Girls Best of the Week: Pleasant knots up MOAC standings with victory over Shelby

SHELBY — Pleasant climbed back into first place in the Mid Ohio Athletic Conference girls basketball standings after a 52-40 victory at Shelby on Friday.

The Spartans are now 12-1 overall and 6-1 in the MOAC, while Shelby is 9-2, 6-1. Clear Fork is next at 9-4, 3-2, while River Valley is two behind in the loss column at 4-3, 6-6 overall.

Pleasant led from the start, holding an 11-4 edge after the first quarter and 17-16 lead at halftime. They were ahead 35-29 entering the fourth period and continued to pull away from there.

Avah Steele paced the Spartans with 17 points, going 10-for-14 from the foul line in the fourth quarter, while Whitney Waddell had 15 points and Emerson Williams eight.

Photos from the big MOAC game: GALLERY: Pleasant at Shelby Girls Basketball

More photos: GALLERY: Clear Fork at River Valley Girls Basketball

More Girls Basketball

● Elgin moved its record to 9-3 overall when it stopped Vanlue 59-24. Maycee Muselin posted 20 points, Jordan Wall nine points, Madison Hill six rebounds and Sam Girton eight assists for the Comets. In a 63-24 win over Ridgemont, Muselin put up 17 points, Girton 12 points with six rebounds, seven assists and five steals, Wall nine points, Delainy Boles eight points and Hill seven rebounds.

● Ridgedale tripped up Mansfield Christian 46-45 as Maddie McKenzie led with 11, Callie Comer with nine and Lauren Leslie and Lilly Ruth with eight each. Tree of Life trimmed Ridgedale 30-17 as no one for the Rockets scored more than five points.

● Highland bounced back from a 45-9 loss to Granville to knock off Ontario 46-40 in double overtime. The Scots were down four in the first OT but came back to force a second one in which they prevailed. Bryleigh Young scored 13 and Aubree Bellamy and Addie Mullins nine apiece for Highland.

● River Valley topped London 50-38 with Megan Clausing scoring 15, Lexie Hecker nine and Halle Snyder eight. Ava Roseberry scored nine points to pace the team in a 31-29 win over Clear Fork.

● Aniya Mitchell scored 14, Adley Haines 11 and Janaiye Braddy nine in Marion Harding's 48-24 win over Galion.

● North Union's Audrey Benedict put up 23 points and seven rebounds to help her team to a 54-34 win over Northwestern. Zoe Wedding chipped in with 12 points and seven steals, Gabby Lindsey nine points, Cailyn Colegrove eight rebounds and Kennedy Harrah five assists. In a 51-40 loss to Harvest Prep, Benedict and Lindsey both scored 14 points with Lindsey also grabbing eight rebounds and Addison Wedding pulling down eight boards with five steals.

● Cardington downed Mount Gilead 40-39 as Jill Bertke scored 15, Abigail Herdwick nine and Madison Caulkins seven rebounds. For MG, Faith White had 14 points, four assists and four steals, Danielle Pohlkotte eight points and four assists, and Greer Simpson six rebounds.

● Mount Gilead did beat East Knox 47-26. White paced the Indians with 11 points and four assists, followed by Olivia Long's 11 points, Pohlkotte's nine points and three steals. Aubrey Thomas had eight points and seven rebounds, Simpson with nine rebounds and Kendall Neal with three steals.

● Northmor fell to Fredericktown 42-24 with Madison Simpson getting eight points and eight rebounds for the Knights and Ryan Brinkman four steals. The Knights bounced back for a 40-32 win over Mansfield Temple Christian with Madison Simpson producing 13 points and 11 boards, Alexis See eight points and seven rebounds and Brinkman seven rebounds.

