Tipp heads into break with win at Fairborn

Anytime you play a winless team, it’s easy to lose focus and play down to your competition…it’s commonly called a ‘trap game.’ It could have been the perfect chance for Fairborn to sneak away with their first win of the season.

But for the Red Devils, they battled through parts of lethargic play and earned a 45-28 victory to push their record to 5-3 overall and 4-2 in the Miami Valley League.

“It’s always nice getting a league win over Christmas break especially after losing Wednesday, so it was good to end things on a good note heading into Christmas,” Tipp coach Chistina Pentaudi said. “It will be nice for us to take the break and come back rejuvenated when we come back from our days off.”

“We definitely had a lack of energy in spurts tonight and I thought we turned it on at other times, so we just have to work through being able to maintain the high energy consistently.”

Tipp held Fairborn to only two points in the first quarter as Tipp jumped out to a 9-2 lead after the opening eight minutes. It was Laney Cleckner and Macey Griffin who each hit a three in the opening part of the game, a feat they would repeat two other times in the game.

Fairborn closed the gap to 16-10 with 3:40 left in the opening half before the Red Devils closed out the half on a 11-2 run, as Cleckner and Griffin each connected on threes. The inside game of Courtney Post and Emily Aselage closed the half with buckets, and Tipp led 27-12 at the break.

The Red Devils put together a solid third quarter to maintain control of the game, ending the period on a 5-0 run thanks to Aselage and Turner, who scored twice in the final two minutes to give Tipp a 40-18 lead heading to the fourth.

Cleckner led the Red Devils with 11 points in a balanced attack. Griffin added nine, Post scored eight, and Aselage contributed seven.

Also before the break, Tipp lost to West Carrollton 47-40 as Post led the way with 13 in the loss. Tipp also got eight from Turner with six from Cleckner.

Tipp hosts Sidney on Saturday at 11:45 a.m. before traveling to Sidney next Wednesday as they look to close the gap in the Miami Division.