Lady Chargers Dominate Home Court, Secure 1st Place in OCCAC
The Lady Chargers have not allowed conference opponents to defeat them in Piqua this season and they would show that non-conference opponents would end in the same result taking on Bluffton University's JV squad on Monday, January 22, 2024.
Article by Rob K. Winkle, Jr., B.A. | Photos by Reflections by Rob, LLC
The Lady Chargers have not allowed conference opponents to defeat them in Piqua this season, and they would show that non-conference opponents would end in the same result, taking on Bluffton University's JV squad on Monday, January 22, 2024. The Chargers would enter this game on a heartbreaking note Freshman forward Ania Pearson (Lima Shawnee HS), will not play the rest of this season facing a six month or more recovery time from an injury on Wednesday January 17, 2024, against Owens. Pearson, who suffered a torn Achilles and underwent surgery last Friday, was on the bench with her teammates to cheer them on today and even posed for a couple of pictures with some players.
The Lady Chargers have had one trait the entire season from all their players: selflessness. No player on this team is selfish; every player plays defense, offense, scores, and helps with ball control. They were then up to the task to fill in the hole left by losing Pearson, though her presence would still be missed. Freshman Allison Hughes (Parkway HS) would enter the game winning her 3rd OCCAC Player of the Week award this season for the week played of January 15–21. Hughes was brutal on boards, strong on defense, and put up 17 points in a high-powered team offensive effort typical of this team would be third highest tonight and had a team-leading 14 rebounds to exceed her season 12.5 RPG totals.
The Chargers offense would be led by a former POTW, an honor an Edison State Lady Charger has taken five times this season (Hughes x 3, Bartel, Yukon); that player being Sophomore Matea Bartel (Colerain HS), who scored 22 points and was on Hughes heels in controlling the boards with 13, sophomore guard Paxton Hunley (Miami-East HS), would drop 20 points with a team-leading seven assists, and the fourth Charger in double digits tonight who also excelled on defense would be sophomore Makenzee Maschino (Troy HS) with 15 points who also dished a team-leading seven assists. Maschino would send four Beavers' shots back-to-sender, leading the Chargers in that category, and steal three matching Bartel's number for the team lead. Sophomore Raegan Beverly (Clermont Northeastern HS) scored 9, making it nearly a full double-digit scoring night for the starting five of Bartel, Maschino, Beverly, Hughes, and Hunley.
Maschino would continue her lockdown defensive game and eventually foul out with 1:51 left in the game. Yukon usually in double digits on the scoring charts would miss double digits for the first time including this appearance her last seven not scoring double digits she would however still post 8, she has still posted double digit scoring in 15 of 19 appearances, Hughes has done so in 13 of now 19 appearances as well. Both Hughes and Bartel hit double-doubles in this game.
The Chargers entered tonight's action 7-0 at home with a 14-4 (4-1) record due to a reversal in an early season game versus Terra State due to player eligibility. Conference loss has been reversed to a 2-0 win for the Lady Chargers. This now puts the Lady Chargers in 1st place in the OCCAC with a 16-3 (5-0) record.
Edison State's women will travel to Miami University-Hamilton on Wednesday at 5:30 p.m. and then return home on Sunday, January 28, 2024, at 1:00 p.m. to host the University of Findlay's JV squad, followed by OCCAC neighboring county rival Clark State Community College also a home game in Piqua on January 31, 2024, at 5:30 p.m.
Where does this leave the ladies' season and OCCAC tournament standing? They currently have ten games remaining, five of which are OCCAC contests, four games are home, and six are away. At this point, you can say the Lady Chargers control their destiny to the OCCAC tournament. With their continued unselfish play, team play, electrifying offense, stringent defense, and ability to play all sides, the future holds bright for this team.
Watch them in action on the following home game schedule:
- Sunday, January 28, 2024, at 1:00 p.m. vs. University of Findlay JV
- Wednesday, January 31, 2024, at 5:30 p.m. vs. Clark State Community College (men's at 7:30 p.m.)
- Saturday, February 3, 2024, at 3:00 p.m. vs. Lakeland Community Community College (men's at 1:00 p.m.)
- Saturday, February 10, 2024, at 3:00 p.m. vs. Cuyahoga CC (men's at 1:00 p.m.)
