Potter-Dix brushes past the Eagles to reach title game

The Potter-Dix girls made sure that the finals of the MAC Tournament on Saturday night would be represented by combatants wearing the same colors in both the boys and girls games.

As Leyton and Potter-Dix was earlier established to be the boys MAC final, so too will be the girls title game.

Potter-Dix insured their place with a 39-29 win over Garden County at Sidney Middle School on Thursday night.

Earlier, the Leyton Warriors eliminated the defending MAC champion and top seeded Creek Valley Storm with a strong fourth-quarter rally. The Warriors won 54-48 after entering the final eight minutes deadlocked at 33. The girls championship game will tip off at 8 p.m. at SMS.

Though twice tied in the first quarter, Potter-Dix (7-5) never trailed to Garden County (5-6).

The first deadlock came about as the two rivals traded hoops to open the contest. Dawson Sharman layed in the Coyotes first points and was answered by the Eagles' Anna McLaughlin. Sharman then hit again while Baily Davis offered a response from Garden County. But two consecutive threes by Taylor Juelfs put Potter-Dix in the lead for good.

"We played our game and came out focused and did our job on defense," Juelfs said. "We're going to have to do that again to win the tournament."

Though the Coyotes never trailed after the first quarter, they never really had a lead they could relax with. A field goal by Alexus Rozelle and a free throw by Brooke Glass accounted for the first points for Potter-Dix in a quiet second quarter for both teams. A Juelfs free throw was the only other Coyotes point before the half.

The Coyotes led 14-11 at the break.

"We haven't played (Garden County) this year but we know them a little from last year," said Morgan Wolff. "We started out a little slow but we played our game and stuck to it."

Potter-Dix opened the second half with more offensive production, while keeping the lid on the Eagles defensively. Lanie Moench struck first the third period with a duece as the Coyotes opened on a 6-2 run. Tiffany Lewis helped put the cherry on top of a productive period when she completed a three-point play in the final seconds.

Entering the final frame in a 10-point hole, Garden County made a few mini-runs in an attempt to claw back into the game. A top of the key swish by Alicia Ehrlich early in the final quarter was good medicine for the Eagles faithful. But Garden County could never put more than two buckets together.

With 2:35 left in the game the gap was closed to 7 at 34-27. But Potter-Dix responded with 5 straight, including 4 from Rozelle, to dash any hopes the Eagles had left.

Juelfs and Rozelle were were at the top of the scoring sheet for the Coyotes with 12 and 10 points, respectively. Sharman added 6 and Wolff 5. Wolff was most noticalble in the offensive end as an abettor. She finished with 10 assists.

Rozelle was busy on the boards as she pulled down 16 rebounds - 11 off the defensive glass. Lewis snagged another 7 rebounds. Rozelle's busy all-around performance included 6 steals. On five other occasions, Sharman robbed the Eagles of possession.

"I knew they would be good. I knew they had some height and were fast," said Rozelle. "I was excited to play and wanted to give them 130 percent. It's going to have to be the same effort when we play Leyton."