Defending state champ too much down the stretch in regional semifinal
SPRINGFIELD — It was five minutes of basketball West Liberty-Salem would love to have back.
After cutting a nine-point deficit to one with 5:45 remaining, WL-Salem did not score another point in falling to Versailles 46-37 in a Division III girls regional semifinal Wednesday at Springfield High School.
“We just didn’t take advantage of our opportunities in the fourth quarter,” said West Liberty-Salem head coach Dennis McIntosh, who earlier in the day was announced as the Division III Southwest District coach of the year. “We rushed some shots and they did a good job boxing out and limiting us to one shot. We didn’t have many second-chance opportunities.”
The defending Division III state champion, Versailles ended the game on an 8-0 run to advance to the regional final against Marion Pleasant on Saturday.
“Defensively, I thought we played as well as we could have played,” said McIntosh. “But we didn’t knock down some of the shots we’ve been making lately.”
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West Liberty-Salem’s Mikalia McIntosh puts up a shot during the second half of Wednesday’s Division III regional semifinal game against Versailles at Springfield High School. (EXAMINER PHOTO | MATT HAMMOND) |
Read complete story in Thursday’s Examiner.
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