“Not going to lie to you, we didn’t like the fact that there was an open slot, and they jumped on us,” Sidney coach Jamal Foster said. “But sometimes when you see that, it gives you a little extra motivation.
“… We just worked really, really hard on giving them what they asked for.”
After a slow start, the Yellow Jackets dominated the second half and beat Greenville 37-24 in the second Div. III district quarterfinal on Friday at Springfield High School. They advance to face No. 1 seed Bellbrook, which dominated Fairborn 73-20 in the first matchup of the evening.
Credit: Bryant Billing
Credit: Bryant Billing
Junior forward Olivia Foy led Sidney (10-13) with 14 points, including four each in both the third and fourth quarters.
“We just wanted it and didn’t want to lose,” Foy, who averages 11 points and 7.3 rebounds per game, said.
The Yellow Jackets won the teams’ first matchup 54-49 in overtime in a season opener on Nov. 26 and lost 33-23 on Jan. 7. They were outrebounded 41-17 in the January loss and fared far better in the post on Friday.
“We worked a lot in practice on boxing out, and when shots are going up to put a body on somebody and win the glass,” Foy said.
Foy is one the team’s few returning players with varsity experience off a district final run last year. Sidney lost five players to graduation off that 18-win team, four of which were four-year players and three of which are all over the program’s career leaderboards.
It’s the first time Foster has had to rebuild since taking over the program in 2019. The team won at least 15 games in each of his first six years.
The Yellow Jackets lost their last four games. Three of the losses were to stellar opponents (Vandalia-Butler, Tri-Village and Tippecanoe) and weren’t shocks, but a 42-38 loss to rival Piqua (5-17) on Feb. 5 stung.
“We’ve picked our battles this entire year, knowing what type of squad with our youth and all these things,” Foster said. “Coming to tournament, it’s a different slot, different season. You can come out and make what you want out of it. So getting this first win is really huge for a group like this, with a lot of them returning (next year).”
Credit: Bryant Billing
Credit: Bryant Billing
Norah Kennedy, a freshman guard, made a driving layup with just over two minutes left in the third quarter to cap an 8-1 run to start the second half and give Sidney an 18-8 lead.
The Yellow Jackets led 21-12 at the end of the third. Greenville pulled as close as five points, but as it was forced to foul, Sidney gradually pulled away from the free-throw line. The Yellow Jackets made 10-of-14 foul shots in the fourth.
“We wanted to be able to pick them up full court, make them make decisions 90 feet away from the basket, get them going pretty fast” Foster said. “I think the pressure on the ball really, really helped us. That’s something we haven’t really done all year, and we worked on that the last couple of weeks.”
The Yellow Jackets didn’t make a field goal in the first quarter and trailed 5-2. Foy made a shot and later added a pair of free throws to help the squad take a 10-7 halftime lead, then helped it pull away in the second half.
“In the first quarter, she kind of struggled against their size, but she stayed with it,” Foster said. “She got her shot off the glass, off the dribble. She’s been more consistent throughout the year.”
Credit: Bryant Billing
Credit: Bryant Billing
Kennedy and guard Jada Shroyer, who is the team’s lone senior, each finished with seven points.
Foster said he knows Bellbrook will be a tough challenge on Tuesday in a district semi but is happy the Yellow Jackets will be there.
“Go out there and leave it all on the court, because you never know what can happen when you get out there and just guard,” Foster said. “We’re going to leave it out there on the defensive end.”
Jada Lyons, who is one of two seniors on Greenville’s roster, led the squad with eight points. The Green Wave finish 10-12.
Bellbrook 73, Fairborn 20
The No. 1 seed Golden Eagles dominated No. 14 Fairborn in the first D-III second-round game on Friday to advance to Tuesday’s district semifinal.
Junior forward Lauren Fabrick led Bellbrook with 18 points, 13 of which came in the first quarter to help the squad take a 25-6 lead. Sophomore guard Libby Bunsold scored 16 points and freshman Macy Miller added 12.
Bellbrook (22-2) has won 13 consecutive games since back-to-back losses to Wayne and Cincinnati Mount Notre Dame in late December.
Credit: Bryant Billing
Credit: Bryant Billing
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