The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
Bay girls top Cloverleaf, win district title
Bay wins district title in squeaker over Cloverleaf
It was a hard-fought battle on March 1 at Elyria High School, but No. 2 seed Bay topped No. 1 seed Cloverleaf, 27-25, clinching the Elyria District championship.
“The biggest thing was we were going to pack it in and make them eat it from the outside,” Bay coach Brian Hill said. “That was our hope, and they rebounded so well and they’re so good with the offensive boards that we knew we had to stop that.”
Cloverleaf outrebounded Bay, 13-12, while also outshooting the Rockets from behind that arc, 4-3.
“We knew we also had to stop the penetration,” Hill said. “We knew that they could drive through, but you know what? I’m just really proud of our girls. They executed our game plan flawlessly and there’s nothing I could say right now. I’m so excited for them.”
With the win, Bay (17-8) advances to the Final 16 of the Division II state tournament and will take on Gilmour on March 6 at 8 p.m. at Barberton High School.
Cloverleaf, which finishes the season 22-3, entered the game having won nine straight.
However, the Rockets played solid defense throughout the
game, and most notably in the first half when they forced the Colts to turn the ball over six times while holding them to single digits in both the first and second quarters.
“Defense is always what we kind of lean on,” Hill said. “Unfortunately, we couldn’t get enough offense tonight, but I’m so proud of how we played defense today. Like I said, they executed the game plan perfectly and we said we wanted to pack it in and take away the drive and make them shoot 3s and hopefully not give up that many boards and that’s exactly what we did.”
Late in the second quarter, with just 36 seconds left in regulation, things got interesting as Cloverleaf started to make a run but was sidelined after the power went out. Game play was stopped by the officials and the delay lasted for five minutes, but it seemed to kill any sort of momentum for the Colts, as they went into the half down, 15-14.
“You know if the lights don’t go off, they (Cloverleaf) could’ve easily hit a 3 there,” Hills said. “They even could have hit a two and taken the lead, but you know it was a very kind of awkward moment for both teams. But that’s why I told our girls to focus back in and we’ll be OK.”
Both teams in the second
half appeared to come out sluggish on offense, but Cloverleaf started putting together a small lead late in the third. Bay senior Maddie Andrews silenced that run, as she knocked down back-to-back 3s to extend the Rockets’ lead to five going into the fourth quarter.
“She’s always been our go-to shooter,” Hill said. “She’s a phenomenal shooter and you know the way that she did it tonight was just perfect. She caught it quick and got rid of it quick and she knew they’d be keying in on her as a shooter. But she still made the most of her chances.”
Andrews led the way on offense for the Rockets with nine points, while fellow senior Halle Orr and sophomore Haley Andrejcak followed up with six.
Cammeron Tripp led Cloverleaf with nine points.