By Michael Rich
Taylor Collins sparked a 12-0 run in the second quarter to send host Dublin Scioto past Delaware Hayes 52-33 in girls basketball action Tuesday night.
Collins, a freshman, started the run with a long offensive rebound and basket. She followed with a steal and a layup and finished with five points and four steals for the Irish (5-10).
“We had 10 turnovers in the last three minutes of the first half,” Pacers coach Jim Morgan said. “We’ve got to be better with the ball. I thought our effort was decent, but it comes down to ball skills … and we don’t have it. ”
Natalie Hutras scored off another Collins steal on the next possession for the Irish before Kennedie Lomax scored a pair of baskets and Viktoria Bedalli hit a free throw to round out the scoring and give Scioto a 30-17 lead at the break.
Morgan says a lot of the work that his team needs will happen in the offseason.
“This is a long building project, so it’s not going to happen overnight, that’s for sure,” Morgan said. “And a lot of that is going to happen in the offseason. Being able to handle the ball with both hands — you can do some stuff in-season with — but out of season is when that’s going to have to happen.”
The 30 turnovers and 21 points that Scioto scored off them really cost the Pacers.
“It’s just frustrating when you’re right there in the first half and all of a sudden, you’re down 13,” Morgan said. “And it’s because you make bad decisions.”
McKenzie Lomax finished with a double-double, earning game-highs in both points with 18 and rebounds with 11. She also had four steals. Hutras scored 10 points, including an 8-for-8 effort at the free throw line.
The Irish went 17-for-26 at the line as a team, compared to 2-for-3 for the Pacers.
Scioto opened 7-0, which was started by a Lomax three-point play.
But Hayes followed with a 9-2 run, capped by a Madison Eldridge three-pointer. She had five during the opening run and finished with a team-high eight. Hutras made a pair of free throws to give the Irish an 11-9 lead at the end of the first.
“(Eldridge) wants to get better,” Morgan said. “You can tell in practice, she’s trying to get every single thing right — she’s working hard. She’s making progress, she really is.”
Katie Blair opened the third quarter with a three-pointer for the Pacers (2-11), but they couldn’t get any closer. Scioto extended the lead to 14 at 40-26 after three before pulling away in the fourth.
“I think Katie played really hard,” Morgan said. “Katie was sick, she wasn’t feeling real good. I thought Katie gave us everything she had.”
Blair had seven points, four steals and four assists for Hayes. Brandy Bauer pulled down a team-high five rebounds to go with four points off the bench.
Hayes continues OCC-Capital play at Worthington Kilbourne Friday night at 7:30 p.m.
“You gotta keep scraping every day. You gotta come prepared to practice every day and you gotta keep working hard to try to figure this out,” Morgan said. “We have nine games to go and we’re going to prepare to win every single one of them.”
Follow Michael Rich on Twitter @mrichdelgazette.
