Columbiana’s Anna Kremer passes around United’s Camryn Cody during the Clippers’ win on Monday. (Morning Journal/Michael Burich)
COLUMBIANA — The Columbiana women’s basketball team split the Eastern Ohio Athletic Conference title between United and Southern last season.
This season, the gap between the Clippers and the rest of the league seems to be widening rapidly.
The Clippers outscored United 58-5 for first place on Monday thanks to a total team effort that took advantage of all of Columbiana’s strengths.
Columbiana is currently 11-0 overall and leads the EOAC with a 5-0 league record. United now have 6 wins and 6 losses overall, and 6 wins and 1 loss in league play. The Clippers led 23-2 at the end of the first quarter and 48-2 at halftime, and the game was settled after United coach Corey Leake called two timeouts in the first three minutes. It seemed so.
“Anyone who has seen us play knows our weaknesses.” Negi said. “If you have a hard time pressuring someone or getting an easy shot, you’re going to have some problems. They put us in weird situations that we didn’t want.” did.”
That may be putting it lightly.
The Clipper defense covered the Eagles from the start, creating a rare field goal attempt from the visiting team.
Ebby Rupp, who Columbiana coach Dave Crismon dubbed the Clippers’ “Energizer Bunny,” led the attack, scoring 13 points at the point guard position and terrorizing United’s offensive line. .
“I thought it would be closer.” Mr. Rupp said. “They beat us (twice) last year, so we were mentally prepared for this game. It was a surprise.”
Rupp said the team isn’t too worried about what happened last year.
“I was just trying to erase it.” Mr. Rupp said. “It’s a new start, a new season. I’m ready.”
Crismon said he is excited about his team this year, calling it a team that can have a different scorer every night.
“One of the things I like about my group is that we share the ball really well.” Crismon said. “If you do that, someone might have a bad night on set and someone else will step up and score points for you.”
Also appearing against the Eagles was Columbiana sophomore forward Anna Kremer, who scored a game-high 17 points. An All-Ohio football player, Kremer has used his natural athleticism to become a true threat in the post for the Clippers.
This was just what the team needed when senior Averi Marshall went down with a season-ending injury before the season started.
“She’s come this far.” Mr. Rupp said. “At the beginning of the season she was nervous about being taken down in the post, but now she has the upper hand there.”
“We are a team and I will miss Averi a lot, but I think we are very good at sharing the ball.” Kremer said. “This helps make up for Averi’s absence. We can all score and we have a different high scorer every night.”
Crismon said Kremer’s strengths are his height and ability to run the floor well.
“For some, she will be a nightmare to play against.” Crismon said. “I’m thrilled with how she embraced this role.”
Colombiana as a whole became a nightmare for EOAC. The Clippers beat EOAC opponents by an average margin of 61-9. It seems unlikely that a challenger will suddenly appear.
“We have to have the mindset of ‘I’m going to play my best every game’ and we want consistency.” Crismon said. “If you’re going in there at half speed, that doesn’t help you down the road. What happens happens, but out of respect for the other team, no one’s going to try to outscore. Kids. We still have to play a lot of minutes to get better. I was on the other side of it, but you have to respect everyone and play hard.”
game memo
• United have lost all of their non-league games this season, but have played some quality games. Leake believes the Clippers would be a good fit with Warren JFK, who beat United 70-20 on Dec. 7.
“Warren JFK is a really good team.” Negi said. “They have a lot of girls who can shoot the ball and put pressure on them. Columbiana will play Warren JFK and it will be a fun game as a coach and as a spectator.”
• United guard Allie Lacy hit her head on a fast break in the third quarter and was on the floor for several minutes. She was eventually helped back to the bench and wore ice to her head for the rest of the game.
• Columbiana is in Wellsville today as part of a men’s and women’s tripleheader. The women’s Clippers and Tigers will begin play at 5:15 p.m., followed by the men’s jayvee and varsity games.
• Columbiana won against Jayvee 35-20. Layla McCarthy had 12 points for the Clippers and Regan Good had eight points for the Eagles.
• United hosts East Palestine on Thursday.
U: 2-0-3-0–5
C: 23-25-9-1–58
United scores: Mary Smith 0-0-0, Kylie Holmes 0-0-0, Camryn Coady 1-0-2, Marin Striffeller 0-0-0, Allie Lacey 0-0-0, McKenzie・Cope 1-1-3, Maisie French 0-0-0, Bailey McKenzie 0-0-0, Megan Short 0-0-0, Sophia Sweeney 0-0-0, Regan Good 0-0-0, Utley Brinker 0-0-0, Abby Jones 0-0-0. Team Total: 2, 1-2: 5.
Columbiana scores: Ibby Rapp 6-1-13, Eva Heinrich 4-0-11, Megan Moser 2-1-6, Sydney Speight 1-1-3, Anna Kremer 6-5-17, Camille.・Jeffries 1-0-2, Haley Gomoll 0-0-0, Layla McCarthy 0-0-0, Ellie Venezia 2-0-4, Madison Janis 0-0-0, Lexi Davis 1-0-2, Bella Rausch 0-0-0. Team total: 23, 8-14:58.
3-point goals: Columbiana 4 (Heinrich 3, Moser).
