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Shadyside cruises past Beallsville to reach D-IV district semifinal

T-L Photo/SETH STASKEY SHADYSIDE SENIOR Tory Hendershot goes up for a shot against Beallsville's Cheyenne Riley during Saturday's Division IV tournament game at Shadyside. The Tigers picked up a 67-34 victory to advance to the district semifinals where they will take on Frontier.

SHADYSIDE — There’s a cliche in basketball that says, ‘everyone makes a run.’

While true, some runs simply define games.

One of those types occurred Saturday afternoon in a Division IV Eastern District quarterfinal when Shadyside closed the first half on a 35-5 spurt and never looked back en route to convincing 67-34 victory against Beallsville.

“We came out, from the start, knowing what we needed to do and played well,” a satisfied Shadyside head coach Serge Gentile said. “I thought we were patient on offense, moved the ball and that allowed us to get some good looks and we knocked down some shots.”

On top of the offensive exploits, the Tigers’ defense was relentless. The full-court pressure, which Shadyside has used more this season than in some of its prior seasons, was especially good. It forced Beallsville into 22, first-half turnovers, many of which led to run-out chances.

“The biggest difference in the game was our transition defense and obviously the turnovers,” Beallsville head coach Tori Lang said. “I am proud that we didn’t give up and that’s something that Beallsville basketball has always been about and we’re getting back there.”

In the first half, the Tigers saw all five starters crack the scoring column. Junior Paige Gorby continued her late-season surge in the scoring column went for 18 of her game-high 22 in the first half.

“I thought we shared the ball really, really well (Saturday), making the extra pass, which got us a lot of easy layups,” Gentile noted. “I am just proud that we were ready to play from the start. I thought the press was good to us and our athleticism allowed us to play fast, put them in some positions they didn’t want to be in and get some easy (shots) out of it.”

While Gorby was doing work on the interior, seniors Tory Hendershot — who came up two steals shy of a triple-double — and Baylee Wach were dictating things on the perimeter.

The teams played even in the third, but the Tigers got the game into the OHSAA-mandated mercy rule in the fourth quarter.

All told, all five Tiger starters cracked double figures. With Hendershot serving as the catalyst, Wach finished with 10, sophomore Gentry Brown, who continues to play relentlessly on the interior, added 13. Kamdyn Elerick — a senior — finished with 11.

Hendershot filled up the stat sheet to a tune of 11 points, 14 rebounds, eight steals and five assists.

Though Saturday’s game didn’t go the way it had hoped, Beallsville finishes its season with a solid 10-6 record despite battling through a couple of COVID-19-led pauses and the fact that it started the season having to figure out how to replace “95% percent” of its scoring from last season.

“I am pleased with the season,” Lang said. “We lost Ashlie Louden and Ashley Howell, but we came out this year and competed in every game with people. We competed well and played hard. I am pleased with all of the girls on our team. Most people expected us to have a rebuilding year, but I think we went past that.”

The Blue Devils were led by Kinley Hughes’ 12 points. Hallie Bommer finished with nine and Makenna Phillips donated seven.

Shadyside returns to action Thursday, at home, against Frontier in a district semifinal. The Tigers own two victories against the Cougars already this season.

Division IV

(At Shadyside)

Shadyside 67, Beallsville 34

BEALLSVILLE (34) — Hughes 5, 0-1 12; Otto 0, 0-2 0; Nalley 0, 3-4 3; Bommer 4, 1-2 9; M. Phillips 2, 2-2 7; H. Phillips 0, 0-0 0; Trigg 1, 0-0 2; Riley 0, 1-2 1; Totals: 12, 6-13 34. SHADYSIDE (67) — Wach 4, 2-2 10; T. Hendershot 4, 3-8 11; Brown 5, 2-2 13; Gorby 7, 8-11 22; Elerick 5, 1-2 11; M. Hendershot 1, 0-0 2; Totals: 26, 16-25 67.

3-point goals: B — Hughes (2), Bommer, M. Phillips. S — Brown.

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