GREENVILLE – Continued growth and confidence were on full display for the Greenville Lady Wave, who gave Miami Valley League Valley Division leader Stebbins all it could handle before falling in a hard-fought, physical varsity girls basketball contest.
Greenville scored half of its total points in the opening quarter and held the lead into the second half, but the visiting Lady Indians used a late third-quarter push to pull out the MVL win.
“I’ve never been in this position before,” said veteran first-year Lady Wave head coach Shane Hillard. “It comes down to this being a learning moment for us. A lot of these kids have never been in games like this. They’ve never played ahead in a game where everybody has us written off.
“We weren’t even supposed to be in that game,” he continued. “Now we’re making a statement.”
The Lady Wave came out aggressively, jumping to an 11-6 lead with 2:38 remaining in the first quarter. Stebbins responded with five unanswered points to even the score at 11-11 with 45 seconds left, but Greenville closed the quarter strong. Back-to-back drives by Leah Force and Jayda Lyons, followed by a Makenzie Legenzoff free throw, sent the Wave to the first break with a 16-11 advantage.
Greenville carried that momentum into the second quarter. Aubrey Baumgardner opened the period with a layup, extending the lead to 18-11, and Force later drove to the basket to give the Lady Wave its largest lead of the night at eight with 5:23 left in the half.
Stebbins answered with an 11-5 run to close the quarter, trimming the deficit to one and sending the teams into halftime with Greenville clinging to a 23-22 lead.
The Lady Indians wasted little time in the third quarter, scoring three quick points in the opening 45 seconds to grab their first lead of the game at 25-23. Greenville briefly answered, as Baumgardner and Lyons each scored inside to put the Wave back in front 27-25 with 5:45 remaining.
That would be Greenville’s final lead of the night.
Stebbins closed the third quarter on a 6-1 run to take a 31-28 lead into the final period, then edged the fourth quarter 7-4 to secure the six-point conference victory.
“We were fine in the first half, but we came out in the second half, and I don’t think they changed anything,” Hillard said. “I think we’re just not used to being in that moment. We haven’t learned how to play from ahead yet, and we made some big mistakes at key times.
“It’s a learning moment, and it’s only going to make us better.”
Senior Jayda Lyons, a four-year Lady Wave soccer starter and Miami Valley League Second Team All-League soccer selection, led Greenville with 15 points.
“It’s crazy what she does for us,” Hillard said. “She’s just a raw athlete. She’s a soccer player, but the things she does for us, we can’t do it without her.
“The effort she gives, the mentality she brings – nobody is going to outwork her. She’s not afraid of anything. She’ll run through a brick wall for me. There’s nothing that kid won’t do.”
With the win, Stebbins improves to 6-1 overall and 5-1 in MVL Valley Division play. Greenville falls to 2-5 overall and 2-3 in conference action.
Despite the loss, Hillard sees the program trending in the right direction.
“What I’m proud of right now is that people come in here and might say this is a softball school or volleyball second – and I get that,” Hillard said. “But if you watched us play right now, you wouldn’t know this wasn’t their first game, or that they weren’t basketball players.
“The way they play, how hard they play, the love they have for it – that’s the turning point. These kids are laying the foundation. They’re getting better every day, and it’s really a blast to coach.”
BOX SCORE:
STEBBINS 38, GREENVILLE 32
STEBBINS – A. Fritz 20, M. Roche 10, M. Amann 6, E. Maddix 2 – TOTALS 7 18-31 2 38
GREENVILLE – J. Lyons 15, S. Loudy 7, A. Baumgardner 4, L. Force 4, M. Loudy 1, M. Legenzoff 1 – TOTALS 13 6-15 0 32
3-POINTERS
Stebbins 2 (M. Roche 1, A. Fritz 1)
Greenville 0
SCORE by QUARTERS
11-11-09-07 38 Stebbins
16-07-05-04 32 Greenville
