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Gates gets Red going in the right direction

LISBON — Crestview senior Alexis Gates began Monday’s 32nd annual Columbiana County Classic playing strictly for fun. Once the second half rolled around, though, her competitive instinct began kicking in.

Gates scored 16 of her game-high 20 points in the second half–including a number of crucial threes–to help her Red team rally past the Blue team 48-43 at Nace Gymnasium.

“My team said they were going to have fun and didn’t really care about winning, but I think the athlete in all of us came out at the end,” Gates said. “When we were down, we just wanted to push through and get the win.”

Gates’ second-half shooting display earned her MVP honors for the Red team. She made all five of her threes after halftime, including a stretch of three in a little over a minute to highlight a 13-2 run that saw the Red team surge in front 36-32–its first lead since early in the first half.

“Once I start hitting shots, I get more confident and then it just continues to roll,” Gates said. “I was having a lot of fun with those girls too, so that made it even better.”

The Blue team stayed within striking distance the rest of the game, but Gates nailed another three with one minute left to make the score 48-43, which is where it stayed the rest of the game.

“It’s was just a lot of fun playing with all the enthusiastic girls of this county,” Gates said. “I was excited to get to know some new people and excited to play against my AAU friends Karlee (Pezzano) Alexa (Bell) and Mackenzie (Mason) for one of the last times in high school.”

Beaver Local’s Madison Roberts collected 12 points and five rebounds to take home the Blue team MVP.

For Roberts, the night presented a rare opportunity for her to play with her cousin, Lisbon All-Ohioan Karlee Pezzano. It was a chance both of them had plenty of fun with after being on opposing teams throughout their careers.

“We played AAU together last year, but other than that we’ve never been on the same team,” Roberts said. “We’re best friends, so it was a lot of fun to play together out there instead of against each other.”

“It’s always weird when we play against each other,” Pezzano said. “I feel like we should always be on the same team. Knowing each other well makes it easier to work together on the floor. It felt good playing with her tonight.

Pezzano could have easily won the Blue team MVP herself and finished with 11 points, including a team-high three three-pointers.

“I was hoping we could share the MVP,” Roberts said.

Game notes

• Pezzano’s grandmother Lou Pezzano tossed the ball for the tip-off prior to the game in recognition of her years of support for Lisbon athletics.

“It was pretty special,” Pezzano said. “I’m sure she and I will both remember that for a long time.”

• Also helping the Red team to victory was Salem forward Helene Shontz, who compiled 10 points and nine rebounds including a key offensive board and putback with 1:44 left. Columbiana’s Brittany Mook added five points and four rebounds for the Red team.

• Other notable contributors for the Blue team included Leetonia’s All-Ohio forward Kristy Eckman, who totaled six points and nine rebounds.

RED: 17-31–48

BLUE: 21-22–43

RED SCORING: Brittany Mook (Columbiana) 2-0-5, Alexis Gates (Crestview) 7-1-20, Madison Smith (United) 1-1-3, Jaybreona Foster (East Liverpool) 1-0-2, Lindsey Donato (United) 0-0-0, Mariah Rovnak (Columbiana) 1-0-3, Helene Shontz (Salem) 5-0-10, Haleigh Anderson (United) 1-0-3, Hailee Hamilton (East Palestine) 1-0-2. TEAM TOTALS: 19, 2-8: 48.

BLUE SCORING: Madison Roberts (Beaver Local) 6-0-12, Alexa Bell (Lisbon) 2-0-4, Elizabeth Mills (Leetonia) 0-2-2, Karlee Pezzano (Lisbon) 4-0-11, Sarah Keyes 1-0-2, Mackenzie Mason (Lisbon) 0-1-1, Lexi Merriman (Beaver Local) 1-0-2, Tori Norman (Leetonia) 1-1-3, Joanna Bell (Heartland) 0-0-0, Kristy Eckman (Leetonia) 2-2-6. TEAM TOTALS: 17, 6-15: 43.

Three-point goals: Red 8 (Gates 5, Mook, Rovnak, Anderson), Blue 3 (Pezzano 3).

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