Tornadoes' D stifles Redmen in 53-35 win

FOSTORIA- Columbian had a gameplan coming into Monday night's game at Fostoria with one goal in mind: win. The Tornadoes carved a path as they came out victorious against Fostoria 53-32 in non-conference play. "We are learning how to win. We are learning how to build confidence in ourselves. It's part of the culture we are trying to build," Columbian first-year coach Morgan Harrigan said. "People stepped up that needed to. I think our team can be a dangerous one, having five or six weapons on a different night. We never know who the leader is going to be on any given night." Lead scorer of the night for the Tornadoes, and of the game, Lexi Beaston, offered up a motivation from the team for the win. "This was a great game. Today we came into it really focused. We really wanted to get off to a good start of 3-0 heading into our first home game. I have to thank the coaches and my teammates, and we all just really wanted to win it," Beaston said. TC (3-0) had a rough start in the first quarter, as it struggled against the Lady Red, and at the end of the quarter TC led 11-9. The second quarter proved to be what buried Fostoria, as the Tornadoes took off on a 19-point run. To kick things off, Beaston scored a 3-pointer from outside the middle part of the arc just 30 seconds in. From there, between a Marissa Allen steal that resulted in a basket, two Maddie Richie foul shots, and Mia Zeis bucket, the score was 20-9 with 2:45 left in the first half. Allen nailed a 3-point shot, Maggie Rannigan threw in a 3-pointer, Abbie Felske added three points between a bucket and foul shots, and Richie sealed the deal at the end by making one free throw. "We really got locked in and got comfortable with what we asked them to do defensively," Harrigan said. "We took much better shots. In the first quarter, we were a little frantic, we relied on our defense. Second quarter, we locked down and we scored 19 points." The only shot made by the Lady Red was a 3-point shot from Kamyrn Coopshaw. The score at the half came 30-12. "Second quarter they came out and made some shots. It seems like we just panicked. You know, as a coaching staff, this is our first year with this team, and we are still learning. I am still learning how to make adjustments on the fly, and it seemed like Columbian gelled in the second quarter and then we went into panic mode and we just need to slow down, calm down, and get the little things right to stay in the game," Fostoria first-year coach Andrew Cantrell said. Fostoria decided after halftime that it was time to mount a comeback, even with on-the-fly adjustments. It scored a total of 13 points in the third quarter, while only allowing the Tornadoes to score 10. Unfortunately for the Lady Red, it was too little, too late as Columbian went on another 13-point run in the fourth, and the Tornado defense allowed Fostoria to score seven points which came from two buckets thrown by Lyrique Johnson and a 3-pointer from Coopshaw with a little over a minute to go.For the Lady Red, top scorer of the night went to Lyrique Johnson with 13 points, and Coopshaw with seven. In addition to Beaston's 15 points for TC, Felske and Rannigan both had 12 points on the night for the Tornadoes. "Credit to my teammates. They make me feel like I can be myself. If I make a mistake, they are there to lift me up," Beaston said. "Our new coaches this year, I feel really embraced and they brought their own offenses and defenses. I think we are really embracing it and making the best of it and really doing the best we can." Beaston said. Harrigan echoed Beaston's sentiments: "Tonight, that was Lexi Beaston, and it was nice to see the ballgame work in her favor." Columbian 53, Fostoria 35TC (3-0): Lexi Beaston 3-3-15 Abbie Felske 4-1-12 Maggie Rannigan 0-3-12 Marissa Allen 1-1-6 Mia Zeis 2-2-6 Maddy Richie 0-2-2 Fostoria (1-2): Lyrique Johnson 6-1-13 Kamryn Coopshaw 0-1-7 Alycia Middlebrooks 1-0-5 Amijah Poole 0-1-3 Alajah Williams 0-0-2-2 Brooklyn Holman 0-2-2 Fostoria 9-3-13-7-32 TC: 11-19-10-13-53 Turnovers: Fostoria: 23 TC: 11