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Bristol snaps skid, topples Maplewood

Tribune Chronicle / Bob Ettinger Kendyl Switzer knocks down one of her four 3-pointers as Emily Kohlmorgan defends in a Division IV sectional semifinal Wednesday night in Bristolville.

BRISTOLVILLE — Bristol girls basketball coach John King understands fully just what it takes for the Panthers to be able to play the game the way he wants them to play it.

The formula fell into place early for King and his troops as the sharpshooting of Kendyl Switzer gave the Panthers an early lead before the defense did its job in a 35-24 victory over visiting Maplewood in a Division IV sectional first-round game.

“Those two 3-pointers (from Switzer) were huge,” King said. “That was part of what we were hoping for because if we jump out to an early lead, we have a good chance to use the press. And our press only works if we’re making shots.”

Bristol (8-15) snapped a 10-game losing streak to advance to play for a sectional championship. Though King wasn’t looking ahead, he is now faced with preparing his seventh-seeded Panthers for a trek to play at top-seeded Cuyahoga Heights on Saturday at 1 p.m.

“I wasn’t even really looking at (Cuyahoga Heights) yet,” King said. “We’ve been struggling since we lost Brenna (Rimer, who is injured). This was a big game for us. We’d lost 10 in a row and this game was very, very important to us to win. I’ll watch some film tonight, but from seeing them, they’re honestly a very, very good team. We’re going to have to play our best. But if anybody can do it, I have total confidence these girls can.”

After Breanna Songer scored in the first minute of action, Switzer dropped a pair of 3-point bombs on the Rockets, the first with 5:31 to play in the first period and the second just 35 seconds later to put the Panthers up, 8-0.

“On those two possessions, we got a little penetration,” King said. “That collapsed the defense, we made the right passes and (Switzer) shot it with confidence.”

“I’ve got to give her credit,” Maplewood coach Mark Yoder said. “She got some open shots on us and she made the most of them. She’s to be commended for that. It’s not an easy thing to stand there and shoot 3-point shots.”

Bristol held a 14-8 advantage at the half and despite going nearly five minutes without a bucket, still led, 21-14, to start the fourth quarter, though it took another triple from Switzer to make that possible.

After Autumn Hanek scored the final points of the first half and Jordan Letcher scored the first points of the third period, the Rockets (5-18) were within four, 14-10, with 7:07 to play in the third.

“It was 14-10 for what seemed like a long time,” Yoder said. “We play pretty good defense when we actually get back and play defense if we don’t have live-ball turnovers that lead to shots in transition. It’s never a problem for us, playing defense and playing hard. It’s just… On the offensive end, for lack of a better word, we’re weak.”

Alayna Sines’ tally with 4:26 to play in the quarter broke the Panthers’ scoreless stretch to make it 16-10 with 4:26 to play in the period. Switzer dropped her third triple, this one from the top of the key, to put Bristol up, 19-10.

“That three was huge,” King said. “I felt like nobody had momentum. (Switzer) hit that and everything changed. When she hit that, our spirit went way up.

“We penetrated and the girl guarding Kendyl helped in. We got a perfect diagonal pass (from Sines) and (Switzer) stepped into it. That was a he shot. The momentum changed and helped us with the game.”

Switzer later connected from beyond the arc for the fourth time to push a 25-18 advantage into double digits and all but seal the win with 5:19 to play in the fourth. Hailee Elza added eight of her 10 points in that final period as Bristol held on for the win.

The Panthers’ defense held Maplewood to just 24 points and less than 15 through three periods, but there was room for improvement.

“To be honest I’m still not pleased,” King said. “We do good things, we hustle so well, then we do something to negate the good we did by reaching in or just being undisciplined. We preach on that stuff in practice and we still have the bad habits. We negate a lot of the good stuff we do by being undisciplined.”

Switzer netted 15 points and Elza added 10 more to go along with her eight rebounds and four assists.

Jordan Letcher tallied a dozen points and Autumn Hanek chipped in with six to lead the Rockets.

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