The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
Rangers down Pioneers in postseason opener
Locked in a tight game, North Ridgeville head coach Amy Esser was looking for ways to get her freshman sharpshooter Grace Kingery involved on offense.
The Rangers led visiting Elyria 27-22 early in the third quarter of a Feb. 13 sectional semifinal when the Pioneers were called for a technical foul.
Esser saw her chance to get Kingery some confidence and put the freshman in to shoot the free throws.
Kingery split the pair scoring her first point in the game and then went on to score 13 in the final quarter to put away Elyria, 49-33.
“It was strategic to put her in there to shoot the technical free throws,” Esser said. “With that being said she tried to do it other ways by setting screens, rebounding and getting her hands in the passing lanes.”
Kingery led all area 3-point shooters with 52 made in just 19 regular season games this season and added to that total hitting three in the fourth quarter.
Elyria (0-15) brought energy from the jump forcing North Ridgeville into seven first half turnovers. After one quarter the Pioneers trailed by just a point after Emma Miller’s impressive opening quarter.
The senior scored seven points in the first period and finished with a team high 11.
“Scrappiness has been our signature,” Elyria head coach Anthony Brown said. “I’m very proud of the girls, they never quit. Quitting was never anything that was in their pedigree. But you have to get those stops. It ended up catching up to us.”
Elyria had its chances to take multiple possession leads throughout the game, but never led by more than three after Miller’s opening 3-pointer.
The last lead the Pioneers had was early in the second period after backto-back makes from Elizabeth Aulisio.
North Ridgeville answered with a 13-2 run to close the first half anchored by offensive rebounds from bigs like Kat Crevda.
“It was on our list of goals and keys to the game,” Esser said of the Rangers offensive rebounding. “I’ll say this about Elyria, their record isn’t indicative of what kind of team they are. They play hard for four quarters, they can shoot and they’re scrappy. And we knew that so we prepared for it all week.”
Crevda finished as one of three Rangers in double digits joining Kingery (14 points) and Mady Rosado (10 points).
After the technical North Ridgeville outscored Elyria 22-11 putting the finishing touches on another sectional tournament win.
The Rangers will look to make a return trip to the district tournament when they take on Barberton in a sectional final Feb. 18 at North Ridgeville high school.
With plenty of new faces on the roster this season, Esser’s young squad now has a game of tournament experience under its belt, which she hopes will help them in the games to come.
“Our girls our so young, we only have two players on our roster that have played big minutes in a tournament game (Rosado and Daylan Baker),” Esser said. “This is their first chance, you’ve got two freshmen out there (Kingery and Brooke Lime) who are playing big minutes so I just think they needed to get their nerves settled.”