'We always stick it through': Plucky Mogadore basketball upsets Southern in district semi

CRESTON — Brook McIntyre has endured a lot during her senior season at Mogadore.

First, she sustained a hairline fracture of her right hip during the Wildcats' first cross country meet of the season, sidelining her for eight weeks.

Then, in Mogadore girls basketball's opener, more bad luck struck McIntyre in the form of a fractured right fibula, casting doubt on whether she would be able to salvage her final basketball season for the Wildcats.

Showing hard work and incredible resolve, the guard returned to the hardwood in January, helping the Wildcats transform themselves from a 5-9 team to a 13-11 squad that will play Loudonville Saturday afternoon in a district final.

Wednesday night at Norwayne High School, McIntyre poured in a team-high 18 points to lead ninth-seeded Mogadore past six-seed Salineville Southern 51-41 in a Division IV district semifinal.

"It was definitely a journey and definitely a struggle for sure," said McIntyre, who has scored over 1,000 career points at Mogadore. "My ankle still bothers me now but not nearly as bad. Our team has been through a lot this year, especially with me getting hurt, but I think all around we have struck it through and pulled through."

Her team a slight underdog, McIntyre was confident at the outset.

"I knew from the jump, before we even got in here, that we were the underdogs," she said. "I honestly prefer that. I knew that we were going to come out, maybe not have a great start, but we always stick it through. We always had confidence that we were going to come out on top as long as we worked on defense and that was the key."

Mogadore coach Jen Ritch also had a good feeling about this one.

"We thought it was going to be a close game," she said. "They have weapons just like we do. We were just hoping ours could outlast theirs."

Ahead by just a bucket at the half (23-21), Mogadore, now 8-2 in its last 10 outings, sank 6-of-7 shots to begin the final half and never looked back. The fact that the Wildcats came out of the intermission on fire was quite a departure from the 10-of-46 (22 percent) effort they had in the first 16 minutes.

Though the percentage was ugly, the number of attempts was a direct result of an impressive collective rebounding effort by the Wildcats, who owned the boards to the tune of 29-15 in the first half. That helped to limit Southern possessions while also perhaps wearing them down in the process.

"They are very similar to us. They play five kids, I play five kids," Ritch said. "I think we just wore them out and were in better shape a little bit. And Brook had her legs at the end."

"We are not a team that can rely on hitting our shots all the time, so we always want to be aggressive rebounding," McIntyre added. "Amelia (Morris) and Olivia (Kidd), our two posts, did amazing tonight with being aggressive on the boards. Without their rebounding, we would not have been where we got tonight. When we aren't hitting our shots, I think we all pretty much know that we need to go rebound or follow our shots."

Strong throughout the contest, the Mogadore defense was at its best during the second quarter, holding Southern to just four points after the latter had established a 17-14 edge during a fast-paced first quarter.

Senior Ashley Shroades opened the second quarter with a jumper to give Southern its largest lead of the night at five points before McIntyre scored and Morris added a bucket off a turnover to pull the Wildcats within 19-18.

McIntyre drilled a 3-pointer to extend the run to seven points before Southern's Makenna Jones tied things at 21-all at the 1:50 mark.

Mogadore junior Ari Tompkins, who contributed 12 of her 17 points in the second half to keep Southern at bay, converted a putback in the latter moments of the frame to give the Wildcats their slim lead at the break.

Shroades finished with a game-high 24 points, tallying a dozen in each half. Her last eight points came in the final minute with the outcome in hand. Jones finished with 10.

"We obviously had to get a hand in her face," said Ritch of the defensive effort against Shroades. "She is a great player, a great offensive threat; she can shoot the 3, she can drive. We just knew that we had to stay between her and the basket."

Morris and Julie Tompkins each finished with eight points. Morris had six in the the first quarter and helped set the tone for the relentless attack on the glass. The rebounding numbers were pretty much even following the half, but the Wildcats still finished with a 47-28 advantage.

"Get to the foul line, make layups, out-rebound everybody. That is our mantra," said Ritch. "I have some of the smallest girls on the floor and they will go get them (rebounds). They are not afraid. They can jump."

Top-seeded Loudonville, which dismantled Lowellville 65-17 in Wednesday night's opening game, defeated the Wildcats 66-22 during the regular season prior to McIntyre's return. Ritch said she knows Saturday is going to be a tough challenge, but she and her team are just enjoying their first district appearance since 2017-2018 and are ready to play another hard-fought 32 minutes.

"Our goal was to get here, this was the hump we were trying to get over," she said. "We wanted to be in the district championship. This group is special, they are underdogs, always, and they fight like crazy. So that is what we are going to do — we are going to show up and we are going to fight."

This article originally appeared on Record-Courier: Mogadore High School girls basketball upsets Southern in district semi