Girls Sectional Basketball: Olivia DiFranco carries load as Midview tops Amherst, sets school record

EATON TWP. — Olivia DiFranco blew up Amherst's defensive scheme Thursday night as Midview advanced to the Division I district semifinal. With the Comets making an extreme effort to limit the effectiveness of the Middies' 6-foot-5 Mary Meng, DiFranco stepped up to the task in leading Midview to a decisive 52-34 victory. The Middies, with a school-record 19 wins against four losses, will face Cleveland St. Joseph on Tuesday at Valley Forge. Amherst, which went 0-3 against Midview this season, exits the tournament trail at 11-12. "It's always hard to beat a team three times, especially when you're going up against a good team," DiFranco said. "Their game plan coming in was to take Meng out, which they did. You can't stop her for the whole game." Amherst's plan worked at the outset. The Comets had a 12-5 lead four minutes into the game on the strength of seven points from junior Kristen Kelley, but Midview closed the quarter on a 6-0 run. Meng got her first field goal on a rebound, one of an amazing 21 she pulled down for the game. DiFranco took over in the second quarter, scoring 11 points in leading Midview to a 25-17 halftime advantage. The Middies ended the half with 10 unanswered points as Amherst seemed to force shots without running the offense as it had earlier. "Olivia's just that kind of player," Meng said. "She showed that (Thursday) knocking down threes and getting to the basket. She can do it all." DiFranco, whose sister and cousin also play for the Middies, finished with 28 points on 11-of-21 from the floor, including four 3-pointers. She even picked up a half-dozen assists, some going to Meng to get her going. "Second half, I was just trying to feed her the ball," DiFranco said. "If you toss it up, she's going to get it. It's like a 'Hail Mary' pass. She'll get it." Meng, even with a slow start, scored 16. Midview hit 45 percent from the floor and outrebounded Amherst by a whopping 42-24. "Thank God we got Olivia going the way she did," said Midview coach Brittney McNamara. "Our game plan going in was keeping (the Comets) on their toes, changing up defenses here and there." "Against good teams, you have to able to score," said Amherst coach John Rositano. "When you're not scoring, it just puts too much pressure on your defense. When you have a girl like DiFranco going off like that and then you have a girl like Meng who can rebound the way she does, it makes it very difficult. "It's a shot-making game. You have to make some shots. We did early but as the game wore on, we just couldn't." Amherst finished hitting just 28.5 percent. In the first four minutes, the Comets went 5-for-9. Kelley led Amherst with 16 points and Kayla Ferancy added nine. Natalie Pleban didn't score but secured nine rebounds. Midview's win beat the school record tied by last year's 18-4 team. McNamara couldn't have been prouder. "It is awesome," she said. "These girls have worked really hard the last two years. We tied it last year. Now we're the most winningest team in Midview's girls school history. Feels great, feels pretty good." Contact Tim Gebhardt at (440) 329-7135 or timothygeb@msn.com. Midview 52, Amherst 34 Amherst (34): Kristen Kelley 7-1-16, Kayla Feracny 4-0-9, Natalie Pleban 0-0-0, Bradyn Silvasy 2-0-6, Jocelyn George 1-0-3, Ava Darmos 0-0-0, Jayla Cruz 0-0-0, Peyton Roberts 0-0-0, Abigail Bertke 0-0-0. Totals 14-1-34. Midview (52): Grace Seymour 2-0-4, Olivia DiFranco 11-2-28, Mary Meng 7-2-16, Leah DiFranco 1-0-2, Mya DiFranco 0-0-0, Erica Baldoza 0-0-0, Alana Stacey 1-0-2, Riley Willard 0-0-0, Alexis Weaver 0-0-0, Maggie Barnes 0-0-0, Hunter Crum 0-0-0, Amelia Volney 0-0-0, Norah Sgro 0-0-0, Ava Lewis 0-0-0, Samantha Pebworth 0-0-0. Totals 22-4-52. Amherst&emsp;&emsp;12&emsp;&emsp;5&emsp;&emsp;10&emsp;&emsp;7&emsp;&emsp;—&emsp;&emsp;34 Midview&emsp;&emsp;11&emsp;&emsp;14&emsp;&emsp;19&emsp;&emsp;8&emsp;&emsp;—&emsp;&emsp;52 Three-point goals: Amherst 5-16 (Silvasy 2, Kelley, Ferancy, George), Midview 4-9 (O. DiFranco 4). Field goals: Amherst 14-49 (28.5 percent), Midview 22-49 (45 percent). Free throws: Amherst 1-2 (50 percent), Midview 4-10 (40 percent). Rebounds: Amherst 24 (Pleban 9), Midview 42 (Meng 21). Turnovers: Amherst 14, Midview 10. Fouls: Amherst 14, Midview 7. Fouled Out: None.