ONTARIO — Annika Labaki caught fire in the third quarter.
Clear Fork’s junior sharpshooter connected on three of her six treys in that period as the Colts pulled away for a 58-39 win over Ontario in Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference action Friday at the O-Rena.
The Colts (11-5 overall, 7-3 in the MOAC) led 22-18 at the half and 24-22 less than a minute into the period before Labaki began to take over. Her back-to-back treys gave Clear Fork a 30-22 lead with 5:58 remaining in the quarter. By the time she hit her third triple, Clear Fork had a 41-31 lead with 50 seconds showing in the period.
“I just happened to be hot tonight, but it could be anyone,” Labaki said. “We were kind of struggling in the first (half). Our shots weren’t falling. It felt good to see a few go through the net.”
The Colts outscored the Warriors (5-12, 3-7) 21-13 in the third quarter. Ontario didn’t connect on its first field goal of the period until nearly four minutes had ticked off the clock.
“We’ve got to take care of the ball. We turned the ball over way too much,” Ontario coach Tracy Baxter said. “Turnovers have been our downfall. I’m not going to fault the effort. The effort was there. It’s just taking care of the ball.”
The Colts continued to extend their lead in the fourth, outscoring Ontario 15-8. Labaki connected on her sixth and final 3-pointer in the opening minute to give Clear Fork a 46-31 advantage and the Colts never looked back.
“Throughout the course of a four-quarter game, the way we kind of pressured them, I thought that we would eventually wear them down,” Clear Fork coach Scott Sellers said. “We played nine or 10 kids and I think that helped a little bit.
“Overall I thought our defense really picked up in the second half.”
Lyvia Davis backed Labaki with 13 points. Lillian Weikle added eight.
Taylor Counts scored 11 of her team-high 14 points in the first half to pace Ontario. Lizzie Nagel had 12 points and Ka’Mashya Shaw added eight.
“Lizzie is a good rebounder. She works and works and busts her butt out there,” Baxter said. “Taylor, same thing. They work hard, they listen and they do what they’re told. That’s all we can ask for.”
The win kept Clear Fork’s MOAC championship hopes alive. The Colts trail tri-leaders Shelby, River Valley and Pleasant by one game with four conference games to play.
“We would have to get pretty lucky at this point with three losses,” Sellers said. “But you never know. We’re taking it a game at a time.”
