photo by: Jeff Campbell

The Shadyside Tigers celebrate after the conclusion of their sectional playoff game against Newcomerstown on Wednesday inside the Tiger Den.

SHADYSIDE — There was no lack of causes for celebration Wednesday inside the Tiger Den, where the six-seeded Shadyside Tigers bagged a sectional playoff victory over No. 7 Newcomerstown, 53-49, in a game where senior standout Kaci Tsoras crossed 1,000 points in her career.

The Tigers fell behind early, trailing 16-10 after the first quarter, but tied the game going into the half, and scored the first 10 points of the third quarter to pull ahead and hold onto victory.

“It was a great team effort,” Shadyside head coach Serge Gentile said. “We played our butts off. We got the game going up-and-down the way that we wanted to play. I figured that they liked to play that way too, from what we’ve seen. It was an exciting basketball game. Both teams left it all on the line, came down to the wire. We just happened to make a couple more plays than they did, and I’m really happy for the girls to be able to enjoy a tournament win.”

Within Wednesday’s pivotal 10-0 run to start the third quarter was a post-up score from Kaci Tsoras from the left block, a bucket that put Shadyside ahead 36-26 with five minutes to play in the third– and a bucket that brought Tsoras into illustrious company as a 1,000-point scorer.

“We finally started making some shots,” Gentile said of his team’s offensive uptick to start the second half. “We didn’t shoot the ball the greatest there early in the game, or towards the end of the game. But there, in the midsection of the game, shots started falling for us. Our defense led to some really good looks. I thought defensively, we were really good for the most part tonight. Going on an 8-0, 10-0 run- that’s the game of basketball. It’s a game of run. So, I’m happy we were on the right side of things tonight.”

Shadyside needed every bit of their scoring spree down the home stretch.

The Tigers led 42-38 heading into the fourth quarter, but were on the backfoot after the Trojans’ Breann Kerr nailed a 3-pointer from the wing to lurch Newcomerstown ahead, 49-47 with just under two minutes to play.

Shadyside split a pair of free throws to make it a one-point ballgame, and the Trojans turned the ball over with 1:16 on the clock.

Faced with the biggest possession of the game to that point, Tsoras nailed a baseline jump shot to leapfrog Newcomerstown on the scoreboard, 50-49 with 45 seconds to play.

A Trojans miss gave Shadyside an opportunity to give themselves some space from the foul line, but an 0-2 showing at the stripe gave Newcomerstown another chance to take the lead with 19 seconds left in the game.

Tsoras made another big play though, this time on the defensive side, nabbing a steal on a long pass upcourt.

The senior split her ensuing free throws to put the Tigers ahead by two, but Newcomerstown threw the ball away on their next possession with just four seconds on the clock.

Tsoras was fouled again and went 2-2 from the line with one second to play, pushing her point total to a game-high 25.

“Perfect ending of the game for her,” Gentile said of Tsoras. “I mean, she’s been a great player for us, a great leader. Happy for her to reach that thousand-point milestone and then ice the game with a couple free throws as well.”

Ali Weatherson scored eight for Shadyside and Greta Green scored seven.

Newcomerstown was led by Kim Miller’s 15 points.

Shadyside will next hit the road to face No. 3 Shenandoah on Saturday, Feb. 21.