Allen East’s Soraya Jackson (23) shoots amongst Wapakoneta’s Maddison Springer (45), Kierra Siefring (15) and Audrey Welsch (3) on Thursday night at Wapakoneta High School.
Jackelyn Johnson | The Lima News
WAPAKONETA — It was an uphill battle for Allen East during most of its 48-44 girls basketball win at Wapakoneta on Thursday night.
But the Mustangs turned that struggle into their seventh win in eight games this season by doing what they called playing downhill.
Junior point guard Rilynn Jones, who led Allen East with 20 points, explained what playing downhill means.
“It’s just beating her (the defensive player) off the dribble and using my speed for a lay-up,” she said.
Jones used her speed to get to the rim over and over in the second half, getting 18 of her 20 points in the final 16 minutes when Allen East came back from 10 points down early in the third quarter for the win.
The Mustangs looked like a different team collectively in the second half after some halftime adjustments.
“We got ripped at halftime. That was probably the worst half we’ve played,” Jones said. “Once we got going and trusting our teammates and going to the hole instead of settling for shots we were able to put it in the rim.”
Allen East coach Aaron Montgomery said, “In the first half we weren’t attacking with a purpose. The second half, we wanted to attack the basket looking to score.
“When Rilynn Jones gets downhill she’s one of the best guards in northwest Ohio. When Rilynn Jones gets downhill she’s a fierce competitor. That was our challenge to her – get downhill and force the defense to stop you. If they do, we can kick it out. If they don’t, finish at the rim. She really kind of took over the offense, attacking and putting the pressure on them,” he said.
The other big component of Allen East’s comeback was increased defensive pressure in the second half, which led to 10 Wapakoneta turnovers in the third quarter and a costly one late in the fourth quarter.
“Definitely our defense picked up. We were struggling on our press a little bit. We really stepped the intensity up,” said Savana Brooks, who scored 16 points — all but three of them in the first half — when she had 13 of Allen East’s 21 points.
Montgomery said, “We wanted to increase the ball pressure a little bit. In the first half I thought we were a little more laid back and just going through the motions. The second half we were playing in your face defense and that’s what we preach.”
Wapakoneta had a 44-38 lead with five minutes to play but it did not score the rest of the game.
Jones’ driving bucket brought Allen East to within four points at 44-40. After a Wapakoneta turnover, Brooks hit a 3-pointer with four minutes left in the game to cut the lead to a single point at 44-43.
Jones drove for a go-ahead hoop at 45-44 with 2:47 left on the clock. She was fouled and hit one of two free throws on Allen East’s next possession for a 46-44 lead. Then she made two more three throws with 25 seconds to play.
Kortney Fullenkamp scored 14 points, including three 3-pointers, and had 12 rebounds for Wapakoneta (3-5). Audrey Welsch had 12 points.
Wapakoneta shot 46 percent on field goals (16 of 35). Allen East shot 33 percent (17 of 52). Allen East had a 26-25 rebounding edge. The most one-sided statistic was turnovers. Allen East had only 8 while Wapakoneta had 19.
Allen East 48, Wapakoneta 44
Score by quarters:
Allen East 12 9 15 12 — 48
Wapakoneta 10 19 11 4 — 44
ALLEN EAST
Savana Brooks 16, Taylor Nickles 4, Soraya Jackson 5, Rilynn Jones 20, Dylan Miller 3. Totals: 17-10-48.
WAPAKONETA
Elizabeth Good 3, Maddison Springer 8, Kortney Fullenkamp 14, Riley Szelagowski 5, Audrey Welsch 12, Kierra Siefring 2. Totals: 16-7-44.
Three-point goals: AE — Brooks 2, Jones 1, Miller 1; W — Fullenkamp 3, Szelagowski 1, Welsch 1.
Records: Allen East 7-1; Wapakoneta 3-5.
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