GOING UP — Harrison Central’s Kennedy Dunlap goes for two as St. Clairsville’s Claire Monteroso defends. — Mike Hughes
CADIZ — Harrison Central overcame a sluggish shooting start Saturday in Cadiz and fueled by a 22-point outing from senior Maddie Sedgmer, the Huskies took care of visiting St. Clairsville by a 59-32 margin in a mutual season opener.
Sedgmer missed her first six of seven shots before finding the range in the second quarter.
The 6-foot senior dropped 12 of her game-high 22 points in the frame as the hosts pushed their lead to 31-17 at the break, outsourcing St. C. 18-9 in the quarter.
“They are a good physical team and they came out, ready to play,” lauded Harrison Central head coach Chace Smith. “We wanted to get after it and set the tone early. Our seniors led in a lot of ways and Sedgmer was huge.
“She missed a few bunnies but she converted and we were able to own the boards.”
Led by fellow senior Kennedy Dunlap, the Huskies held a sizable rebounding advantage, leading to second-and-third shot opportunities. Dunalp snagged 12 boards to go with her 12 points.
St. Clairsville fought from horn to horn, but the undersized Red Devils-their tallest player stands only 5-6-could not quite stack up against the taller Huskies, who feature three players 5-10 or taller, including two six footers.
“We hustled and hustled until the end, but they killed us inside,” St. C. head coach Stacey Agnew said. “We need to keep working on boxing out. But we’ll keep working and keep getting after it and we’ll be alright.”
Sedgmer tallied another six points in the third quarter as the hosts forced turnovers with their press, leading to easy buckets.
After Harrison outscored St. C. 15-4 in the quarter to take a 46-21 lead, the final result seemed quite secure.
Sophomore Kiya Kyer had success attacking off the dribble and finished with 15 points for St. C., backed by 11 from junior Anna Kain.
The Red Devils took the court with a roster only seven strong, with two players in street clothes on the injury list.That roster is devoid of seniors, with three juniors, three sophomores and three freshman.
Lauren Doane, who went out briefly in the third quarter with a minor injury, only to return, matched Dunlap’s scoring output with 12 points plus nearly hitting double digits in rebounds.
St. Clairsville finished with 19 turnovers to Harrison Central’s 14.
Harrison Central’s next two games are on the road against tough opponents. First up is Union Local on Tuesday in Morristown before heading north to face Indian Creek and McKenna Scott on December 2.
St. Clairsville, meanwhile, hosts Indian Creek on Tuesday before facing off against Cambridge on Dec. 2, also on its home floor.
Harrison Central 59, St. Clairsville 32
St. Clairsville 8 9 4 11 – 32
Harrison Central 13 18 15 13 – 59
S – Kain 4 2-4 11; Kyer 7 1-2 15; Padilla 0 0-0 0; Sall 1 1-2 3; Monteroso 1 0-0 2; Morgan 0 1-2 1; Rainey 0 0-0 0; Totals: 13 5-10 32.
H – Doane 5 2-2 12; Pelegreen 2 1-3 5; Dunlap 5 2-5 12; Blackburn 1 0-0 3; Sedgmer 9 4-5 22; Stull 0 0-0 0; Powers 1 1-2 3; Whipkey 1 0-0 2; Totals: 24 10-17 59.
3-point goals:Kain; Blackburn.
