Girls Basketball: Tecumseh scores big win over Trotwood

Tecumseh sophomore guard Presley Griffitts dribbles by Trotwood’s Nai Myers during a nonconference game on Monday night at Reynolds Gymnasium. Contributed Photo by Bryant Billing

Tecumseh sophomore guard Presley Griffitts dribbles by Trotwood’s Nai Myers during a nonconference game on Monday night at Reynolds Gymnasium. Contributed Photo by Bryant Billing

Tecumseh added another big win over a quality opponent to its tournament resume on Monday night. The Arrows ran away from Trotwood-Madison in the first half and cruised to a 61-48 win at Reynolds Gymnasium.

It’s the seventh Greater Western Ohio Conference opponent Tecumseh has defeated this season, which could help in the upcoming tournament draw. Though the Rams (13-5, 9-2 GWOC American South) are Divaion II, they’ve beaten many of the D-1 GWOC teams that the Arrows will be matched up against in the tournament.

Tecumseh (18-2, 11-0 Central Buckeye Conference) put the game away in the first half.

Presley Griffitts hit a shot off the glass and followed with a free throw with two minutes left in the first quarter to put the Arrows up 13-2. Trotwood quickly got back in the game with a series of steals and layups, including one by Nai Myers with 20 seconds left that capped off an 8-0 run.

Tecumseh started the second quarter on an 11-0 run and led by double digits for the rest of the game.

Trotwood coach Hank Benton was ejected from the game late in the second quarter. He was called for a technical foul late in the second, apparently for being too far out on the court. A Trotwood player got a bloody nose a minute later after taking an elbow to the face, and after Benton complained to an official, he was thrown out.

The Rams couldn’t catch up in the second half. After Trotwood cut Tecumseh’s lead to 16 at the end of the third quarter, Tecumseh scored the first five points of the fourth to go up 51-30. The Rams responded with a 10-3 run but never got closer than the final margin of 13 points.

Corinne Thomas led Tecumseh unofficially with 24 points, while Griffitts scored 15. Allison Berner added 11 points for the Arrows.

Mercedes Woodward led Trotwood with 13 points, while Taj Thompson scored 10.

Coaches will vote for tournament seeds online between Thursday and Saturday. The tournament draw is on Sunday.

Tecumseh looks to be in contention for one of the top seeds in the Dayton D-1 sectional along with Wayne (14-4), Springboro (13-4), Beavercreek (12-5), and Centerville (12-5).

Monday’s game won’t be Trotwood’s last at Tecumseh. The Rams are one of 14 teams in the D- II sectional based at Tecumseh and should be one of the top seeds.

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