Bay dominates paint to oust Clearview

Even with coach Brian Hill out with the flu, the Bay Rockets had no problem winning a 58-46 Division II district semifinal matchup over Clearview at Elyria High School on Feb. 26.

Bay (16-8) faces Cloverleaf (222) in the Division III North Ridgeville District final on Feb. 28 at Elyria.

“We just found out before the game that coach wouldn’t be here,” senior Maddie Edgerly said. “But we knew our gameplan from yesterday’s practice and all we had to do was go and execute.”

The Rockets imposed their will inside, with Edgerly leading with a team-high 19 points.

Teammate Halle Orr added 14.

“We definitely knew we had a size advantage going into this,” Edgerly said.

“At first, our outside shots weren’t really falling, especially at halftime. But we zeroed in on our gameplan to work from the inside-out. The whole year we’ve run a dribble-drive offense and we’ve been focusing in practice that when that help comes over to give that extra bounce pass.”

Bay outrebounded the Clippers, 29-15, and took a 31-13 halftime lead. The Rockets started the second half on a 10-2 run and cruised from there. Clearview made a late run with its reserves.

The Clippers (17-6) didn’t

have an answer for Bay’s bigs. But freshman Brooke Rebman dropped a gamehigh 31 points to provide a bright spot.

“She played really well and I think she can play even better,” Clearview coach Nick Dimacchia said. “She had a great year all year long. So did Brandyce Smith. They both are excellent basketball players. Alyzabeth Lighty also — it doesn’t show in the box score, but she was phenomenal. She’s a great defender, rebounder and does all the little things. I’ve got some good kids, we had a great season and had a lot of fun. And I have a good feeling Bay will do well against Cloverleaf.”

Bay assistant coach Chuck Morrow said that

he knew Clearview would present a zone defense and the Rockets exploited it.

“Even with the zone, we were looking to attack inside,” Morrow said. “Once we got the lead, we run a spread offense a lot. And I said if they go man-toman and we’ve got a lead, that’s what we’re going to do. We shared the ball really, really well and did a great job taking care of the basket.”

Bay hasn’t made a regional semifinal appearance since 2006, according to Morrow, and a win on Wednesday could signal a breakthrough moment for the program.

“It would be a really big deal,” Edgerly said. “I personally haven’t gotten there and it’d be really nice to win it for our seniors.”

“We’ve had a really good second half of the year,” Morrow added. “We got off to a slow start because we had two injuries. Once we got healthy, we’ve won seven of our last eight and nine of our last 10. We’re excited about playing Cloverleaf.”

Dimacchia said the Clippers return a young team next year, graduating just two seniors.

“We’re losing Brandyce and Alyzabeth,” he said. “But we got everyone else coming back, so we’ve got some really good, young kids and we’re looking forward to the future. But we just got to get in the gym and work. Offseason workouts are crucial for getting better.”