The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
Sailors’ resurgence continues with win
Plas finishes with game-high 26 points; Vermilion is 8-2
On a night when Vermillion celebrated the career of its lone senior, Cam Colahan delivered in a big way.
With Vermilion’s fourth-quarter lead dwindling, Coach Jason Sockel called a timeout. The following Sailors possession lasted nearly two minutes and ended with a Colahan 3-pointer that stopped any momentum visiting St. Paul had.
The 3 all but ended the game. It restored what was an 11-point lead, paving the way for a 57-44 win.
“I think in times when we need to have a little momentum shift we know how to get the ball moving around and get the ball to the right spot,” Colahan said. “It gave us a lot more momentum and juice going forward to finish the game off.”
Vermilion, sitting at 8-2, has doubled its win total from 2019-20 and faces a tough test against Bellevue Jan. 18.
Before Colahan’s 3-pointer, Marianna Plas carried the load offensively scoring 18 first half-points. Plas attacked St. Paul’s guards on both ends of the court, also recording six steals.
Plas finished with a gamehigh 26 points, Colahan added seven and point guard Habermehl poured in 13.
“We’ve figured out how to win,” Plas said. “Our team chemistry is a big thing for us. We’re really close and we really push each other to be our best.”
The double-digit win over St. Paul is another indicator of how much the Sailors have grown under Sockel in his second year. A season ago, Vermilion lost to St. Paul defeated Vermilon by 23 points.
“We have confidence in each other and again they’ve put in the extra work,” Sockel said. “They’re learning to play together as a cohesive unit. The work they’ve put in together especially over the last 7 or 8 months especially and even going back to last year, when they were trying to figure it out and we were learning lessons. … I can’t tell you how proud I am of them.”
Another is the play of Colahan, who worked her way back from a battle with cancer to become a physical force on the court for Vermilion.
“She put in so many extra hours, she came to all of our optional workouts, everything for volleyball and then she lifted with the football team last year,” Sockel said. “She really committed to getting herself as close as she could to where she was before she got sick. And her strength and her speed, I am amazed by what she can do.”