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Maddie
Murphy looks for a lane Tuesday against St. Henry at
Mississinawa Valley.
The Lady Hawks six game winning streak ended as
the Redskins posted a 53-48 victory.
CNO Photos by Nancy Feldner,
splitsecondsports.com
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St. Henry too much
for Mississinawa Valley
Lady Hawks win streak ends
By George Starks
UNION CITY- What has been the rule this season for Mississinawa Valley
didn’t happen Tuesday.
Scoring big in the third or fourth quarter has helped the Lady
Blackhawks win six consecutive games heading into Tuesday’s game with
St. Henry. The Hawks used the late game heroics but it wasn’t enough as
the Redskins ended the Hawks winning streak with a 53-48 victory.
Mississinawa Valley coach Rodney Saintignon gave the credit to the St.
Henry defense.
“We fought hard,” said Saintignon. “You have to give credit to their
defense. They are a great defensive team. They are unbelievably quick
and they are all over you. They had us flustered because their defense
was all over us.”
Trailing the Redskins 20-18 at the break, St. Henry started the third
with a 12-0 run in the first 2:26 of the half, putting the Hawks behind
the eight ball, staring at a 32-18 deficit.
At that point Saintignon called a time out and the Hawks came to life.
“I called that timeout and told the girls they are quick and very
aggressive,” Saintignon stated. “I told them this game was not over by
any means. We were only in the third quarter and I told them we still
had a quarter and a half to play and we needed to start playing some
basketball. We switched our offense up a little bit. We fought hard and
never quit.”
Senior Shelby Rehmert drained a trey with 4:58 showing and the comeback
was on. Mississinawa Valley would close out the quarter on a 13-7 run,
trailing 39-31 with eight minutes left to play.
The Hawks would score the first points of the final frame on a reverse
lay-up from Maddie Murphy. At that point, senior Mallory Livingston
would get heated up, scoring the next five point of the quarter,
getting the Hawks to within a 39-38 count. Murphy gave MV the lead at
the 4:45 mark on two foul shots, 40-39.
Mississinawa Valley built as much as a 42-39 but could never pull away
and with 3:55 showing on the clock, St. Henry had gained a 42-42 tie.
Then came the dagger that “pierced the heart of the Hawks.” Livingston
fouled out with 3:53 left in the game after scoring 16 points and
blocking four shots.
“Mallory is one of the best defensive players I’ve seen,” said
Saintignon. “She’s quick and has great anticipation as to where the
ball is going to go. When she’s not in there on defense, we are slower
as a team.”
With Rehmert (14 points) and Murphy (11), the force in the middle kept
the game within reach for Mississinawa Valley.
Senior Haley Cox scored just two points but took out stock in Windex,
yanking down 13 rebounds.
“That’s what Haley does. That’s her specialty,” Saintignon pointed out.
“She is excellent on the inside rebounding and boxing out. She is in
there for that reason and does an excellent job.”
After the win over Franklin Monroe Saturday, Saintignon said the next
two games, being against MAC teams, St. Henry and Parkway, were going
to be stiff tests.
“We lost the game tonight but I think we passed the test,” said the
Hawks coach. “”I’m very pleased with the way we came back on them and
our overall effort. No one quit, no one gave up. We kept playing hard.”
MV will take on Parkway next Tuesday on the road.
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Mississinawa
Valley seniors Haley Cox (50) and Mallory Livingston
attempt to
block the shot of Kylie Koesters during action Tuesday at
Mississinawa Valley.
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