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2008 Girls Division II Championship - Round 1 - Game 2 - Girls BasketballRecap

 

Archbishop Alter High School

Mifflin High School

March 6th, 2008
3 p.m.

Value City Arena
Columbus, OH

 

45

31

 
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Archbishop Alter High School16814745
Mifflin High School10126331
 

  • Kettering Alter 45, Cols. Mifflin 31

    Posted by Associated Press on March 06, 2008 5:22 p.m.

    COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Courtney Chihil scored 18 points and Kettering Alter forced 26 turnovers in beating Columbus Mifflin 45-31 Thursday, earning a bit of payback for the last time the teams met in the Division II state semifinals.

    The seventh-ranked Knights (24-3) advance to Saturday's championship game to meet the team that lost in last year's final, Shaker Heights Hathaway Brown. The Blazers (22-4) moved on with a 68-58 overtime win over Lima Bath in the first semifinal.

    Alter won its 11th in a row with a tenacious pressure defense that caused the Punchers (20-5) problems all day.

    Chihil, a second-team Associated Press All-Ohioan, directed traffic and kept the Knights on track. She hit 7-of-10 shots from the field, including 2-of-3 3-pointers.

    Meghan Waterman chipped in with 11 points.

    Amber Arter was the leading scorer for unranked Mifflin, which had won its last 13 games, with eight points.

    The teams had met once before — the only other time either team had been in the state semifinals. The Punchers won that showdown, 58-50, before falling to Cleveland East Tech in the title game.

    Alter came out firing on all cylinders this time, forcing Mifflin to turn over the ball on its first four possessions while grabbing a 7-0 lead.

    But the Punchers' defense also started forcing mistakes. Down 16-10 after a quarter, they held the Knights scoreless in the first 4 1/2 minutes of the second quarter. They took their first lead at 22-21 on Johnson's baseline jumper late in the quarter before Ashley Christie hit three free throws in the waning seconds to help the Knights take a 24-22 lead into halftime.

    With the score tied at 26 and 6 1/2 minutes left in the third quarter, the Knights ran away with the game. They scored 12 of the next 14 points — many in transition after forcing another Puncher turnover — and the lead never dropped below double figures again.

    Chihil touched off the spurt with a 3-pointer and added two more layups. Nicole Christie also had a 3 and Mary Bruner added a basket.

    Chihil came in averaging just 12.8 points a game.

    Mifflin, coached by former Canton McKinley and Ohio State star Troy Taylor, never was able to find its rhythm. The Punchers shot just 33 percent from the field in the second half and at one point had turnovers on eight consecutive possessions in the third quarter.

    Copyright 2008 Associated Press. All rights reserved

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