Lakota East coach Nikki Drew was emotionally spent after the Thunderhawks upset Drew's former team, Colerain, in a Division I girls' basketball sectional final.The No. 14-seeded Thunderhawks won 68-60 over No. 3 seed Colerain Friday night at Harrison.
Drew was head coach at Colerain for six years, then went to Lakota East last season in an assistant's role. She moved for family reasons and to be nearer her home in the Kings area, then became Lakota East head coach this season after Todd Benzinger stepped down. "I am a woman of mixed emotions tonight, for sure," Drew said. "It's a very unique situation, having been at Colerain."
• Photos: Lakota East 68, Colerain 60
Sophomore forward Molly Blomer had 25 points for East, and sophomore guard Whitney Wyckoff had 21 points and 12 rebounds.
For Colerain, senior guard Ashley Wanninger had 18 points to become the top girls' scorer in school history. The Xavier-bound Wanninger finished with 1,297 career points to eclipse Quanita Hailey (Colerain class of 2001), who had 1,293. Sophomore guard Sheaira Jones also had 18 points for Colerain.
East (13-10) is enjoying its finest season since the Lakota East-split of 1997. Before this winter, East had never won more than eight games in a season. "They're playing smarter than sophomores, that's for sure," said Drew, whose three top scorers Friday were sophs.
Colerain coach Christi Mack said her team was outplayed. East shot 52 percent from the floor, Colerain 36.5 percent. "We had an off-night with our shooting," Mack said. "I told our kids, a 17-5 record is nothing to be ashamed of."
Colerain beat Lakota East 59-51 in the regular season, Jan. 23 at Lakota East.
East advances to the district finals next Saturday (7 p.m.) at Harrison, against the winner of today's Beavercreek-Xenia sectional final.
Colerain (17-5) - Harper 3 3 9, Feuchter 0 1 1, Fitzpatrick 4 0 10, Wanninger 7 1 18, Jones 8 1 18, Thompson 0 1 1, Andrews 1 0 3. Totals: 23 7 60.
Lakota East (13-10) - Blomer 12 0 25, Outlaw 1 2 5, Kidd 0 1 1, Grevenkamp 4 0 9, Wyckoff 7 6 21, Zieverink 2 1 5, Pashi 1 0 2. Totals: 27 10 68.
-683-pointers: C 7 (Wanninger 3, Fitzpatrick 2, Jones, Andrews); LE 4 (Blomer, Outlaw, Grevenkamp, Wyckoff).
