Lady Tigers earn sectional championship

The McClain Lady Tigers came off a 10-plus day break and were ready to get things rolling in the Division III SE District Sectional finals, winning the title with a dominating 74-33 over Portsmouth West, Sunday.

The victory at Valley High School saw the Lady Tigers score 48 points in the first half, including 30 points in the second frame.

For good measure, the Lady Tigers (20-3) scored 13 points in the third and another 13 points in the fourth to put their stamp on the win.

"We came out of gates strong," MHS head coach Jarrod Haines said. "Taylor Polley broke the ice with an early three, and then our pressure opened the floor for us offensively.

"Shania was able to get in the flow and get us going. Sydney Barton and Malea Montavon crashed the boards for us, and this was a great win for our program. We have to continue to remain focused, because our opponents are going to only get stronger."

The co-South Central Ohio League champions Lady Tigers (the No. 1 seed) are also the reigning district champions and will continue the road to defend that title on Thursday night at Waverly in a game against No. 2 seeded Southeastern at 6 p.m.

To get to that game, MHS was led by senior Shania Massie with a game-high 28 points, with 26 of those being scored in the first three frames. Massie made one 3-pointer and was a perfect 7-of-7 from the free-throw line.

In the first frame, Massie scored six points, and followed that with 13 more points in the second frame.

Malea Montavon, Taylor Polley and Sydney Barton each scored nine points in the win, with Barton going 5-of-5 from the free-throw line, scoring points in the first, second and fourth quarters.

Polley made two 3-pointers in the win, and Montavon scored seven of her nine points in the second quarter.

Also for the Lady Tigers, Lexie Barton finished with five points, and Mikenzie Coleman and Beth Montgomery each scored four points. Also in the scoring column for MHS were Sarah Thompson and Brooke Foody with three points each, as both players made a 3-pointer.

For the game, MHS was 16-of-22 from the free-throw line, with the team also combining for six 3-pointers.

Leading Portsmouth West in scoring was Cammie Oilea with 13 points. PWHS was 10-of-16 from the free-throw line, and they totaled five 3-pointers in the loss.