canton — The showdown for first place lived up to the bill.
It was a big fourth quarter that led Green to a 43-40 victory Wednesday in a match between the top two women’s basketball teams in the Federal League. Overall she’s 9-2, and in the league she’s 6-2, with Green currently leading the field by two games.
Green survived it. McKinley can take comfort in knowing that another chance awaits.
Two big 3s from Nina Shaffer put Green ahead of McKinley 15–8 in the fourth quarter. After struggling to deal with McKinley’s pressure all night long, Green turned up the pressure when it mattered most, with a defense that forced him six McKinley turnovers in his final eight minutes. it was done.
“I knew it was going to be a possession,” Green head coach Alicia Manning said.
Battles like this are nothing new to Greene. Three weeks ago, Manning’s team won his 38-35 victory over Lake. League wins over Jackson, Hoover and Perry are in the single digits.
Green’s top player came out in another tight game on Wednesday. Mallory Odd had a game-high 20 points and 11 rebounds. Jenna Slates also achieved a double-double with 11 points and 12 rebounds.
“That’s who they are,” said Manning. “They’re crushing it on defense and rebounding, and it’s pretty hard to stop them in the paint. When they do well, as we saw tonight, I don’t know many people who can stop them.
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Oddo feels that she and Slates work well together.
“I think we are stepping up for this team,” Odd said. “We both have big roles to play.”
Slate scored all 11 points in the first half and secured a double-double in the first minute of the third quarter.
Odd scored 14 points in the second half alone. She and Shaffer combined to score 14 of her points in the 4th quarter of her 15 on the Green.
“We didn’t really go,” said Odd. “I felt I needed to step up to move the team forward.”
Paris Stokes scored 18, Ariana Snell scored 10 and Sidney Boden had seven rebounds (8-3, 4-2) to end McKinley’s six-game winning streak.
The problems McKinley had in the fourth quarter became apparent in a loss earlier this season.
“We’ve lost three games, and all three of those losses have come from not handling the ball,” McKinley head coach Bryant Boden said. “It’s across the board. Everyone on our team handles the ball, so pretty much everybody.”
McKinley has no time to think about his missed chance to take the lead in the Federal League. Boden’s team will face Jackson on Saturday. The Polar Bears gave McKinley their first league loss.
“This game is over,” Bowden said. “Last year, I think we stuck with this, but we’ll be ready for another big game on Saturday.”
Mike can be reached at mike.popovich@cantonrep.com.
On Twitter: @mpopovichREP
