The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
North girls roll past Kenston Bombers
North girls basketball coach Paul Force was concerned about his team being rusty after nearly a two-week layoff over the holidays. He didn’t need to worry. The Rangers held visiting Kenston scoreless over a 6-minute, 45-second span, outscored the Bombers, 15-0, over that time frame, and ran away with a 67-48 victory in a battle of the last two teams with undefeated league records in the Western Reserve Conference.
North (8-2, 6-0) held Kenston scoreless from the 2:25 mark of the second quarter to the 3:40 mark of the third quarter, turning a tight 27-19 game into a 42-19 gorge.
Kenston (8-4, 5-1) never recovered.
“I was concerned about that first quarter a little bit,” Force said. “We haven’t played in 12, 13 days. And we know Kenston had this game circled on the calendar. I was concerned about how we’d start.”
After seeing his team’s start?
“I don’t think there were a lot of signs of rust,” Force said.
When sophomore Marcie Oglesbee hit a 3-pointer at the 2:25 mark of the second quarter, Kenston trailed North, 27-19.
But then the Rangers went on the game-defining run, starting with a pair of Destiny Leo free throws and a hoop by Sammi Valaitis.
Leo drove for a bucket in transition, Val Arnold drained a 3, and then Samantha Pirosko netted a putback for a 38-19 lead at the half.
Two Leo free throws and a hoop by Anaunda Lyons made it 42-19 in the third quarter before Rachel Apshago’s 3-pointer at the 3:40 mark stopped the drought.
But at 42-22, Kenston was pretty much out of it.
The Bombers were 0-for12 shooting over the 6-minute, 45-second drought.
Both teams scored 29 points in the second half, but the damage had already been done.
“I wish I could take away the second quarter. I really do,” Kenston firstyear coach John Misenko Jr. lamented. “Because we played straight-up with them in the second half.
“If we play like that all the time, we’re going to be really hard to beat. But we can’t pick and choose when we’re going to play. The effort has to pick up, and that’s on me. I’m the coach. If we play all the time like we did in the second half, we’re a darn good basketball
team.”
Kenston used defense to get back into the game somewhat in the second half, forcing North into 18 second-half turnovers (and 24 for the game). When Oglesbee made a shot late, the margin was cut to 13.
But that’s as close as it got.
North as led by sophomore Destiny Leo, who had game-highs in points (21), rebounds (13) and assists (three). She scored 10 in the first quarter as the Rangers jumped out to an early lead.
“She gets to the hole and we couldn’t guard her today,” Misenko said. “That was the difference. In the first half, she was the difference.”
Samantha Pirosko had 16 points and 11 boards.
Madelyn Hamilton came off the bench for two clutch 3-pointers in the second quarter. Lyons contributed seven points and six rebounds.
“(Hamilton) was critical,” Force said. “She works her tail off. She hasn’t gotten as many varsity opportunities, but she stepped up. She was a huge energy boost.”
Force pointed to his team’s 45-23 rebounding edge as a key, too.
“When you outrebound someone by 15 or 20, it’s hard for a team to come in and get a win,” he said.
Kenston got 14 points from Corenna Maynard and 11 from Apshago.
“Corenna is our leader. We’re going to go as far as Corenna takes us,” Misenko said. “But anybody on this team can score. We’ve been sharing the ball consistently. I think we can play that way.”
Even with a lead over the rest of the league, Force said his team isn’t in a position to get complacent. The victory to start the new year, coupled with a win over previously unbeaten Cleveland Heights to end 2017, is just a momentum boost that needs built upon, he said.
“It’s a long season,” Force said. “We’re not even half-way through the conference yet. I’d be very surprised if anyone goes through the conference unscathed. It’s going to be a dogfight every night.”