So why was veteran Mohawks coach Brian McGuire smiling?
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“This season could’ve gone south really quick, but we’ve got a great group of kids,” said McGuire, whose squad finished 7-15. “They never quit. They played hard all the time. That’s what made it enjoyable, despite struggling all year.”
Madison, short-handed all season because of injuries, committed 27 turnovers against Valley View. Seventeen of those miscues came in the opening period.
Tara Price is the Mohawks’ lone senior. She’ll continue her career at Miami University Middletown, but she admitted it was sad to see her prep career come to a close.
“As much as I wish our record was better, we played hard and we played as a team, and that’s all you can ask,” Price said. “I have a lot of good memories. I made a lot of good friends this year on this team, and they’ll be with me forever.”
Madison, the No. 11 seed, lost to Valley View 46-28 on Jan. 2. The rematch was far less competitive.
The second-seeded Spartans (16-7) had everything working. Valley View’s pressure led to a lot of layups, and the Mohawks didn’t sink a field goal until Grace Baker’s 3-pointer with 2:49 left in the second stanza.
“It was very hectic,” Price said. “We had a lot of turnovers very early, and we just weren’t controlling the ball. They were playing in our face, and we just shut down. We aren’t used to teams playing that aggressive against us. They wanted it more than we did.”
“I think all of our youth came out tonight,” McGuire said. “We’re going to have to get better at handling pressure. It’s something we’ve struggled with all season. We also couldn’t knock down shots tonight, but a lot of that was due to their defense.”
Spartans coach Steve Dickson admitted he was a bit concerned about Madison coming in.
“The last couple games we got out slow at the beginning. I wanted to come out fast and make sure we stayed that way today,” Dickson said. “I knew our defense could do OK against their young guards, but I take nobody for granted. You just don’t know come tournament time.
“We came out real solid tonight. I was proud of all of our girls. Sometimes you just have one of those games where you put a show on. We were able to do that tonight, even coming off a seven-day layoff.”
Aubrey Stupp paced Valley View with 17 points, four rebounds, three assists and three steals. Chloe Smith (14), Claire Henson (11) and Lauren Legate (11) also scored in double digits, while Henson totaled five boards, four steals and three assists. Abigail Dickson dished out nine assists.
“We had a lot of assists today. We were passing the ball pretty well to the open kid,” Steve Dickson said. “I think we’re really good. When we shoot the ball well, I think we’re hard to beat.”
The Spartans will return to Lebanon to face No. 5 seed Monroe (13-8) on Wednesday at 6 p.m. They split during the Southwestern Buckeye League Southwestern Division campaign.
The Mohawks, who got five points and seven rebounds from Carley McMonigle, were left to ponder a season that included key injuries to Kenzi Saunders, Regan Dorman and Reagan Lee. Saunders blew out her knee in Game 2. Dorman only played nine games. Lee missed the entire regular season, but did see some action Thursday.
“I’ve coached teams before where we struggled, where it was going to be one of those four- or five-win seasons, and the kids hate each other and don’t want to be at practice,” McGuire said. “These girls always wanted to be there.”
Price said the loss of Saunders damaged the team’s psyche, but everybody came together and moved forward.
“We came back stronger than I pictured us,” Price said. “We are a very young team and have a lot of potential coming up, so I’m excited to see what they do next year.”
Sixth-seeded Alter defeated No. 8 Oakwood 51-38 in Thursday’s second game at Lebanon.
Madison 1-7-6-3—17
Valley View 28-14-14-7—63
MADISON (7-15): Ally King 2 0 4; Grace Baker 1 1 4; Tara Price 1 0 2; Sydney Marsh 0 2 2; Carley McMonigle 2 1 5. Totals: 6-4-17
VALLEY VIEW (16-7): Abigail Dickson 1 2 4; Chloe Smith 7 0 14; Claire Henson 4 2 11; Aubrey Stupp 4 8 17; Lauren Legate 5 0 11; Megan Black 1 0 2; Jayna Black 1 0 2; Kailee Ramps 1 0 2. Totals: 24-12-63
3-pointers: M 1 (Baker), V 3 (Henson, Stupp, Legate)
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