The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
Mentor, Euclid girls set for showdown
Panthers slip past Brush in opener; Cardinals follow with win over North
The Mentor Cardinals have had this one circled on the calendar for a while.
There’s a good chance the Euclid Panthers have, too.
The top-seeded Cardinals and the third-seeded Panthers both held serve in Division I district semifinals at Perry on Feb. 27.
Euclid defeated secondseeded Brush, 43-42, in the opener, while Mentor topped fourth-seeded North, 55-46, in the nightcap.
With their wins, the Greater Cleveland Conference rivals set up a rematch of last year’s district championship game won
by Euclid, 57-45.
The district final will also prove to be the rubber match on the season series. Each team won by one point on the other team’s floor.
This one — to be played March 2 — will be for the season’s series win, a trip to the regional tournament and also for pride.
“We beat them at their place, they beat us at our place,” Mentor coach Steve Thompson said.
“It’s something our girls have been looking forward to . ... It’s going to be a really good game on Thursday.”
Euclid coach Lynn Phillips expects the same.
“We’ve had our ups and downs,” she said. “Last year we weren’t supposed to be anywhere near (the district final). That was the goal this year, to get back to districts.”
Euclid had its hands full with Brush in the evening’s opener.
The Arcs were at the free-throw line with 1.7 seconds left and shooting two shots. But both free throws were missed, and even though Brush’s standout guard Arielle DeBase got the offensive rebound, the putback effort was blocked by Euclid’s Rayjon Harris.
Harris had a huge night. She scored a game-high 26 points to go with 13 rebounds and seven blocks.
“Not to take anything away from anyone else on that team, but she killed us,” Brush coach Demarris Winters said. “I’ve seen her play the last couple years, and I think that’s the best game she’s ever played. If she plays like that, they’re going to go far. They’re going to go deep.”
Brush did its best to control the 6-foot-2 Eastern Michigan signee with an active 2-3 zone throughout the game. But the Panthers rotated the ball quickly and found holes in the zone.
Harris scored 12 of her team’s 13 second-quarter points.
Phillips termed Harris’ performance, “phenomenal,” but hoped for a better performance all the way around in the district final.
“We made so many, so many mistakes,” she said. “We’re lucky to come out of this. I told them they better thank the basketball gods for this one.”
Mentor had its share of struggles against upsetminded North, too, but used a key first-half run to put distance between themselves and the Rangers.
When Ally Lako hit a 3 late in the first quarter, North led, 13-12. But Mentor ended the quarter on a 5-0 run, including a 3-pointer from Gianna Pegoraro, and then hit back-to-back 3-pointers in the second to open a double-digit lead. North never led again. “It’s hard to overcome a 10-point deficit against a team like that,” North coach Paul Force said.
The Rangers did trim the lead to five points with a minute left in the game, but Nicole Heffington and Carlie Swider each hit a pair of free throws down the stretch to keep the Rangers at a safe distance.
For the game, Mentor made 18 of 19 charity shots.
Heffington had a gamehigh 19 for Mentor to go with 11 rebounds. Pegoraro had 16, including a 10 point first-quarter.
“I thought that was our best mismatch,” Thompson said of North guarding Pegoraro. “I don’t know that they had anyone who could really keep her out of the key. ... She was basically the key to breaking down their defense.”
Freshman Destiny Leo had 16 for the Rangers. Samantha Pirosko had 10 points and 10 rebounds.
Force said the early pace of the game hurt his team.
“I think we gave up 34 in the first half,” he said. “We did not want to get into that kind of game with Mentor. We know if we keep them under 50 points, we like our chances. That 34 at halftime, we knew that was too high.”
The winner of the Mentor-Euclid game advances to the Canton Regional, set for a 6:15 tipoff on March 7.
“It’s a really great feeling to get to play them again,” Pegoraro said, “especially where we are now.”