DANVILLE — Danville has been the thorn in the side of Crawfordsville girls basketball the last two seasons in the sectional. After defeating county rival North Montgomery 34-31 on Friday, the Lady Athenians were once again matched up with the Warriors in the Class 3A Sectional 25 semi-finals. Early on Crawfordsville held its own with Danville trailing 15-10 as the opening quarter was in its final minutes. However two quick buckets by Danville made it a 19-11 game at the end of the first and it’d be all Danville from there as they dominated Crawfordsville by a final score of 67-29 to end the season for the Athenians.
The Warriors smothering defense didn’t allow Crawfordsville to orchestrate their normal offense. It also forced the Athenians into 25 turnovers which the Warriors scored 36 points off of.
“Some of our turnovers were just unforced on our end,” Crawfordsville coach Tyler Smith said. “That was disappointing because I thought if we just stuck to the game plan a bit more we could’ve gotten a few more layups out of their press. Danville is such a good team and they’ve really turned it on as of late. They extremely deep and have an answer for any defense you throw at them.”
A bright spot for Crawfordsville who ends their 2021-22 season with a record of 8-16 was they were 17-24 from the free-throw line as they continued to attack the basket. Liddy McCarty scored 10 points in her final game in a CHS uniform to lead Crawfordsville in the scoring column.
The Warriors got a major contribution from Cameryn Rector who on the season averages around just eight points a game. Rector led all scorers with 18 points and made five threes in the win. Danville coach Kaley Mae was very pleased with the play of her junior guard.
“She hit some big time shots for us tonight,” Mae said. “They were big momentum shots too that were important times in the game. She’s had a few games like that for us this year where she is just feeling it. I was proud to see that from her tonight to build up her confidence going into the championship game on Tuesday.”
Crawfordsville graduates five seniors in Shea Williamson, Olivia Reed, Kearston Hutchens, Lain Schlicher, and McCarty. Smith couldn’t say enough about what all five of them have meant to the Crawfordsville girls basketball program over the last three years he’s been at the helm.
“We couldn’t have asked for a better class of individuals,” Smith said. “They’re good players but even better people. It’s emotional having to say goodbye to them but that shows how good we’ve had it to make all the memories we’ve made. They’ve definitely made their mark and left their legacy.”
Danville will move on to the sectional championship game on Tuesday night to take on Tri-West for the third meeting between the two Hendricks County rivals. The Bruins have gotten the better of the Warriors in the previous two meetings and Mae knows her team is in for yet another challenge.
“I feel like all bets are off in these kinds of games,” she said. “We’re going to have our hands and play an almost flawless defensive game. It’s going to take us playing our best basketball of the season.”
Danville 67, Crawfordsville 29
Score by Quarters
Crawfordsville 11 7 7 4 - 29
Danville 19 18 19 11 - 67
Crawfordsville (8-16)
Olivia Reed 0-5 0-1 0 0, Kearston Hutchens 2-6 0-0 4, Liddy McCarty 1-5 8-10 10, Shea Williamson 0-1 5-7 5, Taylor Abston 1-3 2-2 4, Elyse Widmer 1-3 0-2 2, Laine Schlicher 1-4 2-2 4, Abby Cox 0-0 0-0 0, Addison Hodges 0-0 0-0 0, Madison Hedrick 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 6-27 17-24 29.
Danville (18-6)
Haley Godwin 2-4 0-0 4, Haley Ancelet 2-8 0-0 5, Kooper Stone 6-9 2-3 14, Isabelle Wooten 3-10 2-2 9, Cameryn Rector 6-11 1-1 18, Emma Ancelet 2-2 3-4 7, Jocelyn Pearcy 4-4 0-0 8, Addison Davis 1-6 0-0 2, Kenna Keesling 0-0 0-0 0, Madison Shelley 0-1 0-0 0, Alexis Lynch 0-0 0-0 0, Kortney Byrum 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 26-56 8-10 67.
3-Pt Shooting:
CHS 0-12 (Reed 0-5, Hutchens 0-3, McCarty 0-3, Abston 0-1);
DAN 7-19 (Godwin 0-1, Haley Ancelet 1-5, Stone 0-1, Davis 0-1, Wooten 1-1. Rector 5-9, Shelley 0-1).
Rebounding: CHS 24 (McCarty 5, Abston 5, Reed 4); DAN 36 (Wooten 8, Stone 6, Pearcy 5).
Second-Chance Points: CHS 2; DAN 7.
Turnovers: CHS 25; DAN 11.
Points off TOs: CHS 0; DAN 36.