— By Taylor Kennedy
NITRO, W.Va. — A battle between Wildcats ended with Logan claiming its 13th victory of the season, 51-37 over Nitro.
Logan’s physical defensive pressure helped force 22 Nitro turnovers.
Logan (13-2) pushes its win streak to three, following a two-game losing streak. Nitro (10-4) has now lost three of its last five games.
“Two great teams played today,” Logan head coach Kevin Gertz said. “These two played great. They have two great guards and a big one for which we had no answer. There is no guarantee of anything, but the two of us could meet again.”
Fourteen of Nitro’s 22 turnovers came in the second half. Logan’s second-half adjustments led to transition opportunities and multiple momentum swings.
Gertz was pleased with his squad’s effort defensively.
“We pressure the ball all the time. We have zero size, except our freshman coming off the bench,” Gertz said. “We have six or seven guards that can flat out get in your face, and we can switch everything. We are a defensive team.”
In the fourth quarter, Logan used an early 12-2 run to expand a five-point lead after three quarters.
Gertz saw a different fire in his team that was not evident in the previous three quarters.
“We played with more confidence,” Gertz said. “We were more aggressive with the ball, and we were not turning the ball over. We spread your defense out when we get a lead. When we get our opponents like that, our guards can get to the basket.”
Logan’s leading scorer — Peyton Ilderton — did not find her touch early in the game. She recorded five points in the first half as she dealt with early foul trouble.
Ilderton flipped the script in the second half and scored 12 points. Gertz saw growth from his senior leader outside of pouring in the points.
“She is aggressive, and she was frustrated due to early foul trouble,” Gertz noted of the 5-foot-6 guard. “People are running at her, and everything is around her. I thought she did a super job breaking through pressure and finding open people, especially in the second half.
“She knows her number one goal, and it is not on offense. She takes out your best player. She takes that personally. I don’t care how many points she scores. She is the best defender in girl’s basketball I have ever seen.”
Gertz recalled a moment last year that Ilderton showed she is more than an offensive threat, and it came against Nitro.
“We lost by one,” Gertz recalled. “Baylee Goins is as good of a high school guard I have ever seen. I did not start Peyton on her. I tried putting Abby Myers on her since she is so quick. I was using Peyton as a helper. They ran Peyton away three straight possessions, and in 30 seconds, Baylee had six points. I called timeout, and I am going nuts on them. Peyton grabs me, you don’t grab me, and she says, ‘don’t jump on them. You are the one that didn’t put me on her.’ I laughed, and I told her to get her. She did not score another point.”
Sectional play will begin in less than three weeks, which means every game counts leading up to the pairings. Gertz believes this game will boost his team throughout the rest of the season.
“We have not played well in three weeks. It isn’t that we haven’t played badly, but we have played well defensively every single game,” Gertz noted. “We have not played well offensively, nor did we execute. Today we executed. Today is how we played in December. We grew up a lot.”
Freshman Halle Crouse recorded nine points, and senior Abbie Myers tallied seven points for Logan.
Nitro junior Taylor Maddox poured 14 points, including ten second-half points. Senior Emily Lancaster scored 10 points, and three blocks with Lena Elkins injured.