Girls Bowling

● Pleasant upset River Valley and gave it its first loss in the MOAC on Friday at Bluefusion. Peyton Walters paced the Spartans with a 199-147 346 as did Ashlyn Peters with a 194-150 344. Isabel Romero added a 283 series, Kenzie Childers a 280 series and Breahna Howard a 266 series. For RV, Laurie Ann Cox shot a 179-160 339 followed by a 286 from Olivia Thorpe and a 266 from Kenzie Schwartz. Alexis Manning had a 198 game. Pleasant led 1,519-1,483 after the regulation games. The Vikings outscored Pleasant 331-302 in the two Baker games, but it wasn't enough to pull off the comeback.

● Cardington defeated Marion Harding 1,598-1,472 at Morrow Lanes as Abbey Knight carded a 183 game and 315 series for the Presidents. In a 1,486-1,350 win over Shelby at Dynasty Lanes in Willard, Knight shot a 165 game and 295 series and Trinity Ficklin a 286 series.

● North Union's Ryleigh Rasey had a 375, Lexi Bahan a 338 and Montana Donohue a 329 in a 2,325-2,071 loss to Graham. Bahan led with a 406 followed by a 352 from Emma McCaul, a 335 from Donohue and a 301 from Rasey during a 2,319-2,297 loss to Bellefontaine.

● Despite playing four-on-five, Highland nearly knocked off Galion, losing 1,367-1,327. Elyssa Reigles shot a 199 game and 379 series to lead the Scots.

Girls Swimming

● Mount Gilead was second behind Upper Sandusky and ahead of Wynford during a swim meet at Bucyrus. The 200-yard freestyle relay team of Jillian Jones, Cassidy Irwin, Kendall Neal and Abby Griffith won, while the 200 medley relay was second. Griffith was second in the 100-yard butterfly and 100 backstroke as was Neal in the 100 breaststroke. Neal was also third in the 50 free as was Camryn Travis in the 100 breaststroke.

Girls Wrestling

● River Valley was sixth, Highland eighth and Elgin 10th at the 20-team DeSales Girls Classic.

● Elgin's Hallie Winslow won the 120-pound weight class as did teammate Gabbie Philips at 170, and RV's Kylee Sardina was runner-up at 140. Taking third were RV's Kiley Ratleff at 105, Valerie Riegel at 110 and Highland's Brianna Tuggle at 130. Earning fourth was Highland's Chloe Perdas at 155 and Emma Bolton at 235. In fifth was Elgin's Neveah Hunter at 105, while sixth were Highland's Lillia Roesky at 110, Kayla Mendez at 120, Mia Arick at 140 and Abigail Walston at 235 and RV's Havyn Rodgers at 135.

Coaches and statisticians are encouraged to send their results to the Marion Star's Rob McCurdy at rmccurdy@gannett.com, 419-610-0998, X @McMotorsport and Instagram @rob_mccurdy_star.

Vote: Marion Star Girls Best of the Week Performer Poll

• North Union basketball's Audrey Benedict scored 23 points with seven rebounds in a win over Northwestern.

• Pleasant's Avah Steele scored 17 points, going 10 of 14 from the foul line in the fourth quarter of a win over Shelby.

• Elgin basketball's Sam Girton scored 12 points with six rebounds, seven assists and five steals in a win over Ridgemont.

• Cardington's Jill Bertke scored 15 points in a win over Mount Gilead.

• Northmor's Madison Simpson scored 13 points with 11 rebounds in a win over Mansfield Temple Christian.

• Voting for this week's polls will continue through early Sunday morning at MarionStar.com and its app.

• During voting for the Girls Best of the Break Performer Poll, River Valley wrestler Havyn Rodgers who earned the 145-pound championship at the River Valley Girls Wrestling Invitational, received 510 of 984 votes (52 percent) to win the poll. Other nominees were Elgin wrestler Hallie Winslow, Marion Harding wrestler Ebonie Harding, Pleasant swimmer Stephanie Foos and Northmor basketball's Shelby Cooper.

This article originally appeared on Marion Star: Girls Best: Pleasant, Elgin surging on basketball court