HARTVILLE: Norton sophomore Bryana Housley isn’t ready for the season to come to an end anytime soon.
Neither are her teammates.
The Panthers played fast, with a sense of urgency, and made shots in a 70-53 win Monday over Marlington in a Division II district semifinal at Lake High School.
Norton (20-5) will meet Archbishop Hoban (17-8) in the district final at 7 p.m. Thursday at Lake. The Knights beat Tallmadge 33-28 in Monday’s first semifinal.
Hoban topped Norton in the Lake district final last year before bowing out to Ottawa-Glandorf in the regional bracket at Ontario.
Norton coach Brian Miller praised his players for battling all evening Monday, and said Housley was on the floor “at least a dozen times” going for the ball.
Norton put together a 23-0 run in the second half to separate from the Dukes (17-7).
“I told the girls at halftime, ‘We are not playing Norton basketball,’ ” Miller said. “We were reaching and the calls were going against us a little bit, so we needed to gather ourselves and play our style, which is to trap hard, keep our spacing and quit reaching.
“We knew eventually the pressure would get to Marlington. We have played teams all year with this relentless style, and usually our opponents will wear out about the middle of the third quarter.”
Norton held a 38-34 halftime lead after being locked in a 14-14 tie at the end of the first quarter. The Panthers’ huge run turned a 44-42 lead in the middle of the third quarter into a 67-42 lead with 4:06 remaining in the fourth quarter.
Housley, senior Jimi Howell, junior Sarah Shearer, sophomore Kelsey Hosey, junior Abbey Murawski, junior Jordan Bird and sophomore Logan Favor all scored during the surge.
“Bottom line, your horses carry you,” Miller said. “Jimi had a great game. Abbey played well. Our main guns across the board produced tonight and made shots. Big kudos to Logan Favor, who hit some big shots in the first half. She hit two 3s that were big shots.”
Howell totaled 16 points, 13 rebounds and three steals, Murawski and Favor both scored 12 points, and Housley contributed 10 points, nine assists, seven rebounds and four steals.
“We just hustled as a team to build our lead,” Housley said. “We had trouble finishing a little bit, but then at the end we finished really well. We all looked for each other.”
Shearer scored eight points and Hosey added seven for Norton.
Junior Robin Campbell (20 points) and sophomore Alivia Lepley (10 points) paced the Dukes.
“Our traps got a lot better and we hustled all night,” Howell said. “We finished our shots a little bit better in the second half.”
In the opener, senior Rachel Chessar and sophomore Emma Tecca each scored nine points to guide Hoban past Tallmadge (18-6). The teams traded the lead in the first three quarters — Tallmadge held an 8-6 edge at the end of the first, and Hoban held advantages of 18-14 at halftime and 25-23 through three.
Chessar, a Mercyhurst University recruit, scored all of her points in the first half and Tecca scored all of her points in the second half. Sophomores Lonasia Brewer (six points), Megan Hutson (four points), junior Leah Hall (three points) and freshman Jackie Roberts (two points) also figured into the scoring for Hoban.
“What I was most pleased with was the resiliency of our kids and the fact that we were able to play a style of basketball that we haven’t played all year,” Hoban coach Scott Callaghan said. “We have been a team that pressures all year, scores the ball in transition and plays much more of a free-wheeling style if you will.
“Tonight called for a different game plan. I am pleased with how our kids executed in the half court, defended and rebounded the ball. The kids didn’t let our offensive woes affect our effort.”
Senior Jamie McGhee paced Tallmadge with 12 points, and senior Olivia Ayres scored five points for coach Collin Epstein.
Michael Beaven can be reached at 330-996-3829.