The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
Rangers fall in first ever district final appearance
In their first ever district final appearance North Ridgeville played well, but came up just a point short to seventh seeded Strongsville.
The Rangers led by as many as nine in the final quarter, but fell to the Mustangs 53-52. Despite the loss, North Ridgeville earned its first ever district hardware as the runners up in the Division I, Region 2, Northeast 6 district.
“Our girls gave everything they could,” North Ridgeville head coach Amy Esser said. “They made their school and community proud and we were kind of that team that nobody expected us to do what we did. But we were right there.”
Next up for Strongsville is a regional semifinal matchup with top seed Olmsted Falls.
Grace Kingery, the area’s leading 3-point shooter, knocked down her second deep shot of the game in the closing seconds of the third quarter, giving the Rangers a seven point lead. The Freshman finished with a team high 11-points.
She hit another to open North Ridgeville’s scoring in the fourth quarter, but after that Reagan Bass took over for the Mustangs.
The senior scored 14 of her game high 23 in the final quarter, including the game tying free throws with less than a minute remaining.
Nearly a minute later Bass hit the game winning free throw to send Strongsville to the regional round.
“She did what she does best and took over,” Strongsville head coach Dawn Thall said. “She’s someone I know is going to be successful at the next level and we’re blessed to have her. She makes us obviously one of the better teams.”
Bass, listed at six-footone, is two inches taller than any one player on the Rangers roster. Strongsville didn’t start a player below five-foot-seven, giving them length that North Ridgeville hadn’t seen all season.
It showed in the fourth quarter when Bass took command.
“We just couldn’t stop her, then we just kept fouling,” Esser said. “We had a few key turnovers, missed a few free throws and that’s a good team with a lot of experience. You can’t make those kinds of mistakes against that kind of team.”
North Ridgeville led by nine with five minutes left in the game, after a make from Taylor Traut. Over the next three-plus minutes Bass scored seven straight points finishing an and-one to tie the game.
Daylan Baker hit a free throw with 15 seconds left in regulation that gave the Rangers a one point lead, but two fouls later they trailed by two.
Baker was one of several returners from the Rangers 2020 team that upset Avon Lake to make it to their first district semifinal in over ten years. She scored nine points in the loss
“Daylan carried this team on her back for three games,” Esser said. “She took care of the ball and was kind of the coach out there. She rallied the other girls around her.
“We’ve got (almost) everybody back next year. So we’re going to come back even stronger I think and we’ve got Laney (Rumancik) coming back off her ACL. So I’m very excited for the future.”
One of those that won’t return is Madyson Rosado, the lone senior in North Ridgeville’s starting lineup. In her final game the guard scored ten points and hit a pair of key 3-pointers in the third quarter to push the Rangers lead to eight.