Rae Ann Benedict hit a free throw with 9.6 seconds remaining to give SS. John and Paul’s combined seventh- and eighth-grade girls basketball team the championship in its division of the Ashtabula County Women’s Scholar-Athlete Association Junior High Tournament with a 28-27 victory over Grand Valley.
To top it off, the Heralds played the last 58.9 seconds of the game at SJP’s Mahoney Gymnasium with only four players on the court.
In the seventh-grade championship game, Grand Valley was a convincing 43-18 winner over Conneaut.
In the eighth-grade game, all five SJP players scored at least four points to offset a balanced scoring effort by GV, which had seven girls score and four score at least three points. Allie Penna led SJP (12-1) with eight points, while McKenzie Stenroos added seven points, Benedict netted five and Alivia Cimorelli and Emily Powers each scored four. Holly Nye led GV (7-8) with eight points, while Chris Futty scored six and Tiffany Heath added four, Chelsea Stanilik had three and Callie Forrest, Thommie Jackson and Katie Paskey each scored two.
Jess Vormelker exploded for 20 points to lead Grand Valley, which had six girls score, to its win in the seventh-grade game. Mel Fernandez added eight points for the Mustangs (13-3), Abby Paskey contributed five points and Kaitlyn Futty and Kayla Novello each scored four and Star Miller had two. Lexi Zappitelli paced Conneaut (7-5) with 12 points, while Dani Heinonen had three, Carly Schreiber two and Breanna Nelson had one.
