After finishing perfect at 13-0 in Southern Hills Athletic Conference play during the regular season to claim a league title and moving on to capture a Southeast District Division III Sectional title with a 68-40 win over South Webster at Valley High School on Feb. 16, the No. 1 seed Eastern Lady Warriors are now headed to the district finals at Waverly where they will face No. 3 seed Wheelersburg for a district crown on March 2.

The Lady Warriors earned a berth in the SE District Division III championship game at Waverly by edging out No. 5 seed South Point 51-47 in the Feb. 23 district semifinals.

The Lady Warriors got off to an 18-8 lead in the first quarter but it was South Point heating up in the next frame, rallying to narrow the margin to 18-15 before reaching the midway point of the second period.

South Point’s Emilee Carey then buried a shot from just inside the three-point line to trim the Eastern lead to 18-17.

It was Eastern senior Morgan Reynolds dishing out a pass to senior teammate Andrea Edmisten for an easy bucket to expand the Lady Warrior lead to 20-17.

South Point once again cut the Eastern lead to just one as Emilee Whitt was fouled on a shot and ventured to the charity stripe to sink both attempts.

The Lady Warriors executed well against South Point’s full-court defensive pressure in the second period, and it was Reynolds dribbling down the middle of the court and dishing out an assist to freshman teammate MacKenzie Gloff to restore a three-point Eastern lead.

At halftime, it was Eastern leading 22-19.

The Lady Warriors upped their lead to 24-19 as senior forward Allison Malott took an in-bounds pass up for a field goal, but the Eastern lead was quickly sliced to just two as Whitt drained her second three-pointer of the day early in the third quarter.

It was another assist by Reynolds for a bucket by Gloff that upped the Eastern lead to 26-22.

Following a three-pointer by South Point’s Diamond Crawley and another bucket by Gloff, the Lady Warriors were clinging tight to a 28-25 advantage.

With the clock nearing the midway point in the second quarter, it was Whitt draining her third three-pointer of the day to tie the game at 28.

The Lady Warriors found themselves trailing by one after Whitt was fouled on a shot attempt and went to the foul line to sink one-of-two shots with just under four minutes to go in the third period.

The South Point lead was short-lived, as Eastern senior Alexa Pennington buried a three-pointer to put the Lady Warriors on top 31-29 with 3:31 to go in the third period.

With the pressure on in the second half, it was Eastern’s junior guard Camryn Pickerill dishing out an assist to Pennington for a score to put the Lady Warriors up by four.

On the other end of the court, the three-point shower continued as Carey buried her second three of the game to slice the Eastern lead to just one, 33-32.

The final field goal of the third quarter came with 18 seconds left on the clock, as Malott scored off an assist by Reynolds to expand the Lady Warriors’ lead to 35-32.

The Lady Warriors took advantage of some fast-break opportunities late in the second half. It was Gloff pulling down a defensive rebound off a missed three-pointer by Whitt, then giving it to Reynolds who raced down the court and dished it off to Malott for a bucket on transition. But the determined South Point squad answered with a three-pointer, and it was Eastern holding a 37-35 advantage early in the fourth frame.

In need of a big bucket, it was junior guard Juanita Frost coming off the Eastern bench to sink a three-pointer, and with 6:39 to go in the fourth quarter it was the Lady Warriors leading 40-35.

The Lady Warriors upped their lead to five (42-37) as Gloff passed off to Malott, who knocked down the bucket from close range.

Some teams live and die by the three-point line, and that was the case with South Point in the Feb. 23 district semifinal battle. A three-pointer by Crawley kept South Point’s hopes alive, trimming the Eastern lead to 42-40.

Pennington buried a turn-around in the paint to put the Lady Warriors up 44-40, but the Eastern lead was once again cut to two points as Carey came through with a two-point field goal.

Pennington was fouled in the single bonus with 2:55 to go in the fourth quarter, sinking two free throws to restore a four-point Lady Warrior lead.

Camryn Pickerill grabbed a steal with just under two-and-a-half minutes remaining, and the Lady Warriors took the opportunity to run a little time off the clock while holding a narrow 46-42 advantage.

It was Malott coming through with a bucket from close range to expand the Eastern lead to 48-42.

After holding South Point scoreless in the next trip down the court, Reynolds was fouled in the single bonus and was able to bury her first of two free throw attempts to lift the Lady Warriors to a 49-42 lead.

South Point’s Ashley Perkey put up a quick score to slice the Eastern lead to five.

Reynolds found herself at the charity stripe to shoot in the single bonus once against late in the fourth quarter, this time missing her first attempt. In need of a quick bucket, it was Whitt rifling in a three-pointer to downsize the Eastern lead to 49-47 with 59.6 seconds to go.

Reynolds was then fouled to stop the clock, this time sinking both free throw attempts in the double bonus to put the Lady Warriors up 51-47.

The Eastern defense held sturdy in the final seconds to seal the four-point victory.

“I thought our girls handled the late-game pressure well,” said Eastern head coach Kevin Pickerill. “Our most experienced players have been in these situations before, and they were able to make big free throws; and then you get Andrea Edmisten, Morgan Reynolds, and Allison Malott stepping up big defensively.”

“I thought we made some good adjustments when Alexa (Pennington) went down with an eye injury, and we eventually got Morgan (Reynolds) into the middle of that press break and made some good decisions on the back end of that press,” Kevin Pickerill added.

Pennington led the way for the Lady Warriors in scoring with 16 points, while Malott also reached double figures in scoring with 14 points.

Gloff contributed in scoring with eight points.

Reynolds finished with five points to go along with several assists.

Pickerill and Frost each finished with three points, and rounding out Eastern’s scoring in the district semifinal win was Edmisten with two points.

Wheelersburg upset No. 2 seed Proctorville Fairland 55-45 to earn a berth in the district finals.

The Lady Warriors upped their overall record to 22-2 with their win over South Point.

EHS 18 4 13 16 – 51

SPHS 8 11 13 15 – 47

Eastern (51): Pennington 6 2-2 16, Malott 6 2-3 14, Gloff 4 0-0 8, Reynolds 1 3-5 5, Frost 1 0-0 3, Pickerill 1 0-0 3, Edmisten 1 0-0 2. Three-pointers: Pennington 2, Frost 1, Pickerill 1. Team: 20 7-10 51.

South Point (47): Whitt 5 3-4 17, Carey 4 0-0 10, Khounlavong 1 0-0 2, Crawley 2 1-2 7, Mundy 4 0-0 9, Perkey 1 0-0 2. Three-pointers: Whitt 4, Carey 2, Crawley 2, Mundy 1. Team: 17 4-6 47.

Eastern’s Alexa Pennington buries a shot in the Lady Warriors’ SE District Division III Semifinal win over South Point on Feb. 23 at Waverly.
https://www.newsdemocrat.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/web1_pennington-1.jpgEastern’s Alexa Pennington buries a shot in the Lady Warriors’ SE District Division III Semifinal win over South Point on Feb. 23 at Waverly.

Eastern’s Morgan Reynolds goes up for a shot on transition during the Lady Warriors’ Feb. 23 win over South Point in the SE District Division III Semifinals at Waverly.
https://www.newsdemocrat.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/web1_morgan-reynolds.jpgEastern’s Morgan Reynolds goes up for a shot on transition during the Lady Warriors’ Feb. 23 win over South Point in the SE District Division III Semifinals at Waverly.
Eastern girls to face Wheelersburg for district title

By Wade Linville

wlinville@browncountypress.com