Lady Tanks Steam Roll Lady Pioneers, 69-41 Driggs Records 204th UHS Win By Doug Kimsey, SVCsportszone.com contributor
		Some experts projected this one to be a challenge for the run-away freight train that is the Unioto Lady Shermans' basketball team, but they were dead wrong. Instead, Unioto gave coach Cyndy Driggs a 69-41 win over the Zane Trace Lady Pioneers on Thursday at home, Driggs' 204th at the school, trailing retired coach Ron Lovely by one win for most by any coach ever at Unioto High. The Lady Tanks (14-0, 11-0 Scioto Valley Conference) rolled to a 22-5 first-quarter advantage and never looked back in a 69-41 win over second-place ZT (10-5, 8-3), thus clinching at least a share of the SVC girls roundball title. UHS needs three more conference wins to claim the school's first Gold Basketball in 15 seasons, since the 1993-1994 team finished 14-0 under Driggs. Unioto's 11-0 run of the table in conference play has been wildly dominant, averaging a margin of victory of 31 points per SVC victory. The closest any conference foe has come was Adena on Jan 10, losing only 54-47 to the Tanks. Unioto's largest margin of victory was 60, an 86-26 Dec. 11 win at home over Westfall. Thursday's game against ZT was never in doubt. The Lady Tanks led 22-5, 37-13 and 57-25 at the quarter stops. Three Unioto players tallied in double digits, led by Chloe Cottrill with 18. Cottrill nailed a pair of three-pointers, including a game-opening trey just 15 seconds in to set the tone. Mackenzie Arledge and Shiann Ray added 15 apiece. Off the bench, Erin Bane added eight points. The winners were strong from the foul line, hitting 16 of 25 for 64 percent. For Zane Trace, Erin Dailey led with 14 points.  Sierra Sigman and Jessica Roepke added eight points each. Rebounding, assists and other individual stats were unavailable. The Lady Tanks travel to Vinton County on Saturday to make-up a non-conference game that was posted from Dec. 6. Unioto then will host the Greenfield McClain Lady Tigers on Wednesday night.