The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
Middies are far from middling amid rout
Battling through the holiday break, Midview stayed focused and energized for a solid 56-32 victory over a surging Vermilion squad.
Keeping practice schedules tight during the holiday layoff, Midview coach Rob Overy got a strong effort from his starters and bench.
The Middies forced Vermilion into foul trouble early and capitalized at the charity stripe. Keeping that high energy up, Midview had a predominantly healthy squad for the first time in weeks.
“We had people step up who had been doing things right, but hadn’t been putting the ball in the hole. So it’s funny how when you score a few baskets, the energy comes up, other people get confidence,” Overy said. “We had some nice steals, Autumn Vance did a great job of getting some turnovers and finishing and Izzy Patarini comes off the bench and she just scores and has some great energy level that really got us going.”
Patarini, a sophomore, provided a spark for her team coming off the bench.
Causing turnovers, collecting rebounds against the tall Sailors and finishing around the net, Patarini was the player Midview needed on the night.
“Tonight was really nice for us because coming off of last season where we weren’t too good and coming out this season strong with a lot of seniority with Kaeli (Evins) and (Hailey) Vettel and Adriel (Milum), they just lead us and we don’t give up,” Patarini said. “We play really good teams in our conference, so it’s different to see a different conference.”
Relying on her high motor and motivation from coming off the bench, Patarini collected five boards and had three assists and finished her night with nine points. Knowing she has to play hard every minute, Patarini said she trusts her game.
“I just play. That’s all I do,” Patarini said. “Where the ball is, I go and I just think I get more motivated coming off the bench and I feel more pumped up when I’m with everybody.”
Noting her ability to be in the right place at the right time, Overy said that’s been the kind of player the Middies have relied on all season long.
“That’s her. She has a nose for the basketball,” Overy said. “She just knows where it is, she moves, she’s very athletic to where she can get her hand in there and knock things away or get around without fouling on the passes. She did a great job, and I thought Megan Newton did a fantastic job defensively in the first half.”
While Newton finished with 12 points, the key with several Midview players was just scoring while being healthy for the first time in several weeks.
“We’ve been battling sickness for the last three, four weeks. We had a girl miss the last five or six games because of sickness, so we’re starting to get over that,” Overy said. “We’re starting to get over that and we took a couple days off over Christmas and we got the energy up. When we came into practice yesterday, it was the team that we saw early in the year with the high energy and enthusiasm.”
As for the Sailors, the tough loss is a reminder of how good teams can be.
“Unfortunately we had one of those games just when you’re making progress, you take a couple of steps back kind of game,” Vermilion coach Yvonne Craigo said. “Our heads weren’t all the way there.”
“We’ve been battling sickness for the last three, four weeks. We had a girl miss the last five or six games because of sickness, so we’re starting to get over that. We’re starting to get over that and we took a couple days off over Christmas and we got the energy up.”
Midview coach Rob Overy