had to,” Murphy said. “We made the plays.

“We finished pretty well offensively which we haven’t done as well in the past. It was good to see that this time of the year.”

Concluded Beskid, “Last year, we only won four ballgames, and this year we won 14. That’s a big improvement. I told the girls to keep their heads up.

“We only lose one senior (Allison Dixon). So, the future is bright.”

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