Solon girls basketball cruises past Davis County in regional semifinals
On Wednesday night the Solon girls basketball team(20-3) played host to Davis County (10-13) in a win-or-go-home regional semifinal matchup.
Heading into the game, Solon—the third-ranked team in Class 3A—averaged 72 points in their last seven wins. They continued to pile on the points on Wednesday, earning an 82-21 win over the Mustangs.
“We knew not to take anything for granted coming into this game because you never know what could happen,” said Solon senior Hailey Miller. “So, we knew we had to come out and get on them right away and pressure them with our defense like we normally do.”
Solon simply outclassed the Mustangs in every facet of the game. The Spartans were the aggressors—making their presence felt with in-your-face defense right from the opening tip.
Kobi Lietz and Mia Stahle helped lead the defensive charge, and it proved to be the difference maker. Solon didn’t let Davis County breathe starting at halfcourt. They disrupted the passing lanes which led to transition points. The Spartans allowed only two points in the opening quarter.
“Our defense is pretty solid this year, and our defense leads to offense which gives us easy points,” Lietz said.
Solon’s Callie Levin found open teammates —like she has all season— and drained three 3-pointers and added 11 total points to her stat line in the first eight minutes. Miller provided a spark that helped Solon jump out to a big lead early on. She scored the Spartans’ first field goal of the night--a 3-pointer--and made a couple of hustle plays in the paint. The fourth-year starter had nine points in the opening quarter.
“Hailey’s been good. She’s a senior [and] she’s seen it all,” said Solon head coach Jamie Smith. “Hit some open shots, got to the rim. We found her when she was open.”
The Spartans had a 29-point advantage at the start of the second quarter, and great team basketball helped keep the Mustangs at bay throughout the rest of the game. Three of Solon's starters scored in double-digits. Levin scored a team-high 23 points, Miller added 13 points and Stahle had 10 points.
Heading into Wednesday's game, the Spartans were coming off a 78-22 blowout win over Fairfield in the regional quarterfinals. Their 61-point margin of victory on Wednesday serves as a confidence booster.
“It’s really important, especially being up by that much, because it gives us confidence going into the next game...we don’t want to take anything for granted because we know we have high expectations, but we just need to play our game," Miller said.
The Spartans will look to continue their postseason success as they host Chariton (20-3) in a Class 3A regional final matchup on Saturday.
This article originally appeared on Iowa City Press-Citizen: Solon girls basketball outclasses Davis County in 82-21 win
