It wasn’t quite the usual suspects for Dixie Heights against Scott on Tuesday night in Taylor Mill.
And that could be a good thing in the long run for Joel Steczynski and his Colonels as they flexed their depth in a tight 57-55 win over the Eagles.
Samantha Berman and Ella Steczynski were held under their averages, so Dixie Heights needed others to step up and they did as eight different players scored in the victory.
“Sammy and Ella aren’t going to surprise anybody that we play, so we do feel like we have seven other kids that can on any given night contribute and contribute big,” Colonels coach Joel Steczynski said.
Bella Crawford helped dig them out of a eight point second quarter deficit with back-to-back triples. Catherine Buddenberg playing in just her third game this season due to injury, added four points in a decisive 11-2 run to the end of the third quarter. Freshman Aubrey Elkins hit two clutch free throws with 20 seconds remaining to make it a four point game. Simply put, the Colonels got contributions from everyone that entered the game.
“It wasn’t just one bucket here and one bucket there either. Bella Crawford at one point was the player keeping us in the game on both sides of the court,” Steczynski said. I think that just goes to show how hard they want to work and how much they want to just develop and get better. It’s a great thing to have when we’ve never been this deep and hopefully, in the next couple of weeks we get everybody back and everybody healthy and finally firing on all cylinders.”
A slow start and struggling to stop Kayla Overman and Kaia Peterson put Dixie Heights in a 17-10 hole after a quarter of play.
Overman scored 11 of Scott’s 13 points in the second quarter as they took a 30-29 lead into the break.
“Kayla Overman is always everywhere. She’s not one people talk about every night, but I mean, just the fight in her is crazy. And then Kaia, she’s a sophomore. She has a lot of potential. If she continues to get to the rim like that and continues to get better making her free throws like she did tonight, that’s someone I would look out for,” Eagles coach Eric Pouncy said.
The two traded blows from there with three ties and three lead changes before a Colonels 11-2 run to end the third, giving them a 44-37 lead after three.
But Scott answered with a 14-4 run to open the fourth, Peterson’s three-point play giving them a 51-48 lead with three minutes and change remaining.
“There’s just no quit. That’s what we try to stress every day at practice and all of our games is it’s never over until it’s zeros. The way they just compete, I mean, I can’t ask for any more than that,” Pouncy said.
Then came the depth from Dixie. A Jalynn Brooks layup followed by a Coralee Pelphrey triple and Dixie emerged as the leader, 53-51 with just over two minutes remaining.
The pressure defense that got the Colonels back in it continued to lay its groundwork, a turnover turning into a Steczynski layup to make it 55-51.
Peterson followed with a layup to make it 55-53 with 47 seconds remaining, Dixie Heights able to run nearly 30 seconds off the clock before Elkins was fouled for a one-and-one.
Elkins had missed two free throws in the quarter earlier, but the freshman went up to the line and sunk both to make it a two-possession game with 20 seconds left.
“They were coming after her and got what they wanted but we got what we wanted in terms of her knocking both of them down. With those injuries, we’ve had the opportunities for other kids to get a lot more important time. So hopefully all those things kind of help us get to where we want to be third week of February when it really matters,” Steczynski said.
An Overman putback got Scott back within two, but only four seconds remained. After a deflection and a long pass down the court, Scott was unable to foul as time expired, giving the Colonels the edge in the Kenton County rivalry matchup.
Steczynski ended up leading the way with 11 points, Crawford with 10 and Berman nine.
Overman and Peterson combined for 38 points for the Eagles, Overman with 22, Peterson 16 while Presley Grant added seven and Autumn Ponder with six.
“Just got to get better at our mental errors. Those last few minutes and occasional times where we play so fast. We’re getting the ball out and there’s defenders right there where we’re not even seeing it. So just little stuff like that,” Pouncy said.
Dixie plays at Mount Notre Dame (Ohio) on Thursday, Scott playing at Beechwood on January 24 their next time on the floor.
DIXIE HEIGHTS — 10-19-15-13 — 57
SCOTT — 17-13-7-18 — 55
DH (57) — Steczynski 11, Crawford 10, Berman 9, Brooks 6, Elkins 6, Thelen 5, Pelfrey 5, Buddenberg 5
S (55) — Overman 22, Kaia Peterson 16, Grant 7, Ponder 6, Coleman 2, DeLuna 2
