The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
Bulldogs win fourth straight district title
In three straight Division I district finals appearances, No. 3 seed Olmsted Falls punched its ticket in the Sweet 16 all three times.
After another year of personnel turnover, a new set of Bulldogs casted their own legacy to defeat 15th seed Wadsworth, 63-31, in the Division I Northeast 6 District final on March 1 at Elyria Catholic, to clinch its fourth consecutive district championship.
“(Winning a district championship) feels just as good if you are a one-time champ,” Olmsted Falls Coach Jordan Eaton said. “It never gets old and it’s really hard to win a district and reach the Sweet 16 … in any division.”
Olmsted Falls advanced to play in the Division I Sandusky Regional semifinal that will be played on March 6 at 6 p.m.
“I thought we did great defensively and it turned into some great things and its led into some great opportunities for us,” Eaton said.
It was a special day for the senior class, which solidified
its entire high school career to advance as far as the Sweet 16.
“It’s a testament to all of our hard work all four years. Even when we were freshmen and didn’t play a lot on varsity, we still had to (work hard) in practice and outside of practice,” Olmsted Falls guard Danielle Cameron said.
Olmsted Falls wanted to improve on its shooting performance in its 51-26 Division
I Elyria Catholic District semifinal win against Brunswick. Cameron set the tone to score a layup shortly after the opening tipoff.
Cameron went on to score 23 points, with five rebounds and six steals. She made two 3-pointers to kickstart a 20-2 run to start the second quarter. The defense forced 23 turnovers and made 11 3-point shots.
“When shots are going in, you play defense harder. It’s a momentum-type of thing. I have been really proud of all our girls to play hard with momentum when shots are not going,” Eaton said.
Jesse Simon and Maddie Cerovac (eight points) scored six in the second quarter as well to contribute to a 3717 halftime lead. Simon finished with 17 points and four assists.
“I think that if we came out strong, we could take that momentum into the half, it would (lead us) every quarter after that,” Simon said.
Olmsted Falls, the defending six-time Southwestern Conference champion, improved to 22-3 and won its 13th straight game.
“We know that when we get to this point, teams are super good. We know that we have to focus really hard and have to practice really hard to get ready for the next game,” Cameron said.
Wadsworth concluded its season with a 19-7 record and went 9-5 in the Suburban League National Division.