Girls basketball: DeSales holds off second-half Westerville South rally
Sunday, December 17, 2023
By Scott Gerfen
sgerfen@cbussports.com
DeSales’ Bridget Womber operates against Westerville South’s Zoe Guice during the Stallions’ win Dec. 17 at the “Battle in the 614” at Ohio Dominican. Photo: John Hulkenberg
St. Francis DeSales coach Erick Herzberg wasn’t sure how his team would respond after suffering back-to-back losses, but he could sense a turnaround was coming prior to Sunday’s matchup against Westerville South in the two-day Battle in the 614 event at Ohio Dominican.
Without point guard Jordyn Miller, who suffered a concussion earlier this month, the Stallions struggled offensively a day earlier in the 40-30 loss to Teays Valley and dropped a close game, 47-46, to New Albany on Dec. 12.
“We were low yesterday because we didn’t think we played very well, and the girls got up today and stayed focused and took care of business,” Herzberg said. “You could see it during our shoot around and warm-ups that they were dialed in, so I’m very proud of them.”
DeSales’ Kenyetietta Quinn drives during the Stallions’ win over Westerville South on Dec. 17 at Ohio Dominican. Photo by John Hulkenberg
DeSales scored the first 11 points and held off South’s second-half rally before closing out a 40-33 victory, improving to 4-3 overall.
Bella Brader scored 15 points as the only Stallions player in double figures.
Bridget Womber, who finished with eight points, was among seven others who scored for DeSales.
“We played as a team today,” Brader said. “I think yesterday (against Teays Valley), we were playing as individuals. We came out today and attacked them as a team, and that made a big difference.”
Westerville South’s Zoe Guice drives to the basket during the Wildcats’ game with DeSales on Dec. 17 during the “Battle in the 614” at Ohio Dominican. Photo: John Hulkenberg
South, which sat two starters in the first half for disciplinary reasons and was missing a third contributor for unspecified reasons, trailed 23-10 at halftime but gained some momentum in the third quarter with a 9-0 run that cut DeSales’ lead to 28-19.
The Wildcats had trimmed the lead to five, 38-33, with about a minute left.
“Even though we won the second half, we still made a lot of mistakes,” said South coach Jermaine Guice, whose team dropped to 3-3 overall. “We would get a steal or a turnover and then give it right back to them. My coaches told me we had 14 turnovers against a team that doesn’t pressure, that’s too many. We’re not locked in where we need to be.”
South also shot just 41% from the free-throw line.
Zoe Guice finished with 18 points to lead the Wildcats, while Kaelyn Patterson added six and Deziah Dupree had five points.