Allison reaches another milestone as Tigers cruise past Stritch

GIBSONBURG --Lacie Allison continues to rack up milestone after milestone. With her final bucket of the first quarter, the North Baltimore sophomore became just the fifth female to ever score 800 points in a season. Allison scored 33 points and added 15 rebounds as the top-seeded Tigers trounced seventh-seeded Cardinal Stritch 61-17 in a Div. VII district semifinal at Gibsonburg High School on Wednesday. "It means a lot," Allison said. "It shows all the work I've put in. It's really cool to do that. Hearing all my family and friends being able to congratulate me on it, it feels like I've really accomplished something special." Allison's surge past 800 points is the seventh time it has happened in OHSAA history and the first since 1993. Beaver Eastern's Marlene Stollings — the all-time career points leader in state history — did it three times in the early 1990s. She has now scored 823 points this season. "She's full of milestones," NB coach Clinton Ebright said. "I have a feeling I'm happy to see the rest of them going forward. She's a special kind of kid. There's no other way to explain it. You have to watch it for yourself." The Tigers improved to 21-3 and will face Stryker (20-4) in a 3 p.m. district final Saturday at Archbold High School. North Baltimore hasn't played in a district final since 1982, Allison said. "I do what my team needs me to do," Allison said. "Sometimes we need energy. Those hustle plays are what matter to me. You have to hustle and make the right plays." The Tigers got off to a fast start against the Cardinals (7-17). Allison scored twice in the first 24 seconds of the game. A bucket from Avery Benedict made it 6-0 less than a minute in. Tallies from Allison and Benedict extended the lead before a three-point play from Aubrey Cotterman made it 13-1. "It's key to our strategy going forward," said Ebright of the quick start. "We want to have a nice, quick start and pressure the basketball. If you can get some quick, easy buckets off turnovers, that's always nice." Allison picked a steal and score before her final bucket of the frame put North Baltimore up 17-3 after eight minutes. Allison tallied another steal and score before a 3-pointer from Kaylee Allison pushed the margin to 22-3. Later, Lacie Allison made two free throws and Kaylee Allison drained another triple for a 27-5 lead. North Baltimore led 33-7 at halftime, but wanted to play its same game despite being an overwhelming favorite against Cardinal Stritch. "Just a complete game all together," Ebright said. "We want to see the little things — boxing out, rebounding, the playing no-foul defense and playing quick. We like to get the ball and outlet, layups, defense turns into offense. We like to play like that no matter who it is." The Tigers pushed the game into a running clock in the third quarter. Lacie Allison scored eight straight points that included back-to-back 3s. Despite comfortably ahead, the non-stop energy from Lacie Allison trickled throughout her team. She kept a play alive by diving out of bounds. Lacie Allison had 15 of her team's 33 rebounds. "She leads the team in rebounds," Ebright said. "That's another one of her statistical categories that she leads on this basketball team. She does everything for us from top to bottom." Benedict provided plenty of support, scoring 12 points for North Baltimore. She had a pair of 3-pointers in the third quarter as the Tigers pulled away. "She's been in a shooting slump as of late," said Ebright of Benedict. "We've worked all week long to try to get her out of it. She started the season out real hot. She's a sharpshooter. As small as she is, she has to sit in that corner because Lacie grabs all that attention. "She has to be ready to shoot and tonight, she was." North Baltimore will face a Stryker team that defeated Fayette in another Div. VII district semifinal Wednesday. "We have eight (girls)," Ebright said. "It's not going to be real physical going forward for us. We're going to stick to our game plan. We'll get our machines out and we're going to shoot. We'll shadow a lot of things, but we don't really get too physical." CARDINAL STRITCH (7-17)Alivia Castro 0 0-0 0, KK Miltz 1 0-4 2, Morgan Kennedy 0 3-4 3, Amaya Hill 3 4-7 10, Erin Carbe 1 0-0 2. TOTALS 5-28 7-15 17 NORTH BALTMORE (21-3)Aubrey Cotterman 1 2-3 4, Lacie Allison 13 4-4 33, Kaylee Allison 3 0-0 8, Josselyn Paynter 1 0-0 2, Avery Benedict 5 0-0 12, Aubrynn Smith 1 0-0 2. TOTALS 24-50 6-7 61 Cardinal Stritch 3 4 7 3 — 17North Baltimore 17 16 18 10 — 61 Three-point goals: Cardinal Stritch 0/7; North Baltimore 7/20 (L. Allison 3, K. Allison 2, Benedict 2)Rebounds: Cardinal Stritch 20 (Hill 6); North Baltimore 33 (L. Allison 15)Turnovers: Cardinal Stritch 13; North Baltimore 11