NANKIN — When his squad’s district tournament draw was held last week, Mapleton head coach Matt Hess said McDonald seemed to jump at the chance to match up with the Mounties in their postseason opener.
By the time 11th-seeded Mapleton reached halftime against the 12th-seeded Blue Devils in their Division VI sectional final Thursday, McDonald looked like it was ready to jump back on the bus home.
Behind a suffocating first-half defense and a career-best night from junior Emilee Beecher on offense, the Mounties overwhelmed the visiting Blue Devils, 66-32.
(Below photos courtesy of Rachael Leibolt)
Mapleton (18-5) closed the first half on a 27-5 run, forcing 22 turnovers in the first 16 minutes and sending the players for McDonald into halftime looking like they had seen a ghost.
“We watched a lot of film on them and I think we were pretty confident going into tonight,” said Hess, whose squad now will play at Orwell Grand Valley (20-3) on Tuesday. “It was interesting, being a No. 12 seed, that they chose us to play right away when they could have hosted a game. But I think we sent a message tonight.”
The Blue Devils (13-10) featured one of the Mahoning Valley Athletic Conference’s best scorers in senior guard Juliana Krumpak (15.1 ppg), and had the MVAC’s best rebounder in senior center Cierra Shiley (9.9 rpg).
But the Mounties were relentless in their 1-3-1 defense, scoring 14 of their 19 points in the first quarter off turnovers to set the tone.
Mapleton had so many arms in the passing lanes that it looked like the Blue Devils were trying to get a beach ball past an octopus.
Rarely could the visitors even set up in their offense, as they finished the night with 37 turnovers — 24 of them on steals.
“I was not planning on running a lot of that 1-3-1 tonight, but it seemed to work and we stuck with it for the majority of the game,” Hess said. “The girls did a good job anticipating passes and getting some steals.”
“A lot of defense is hustle, it’s heart, it’s not wanting to get beat on your home floor,” he said.
Freshman Aubree Hess had nine steals for the Mounties and her sophomore sister Addison Hess added five thefts while tossing in a game-high 22 points.
“The turnovers got us early; that’s kind of the story of the game,” McDonald head coach Tyler Kilbourne said. “We knew that coming out here, that they press and create chaos. Usually we handle it pretty well, but tonight we didn’t.”
Blue Devils guard Naomi Sheesley suffered an ankle injury in the first quarter, leaving the game with her team trailing 8-6. The sophomore — who was averaging 5.1 rebounds and 4.1 steals per game — tried to return in the second quarter, but couldn’t stay on the floor.
“We thought athletically we could give them some problems,” Kilbourne said. “When Naomi went down, she’s probably our best athlete, so it changed a lot. … But that’s not an excuse; Mapleton came out and played a fantastic game, so all the credit goes to them.”
With Sheesley gone, Mapleton’s defense seemed to sense blood in the water. The hosts received swarming defense from seniors Audrey Hellickson (13 points, 5 assists) and Kendall Ramey, junior Beecher, sophomore Kenzie Hellickson (4 rebounds) and freshman Khloe Hardesty (4 rebounds).
It led to a variety of layups for the Mounties, who simply seemed quicker on the glass and faster to loose balls.
And while Addison Hess led all scorers, it was Beecher who put her foot on the gas early.
The rangy, 5-10 forward entered the game 0-for-9 on 3-point tries for the season, but she hit three triples in the first half and ended her night with a career-high 21 points.
Two of Beecher’s buckets from the perimeter came in the final 1:03 of the first half – both off assists from Audrey Hellickson – sending Mapleton into the break with a seemingly insurmountable 39-14 lead.
“My shot’s usually around the 15-foot line,” Beecher said, “but tonight I knew we had to leave it all on the court because I didn’t want this to be our last game.
“We knew that they underestimated us from how they picked us (during the tournament draw), so we knew we were going to bring it to them tonight.”
Beecher had averaged 4.3 points per game entering Thursday, with a career-high of 12.
“I’m so happy for Emilee; she’s been due to have one of these games for a while now,” coach Hess said. “She’s one of our most consistent players at practice, she works hard at both ends and it was awesome to see her come out and knock down those shots.”
Addison Hess scored the first six points of the second quarter, and when she dropped in a putback early in the third, Mapleton was running away with it, 43-14.
That bucket was significant in that it pushed MHS past 42 points, improving the team to 30-0 since the start of last season when reaching that total.
Coach Hess said it was good to see his sophomore daughter keep shooting after an 0-for-5 start from the perimeter through the first quarter.
“I’d like to see her continue to drive to the basket a little more,” he said. “… She sees the floor so well and she had some great assists and rebounds for us tonight, too.”
The Hess sisters both finished with five rebounds and five assists each.
The Mounties allowed just one McDonald player to score more than seven points on the night. Krumpak, a senior who had recently notched her 1,000th career point, finished Thursday with 12.
By late in the fourth quarter, Mapleton had forced a running clock against McDonald, which is just five years removed from a Division IV state runner-up finish.
Now, the Mounties will make a two-hour drive Tuesday to face No. 6-seeded Grand Valley (20-3), which was a 44-34 winner Thursday night over New Middletown Springfield (10-13).
Mapleton already has secured back-to-back 18-win seasons for the first time in 40 years, but coach Hess said the goal is to get past the district semifinal round that his squad fell in a year ago in a humbling 37-19 loss at Loudonville.
“We’ve discussed (last year’s tournament loss) to some extent to make sure we don’t lay an egg like we did going to Loudonville,” he said. “I think last year at this moment we were starting three freshmen, so having that experience, hopefully we can carry that going forward.”
(Below photos by Doug Haidet)
