The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
Falcons grab momentum, oust Hornets in semifinal
Lead slips away from Kirtland in second half of Division III district game
NORTH RIDGEVILLE » No. 3 Kirtland lost to No. 7 Lutheran East, 62-56, in a Division III district semifinal game at North Ridgeville High School.
With the loss, the Hornets finish the season 18-6, while the Falcons improve to 14-9 and advance to the district championship game to take on No. 1 Elyria Catholic on March 3.
“The thing that we were most concerned about, beat us, and that was their speed and pressure,” Kirtland coach Bob Bell said. “I thought our girls did an incredible job of covering the floor in our half trap and in our 2-3 zone for the first three quarters. They (Lutheran East) started to zero in and they started to hit some shots and maybe we were getting a little leg weary or maybe it was just their turn to start hitting shots.”
After starting things out with a 14-2 lead and forcing Lutheran East to turn the ball over nine times in the first quarter, Kirtland seemed to slow down, as they were out scored the rest of the game, 60-42.
The Falcons, who were 1-of-7 in the first quarter, followed in the second quarter up by going 3-of-6 from the field and 2-of-5 from behind the arc.
“We’ve been getting off to slow starts, it’s kind of our thing,” Lutheran East coach Matt Luecke said. “We just come out and we’re nervous in the moment and I think they think too much and don’t play enough. Kirtland also had a great game plan coming out. They showed us some stuff that I wasn’t ready for. So we just had to make some adjustments.”
Lutheran East’s defense also appeared to tighten up, as they forced Kirtland to turn the ball over 12 times heading into half time, while also cutting their lead to 35-23.
“They put incredible pressure on our guards,” Bell said. “We worked on it, but how do you duplicate that in practice with that kind of speed? I mean, we went against boys and so on, but like I said we knew they do an incredible job of pressuring the ball. Their hands are quick, their feet are quick, and if you put the ball down in front of them you know you have a chance to lose it, and we knew that.”
The third quarter proved to be the beginning of the end for the Hornets, as they scored nine points while allowing the Falcons to go 3-of-7 from behind the arc along with a 10-point quarter from Lutheran East guard Tamia Mitchell.
“They hit a couple of corners,” Bell said. “Boy, at one point in that third quarter we were just about ready to get over the hump. We were up in the third quarter at least by 15, but they came back with those 3s.”
Felton, who finished the game with 10 points, was one of four players to score in double digits for the Falcons, as senior Dariah Kirksey had a teamhigh 11 points, followed by Alaya Henderson and Tyra Eppinger who also had 10.
“It was one of those nights where, depending on the defense, we have a bunch of girls who can get hot,” Luecke said. “Sometimes it is feed the hot hand, but a lot of times it’s just what the defense gives us. Tonight, they weren’t really keying in on any one girl, so it just had to be a team effort tonight, and with our girls sometimes they’re in it and sometimes they’re not.”
As for Kirtland, the game’s momentum continued to sway toward Lutheran East’s side, as the Hornets turned the ball over 11 times in the fourth quarter, while surrendering 25 points to Falcons.
Despite only scoring 21 points in the second half, Kirtland did manage to have three players in double digits, with Reilly Greenlee scoring a gamehigh 17 points, followed by Grace Wolfed recording a double-double, as she had 12 points and 10 rebounds along with Lauren Lutz also contributing 12.
“I was very pleased with our girls’ effort,” Bell said. “I was pleased with our defense. But I wasn’t pleased with our ball handling. That’s just the way it goes and that was their strength and our weakness.”