The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
North, Brush seal district final clash
The North girls basketball team didn’t rush the court after its Division I district semifinal win over Mentor on Feb. 25, nor did the Rangers cut down the nets.
But if the team knew of the drought they had snapped with their 66-48 win over the Cardinals in Perry’s Spectator Gymnasium, they might have done both.
Not only did the victory put the top-seeded Rangers into the district championship game for the third year in a row, where North will face Brush for district supremacy Feb. 28, but the win also marked North’s first win over Mentor in girls basketball since Feb. 28, 2002 — a span of 6,571 days. It was also the first win for North coach Paul Force over Mentor, snapping an 0-for-7 streak.
“We’re excited,” Force said. “This our third district final in a row, and it’s awesome to have two WRC teams in it . ... We’re looking forward to the challenge. We’re excited about it.”
North got a game-high 22 points from Avril Drew, including a trio of 3-pointers, and another stellar game from Cleveland State signee Destiny Leo, who had 21 points.
The Rangers (21-3) never trailed, taking a quick 3-0 lead on a Leo 3-pointer. But despite never trailing, the the top-seeded Rangers had trouble shaking the fourth-seeded Cardinals into the later portions of the second half.
When Mentor’s Bella Carcioppolo hit a shot at the 4-minute mark of the third, the Cardinals only trailed by six at 38-32. But Drew hit a 3-ball on a reversal against Mentor’s zone, then Hailie Wilson hit a little hook shot in the lane to open a 43-32 lead, prompting a timeout from Mentor coach James Hrusovsky.
Coming out of the timeout, Leo swished a 3 to make it 46-32.
Mentor ended the third on a Carolyn Wochele basket, then started the fourth with a Tori Lanese bucket on an inbounds play.
But then Mentor got 3-pointers from Cece Hamilton on consecutive trips down the court to open a 16-point lead at 56-40.
Mentor never got closer than 14 the rest of the way.
“I thought we had some momentum, but then they’d come back and hit some key shots,” Hrusovsky said. “They took the momentum from there. It felt like they couldn’t miss.”
As usual, Division I college recruits Leo and Abby Carter (nine points) did their share of damage. But Drew’s 22 and Hamilton’s eight, including those two 3-pointers early in the fourth, stung the Cardinals.
“I was trying to help my team out,” said Drew, a junior, of her big night. “They got me the ball in the right spot. A lot of credit goes to (Leo’s) passes, Abby’s passes and Cece’s passes. I wouldn’t be that open if not for them.”
Mentor (16-9) was led by Carcioppolo’s 13. Lanese had 10, while Wochele was held to seven. Brooke Hickman had eight.
Hrusovsky lamented his team’s inability to get secondand third-shot opportunities like they anticipated. However, he said the future is in good hands with a relatively young squad.
“It starts at the top with our seniors,” he said. “Our four seniors did a great job being committed, and the others followed. Now it’s (the underclassmen’s) job to continue the job and more forward. I like where we’re headed.”
North likes its direction, too — a collision course with Brush, a team it defeated twice in regularseason play.
The district final will tip off at 7 p.m. Feb. 28.
“It’s definitely pretty cool — three years in a row,” Leo said of her team’s third straight appearance in the district finals. “We didn’t get here for nothing. We just got to keep it going.”
Brush 61, Euclid 56
Free throws haunted the Euclid girls basketball team in more ways than one in the Panthers’ Division I district semifinal against Brush on Feb. 25.
While the second-seeded Arcs hit free throws when it mattered, the seventhseeded Panthers didn’t.
Junior Kayla White hit two free throws with 7.6 seconds left, lifting Brush to a 61-56 win over Euclid.
The two clutch free throws helped Brush overcome a valiant effort by Euclid, which struggled at the line with a 5-of-20 performance at the stripe, including three front-ends of one-and-one situations.
With the win, youthful Brush — with only one senior (Dalayah Johnson) on the team — advances to play North in the Perry District final at 7 p.m. Feb. 28.
“I feel great about it,” Brush coach Demarris Winters said of the district semifinal victory. “I knew we could be OK at the beginning of the season. I thought we could compete. We got better as time went on.”
While Euclid only led for 19 seconds, thanks to a post move in the second quarter by Iyana Jenkins that gave the Panthers a brief 24-23 led, Brush had trouble pulling away from Euclid throughout the game.
White hit a driving shot near the end of the third quarter that gave Brush a 50-38 lead. But Alexus Reese (17 points) hit an andone to end the third, then made a basket to start the fourth to trim the lead to 50-43.
A little while later, Asia Nicholson’s coast-to-coast drive gave the Arcs a 5750 lead with 2:45 remaining in the game. But Jenkins hit a 3 from the top of the key to make it 57-53 to give Euclid hope.
Over the next minute, Euclid went to the line three times — and missed five free throws, including the front end of oneand one.
Jenkins hit another late 3 from the top of the key to make it 59-56, but then Kayla White’s two charity shots iced it for the Arcs.
“That’s been our thing all year — the free-throw line,” Euclid coach Lynn Phillips lamented. “We made 5 of 20-something tonight. How do you make up for that? With hustle and effort. You can wish for a few more free throws, but all in all, we played our hearts out and you can’t ask for more than that.”