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Greenville
seniors Jenna Dowler (5) and Kelsey Tester (42, below) combined for
37 points Wednesday
at Xenia against Kenton Ridge. The Lady Wave lost
their sectional opener, 87-49 and
closing with a season record of 3-18.
CNO File Photos by George Starks
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Kenton Ridge
too much for Greenville
Dowler and Tester shine in career finale
By George Starks
XENIA- Entering sectional play with a 3-17 mark, the Greenville Lady
Wave was faced with the task of taking on the second seed, Kenton Ridge
Wednesday, in the D-II portion of the tournament. The Wave put up a
fight and played hard to the bitter end before falling to the Cougars,
87-49.
Coming in, facing a team that has three D-I collage players, led by
Mariah Harris (Michigan State), it was an uphill battle for Greenville
right from the tip.
“Kenton Ridge was what everyone said they were,” said Jenna Dowler in a
phone interview. “They have good size and good numbers. They were good.”
Kenton Ridge jumped out to the early 10-2 lead and never looked back.
Trailing 28-10 after one, Dowler started to light it up from outside,
hitting four bombs and getting the Wave to within a 36-22 count in the
second quarter. After a time-out by Kenton Ridge, the Cougars went on a
10-0 run to close out the half and lead 46-22 at the break.
What was a hot shooting Wave team in the second frame was just as cold
in the third, able to net just six third quarter points.
The Cougars were led by Lindsey Fenwick with 23 while Paige McCrary
netted 21 in support. Stefanie Davis and Harris added 12 each.
With the Wave going in as huge underdogs, the two seniors, Dowler and
Kelsey Tester, shined in their final game as a Wave. Dowler finished
the night with 21 points, including five treys while Tester netted 16
points with 11 rebounds.
Despite the lopsided score, the Wave battled, never quitting.
“I think we played our best,” said Dowler. “Coach (Dave McFeely) kept
telling me to go out and be a leader and make sure no one gives up. We
are disappointed we lost but we played together as a team and we played
together really well. Even though we lost, it was a good team effort by
everyone. After the game, he (McFeely) told us that he was very proud
of us and even though we had a rough season, he was proud of the way we
hung in and never quit. Tester and I wanted to go out with a tournament
win but it didn‘t happen. I think Kelsey had a great game and we did
our best. I think we left everything on the floor”
With numbers being down, McFeely knew the season was not going to be an
easy one and it culminated with Kenton Ridge.
“There were a lot of things we couldn’t do with only 14 girls on the
roster,” said McFeely in a pre-game interview. “We couldn’t press and
run kids in and out the way we would have wanted to but these kids
competed hard every game”
With the absence of Megan Galloway in the lineup, Greenville has been
behind the eight ball most of the season as the Wave junior was lost
for the season with an injury.
“When you take a 6-2, 18 point per game, double-double out of the
line-up every night, you lose a lot there,” McFeely said.
Dowler ended by saying if the team wants success next year, it needs to
work hard at the game in the off season.
“If you work hard, you can achieve anything you want to,” said Dowler.
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