The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
Westlake downs River for sixth win in a row
Demons on hot streak as they prepare for playoffs
Heading into the Division I girls basketball Northeast Sectional Tournament, Westlake is feeling really good about its chances.
In its regular season finale against rival Rocky River — a former Southwestern Conference foe now in the Great Lakes Conference — Westlake put the finishing touches on a six-game winning streak, using an 8-0 run in the final two minutes to put away the host Pirates, 56-42, Wednesday night.
The Demons made the short 4.8-mile trip home with a 13-9 regular season record, improving from 7-9 midway through January. The Pirates go into their postseason tournament with a 9-13 record.
“We’re doing what we want to do at the end of the year,” Westlake coach Art Daniels said. “That’s six in a row and eight of the last nine, with the only one being Berea-Midpark. We’re where we want to be heading into the tournament. The girls have worked hard all season long and they’re heading into a wide-open tournament against a lot of SWC schools again.
“Strongsville is the favorite, but we’ll see what happens. This
is a nice rivalry with Rocky River. The girls all know each other, the coaches know each other, it’s a fun place to come play a game and vice versa when they come to our place.”
Westlake will host John Marshall on Feb. 17 in sectional play. Rocky River will host Firelands on Feb. 17 to open its postseason tournament.
A 3-pointer from Rocky River senior Anna Beirne, who led the Pirates with 13, cut the deficit down to six, 48-42, with 1:57 remaining. It capped a 12-9 fourth quarter run and a 26-17 turnaround from the start of the second half.
But the Demons finally had an answer, driving to the hole on four straight possessions and converting three layups — two from sophomore Gina Adams and one from junior Abby Matalavage — and a pair of free throws by Adams to put the game away.
“I had seen River a couple of different times and they had come back from a few double-digit halftime deficits to win,” Daniels said. “That was one of the teams we talked about in preparation for the postseason, and I reminded them at halftime that this game wasn’t over just because we were up by 15 at halftime.
“They’re gonna come after you, trap you, do things to disrupt the offensive flow, and they did that. They made it a game at the end. To our kids’ credit, we found a way to get that stop and extend that lead to the final score.”
Adams’ six-point spurt capped a 22-point performance in her season finale. She shot 9-for-16 from the floor and 4-for-6 from the line. Her two free throws with 37.2 seconds remaining put the Demons ahead by 11, essentially driving the nail home.
“In the final minutes, I felt we just had to slow it down because I felt like we had been rushing shots during the fourth quarter,” Adams said. “We just had to play our game. We sometimes get out of the way we play and we just had to get back to playing Westlake basketball.
“We slowed ourselves down. We got ourselves together. We decided that this was our game and we just had to finish it the way that we should be.”
Daniels said that Adams has emerged as his team’s go-to scorer this season.
“Gina’s a sophomore averaging 15.8 points per game and she’s just a steady-type of player,” Daniels said. “The most she scored this year was 25. You just know what you’re gonna get from her night in and night out. She hasn’t exploded for the 40-point game, but she’s just slow and steady and got the job done.”
Westlake opened up with an 8-0 run to set the tone early one, and rode that wave to a 17-10 first quarter lead that blew up to a 31-16 halftime advantage.
Adams converted a layup while being fouled, and sank the free throw with 1 second left in the second quarter to put her team ahead by 15 going into the second half.
“This was a great way to end the year,” Adams said. “In the beginning, we struggled a lot and it’s great to come into the tournament confident with six wins in a row.”