GREENWICH TWP. — Just like the present one, the future girls basketball superstar of the Firelands Conference plays for South Central.

Freshman point guard Anna Hintz showed off her impressive all-around skills Monday and teamed with 1,600-point scorer Tayler Tackett to lead the Trojans to a 77-45 win over Black River in non-league play.

Jessica Chidsey

“The freshman point guard did a nice job distributing the ball, attacking the basket and posting up,” Pirates coach Ken Deidrick said. “She did a nice job seeing the whole floor.”

The 6-foot-1 Hintz used her length, quickness, dribbling and, most impressive, her vision to pick apart Black River (4-16) on seemingly every first-half possession as South Central (14-5) led 48-22 at halftime.

Hintz, the daughter of coach Becky Hintz, couldn’t maintain a triple-double pace, but finished with 20 points, eight assists, five rebounds and five steals, came within one block of an ultra-rare quintuple-halfle and had three textbook 45-foot overhead passes that resulted in transition layups for teammates.

The Pirates’ backcourt of 5-foot-2 Savanna Slone, 5-3 Angie Kazek and 5-4 Jessica Chidsey had little hope of matching up as Hintz directed South Central to 17-of-32 shooting in the first half.

“It’s pretty tough when she’s at the point,” Deidrick said. “You got the smaller, quick girls up (top), and now you have a taller quick girl up there. We’re pretty short as it is.”

When Hintz wasn’t dominating, Tackett was.

The 5-foot-9 Lake Erie College recruit, who committed game-changing technicals in each of the past two meetings between the schools that led to Pirates victories, finished with 25 points on 8-of-24 shooting.

Tackett also was paramount in a 17-3 game-opening run with nine points on her first three shot attempts. Fittingly, Hintz had the other eight points.

Now with a bonafide No. 2 option to complement Tackett, South Central has a chance to make a run at the Lexington Division IV District title.

“(Tackett) is no longer a one-man show,” Deidrick said. “They all shot the lights out tonight.”

Black River committed most of its 18 turnovers against the Trojans’ 2-1-2 press and finished the night 19-of-70 (.271) from the floor despite consistent open looks from its motion offense.

Chidsey, who didn’t play over the final six minutes, led the Pirates with 15 of her team-high 18 points in the first half, while Slone had a stat-stuffing night with a game-high 12 rebounds, six assists and five points on 2-of-19 shooting.

Angie Kazek added 10 points and five steals for the Pirates, who were two days removed from an unbelievable overtime win over archival Buckeye.

“We didn’t get it going,” Deidrick said. “We had some turnovers a little bit and were probably intimidated by their size up front. We adjusted, but it was a little late.”

Notes

The game was originally slated to be played Saturday, but was moved up because of Black River playing in the Barberton D-III Sectional.

• Black River beat Buckeye 58-51 in overtime on Saturday. It was incorrectly reported the Pirates won 58-57 in regulation. Chidsey was fouled on a half-court attempt with 0.4 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter and hit all three free throws to send the game to OT. Slone took over in the extra session by making 6-of-6 free throws.

• Kazek scored seven points in one quarter of play as Black river’s junior varsity lost to South Central 41-21.

Contact Albert Grindle at (330) 721-4043 or agrindle@medina-gazette.com.

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