The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
WEST G, PERRY TO MEET IN FINAL
Top-seeded Wolverines slip past NDCL in semi
Expectations can be a heavy burden.
They can also be a great motivator.
You’d have to go back to the 2004 season to find the last time the West Geauga girls basketball team played in a Division II district basketball tournament game, even further back to find the last time they played for a district championship.
But thanks to a 48-46 win over fourth-seeded NDCL on Feb. 26, that’s where the Wolverines are.
Athena Hocevar scored 12 points and Lauren Munko scored 11, leading the top-seeded Wolverines (21-3) to the district semifinal win — a game where expectations were a motivator more than a burden.
“It feels good, but like I told the kids before the game, if we lose here, we’ve been upset,” said Coach Bob Beutel. “We’re the No. 1 seed. It’s that simple. The expectation is to come here and win.
“Most kids on the team don’t know about the past here. They didn’t live the past. This team is entirely different on their own. They don’t dwell on (the past).”
NDCL defeated West Geauga, 50-36, earlier this season and proved to be just as difficult of a foe this time around. But a late mini-run gave West G the lead for good, and the Wolverines had just enough to hold on for the win.
When NDCL’s Emma Liberatore (18 points) hit two free throws with 3 minutes, 9 seconds left in the game, the Lions had a 42-41 lead.
But on the next trip down the court, Hocevar drilled a 3-pointer from the top of the key to give her team the lead for good. Munko then picked off a pass and took it the distance for a four-point lead.
The 7-0 run was completed when Alexa Hocevar swished a jumper from the free throw line, making for a 48-42 lead.
As part of that run, junior Nicola Ehrbar had a pair of steals to thwart NDCL scoring opportunities.
“Nikki had some turnover issues, but she also had some steal issues when it counted,” Beutel said of Ehrbar. “The kid behind you — Munko — had a heck of a game, too.”
NDCL coach Brian Arth lamented the inability to get stops late in the game.
“When Hocevar hit that last shot, we left the ball (defensively),” Arth said. “That’s the only 3 she hit all game. We can’t do that.
They made that mini-run that put them up on us, and that hurt. We made too many mistakes.”
But NDCL wasn’t done. Erica Leinweber hit a shot with 42 seconds left to cut the margin to 48-44. And after West Geauga missed a pair of front-ends of oneand-ones, Leinweber (18 points) hit another driving layup to cut the margin to 48-46 with 11.8 seconds left.
NDCL had a shot to take the lead late, but a 3-pointer caromed off the back of the iron. But Arth was upset that the timeout he attempted to call was not granted by the officials, one which would have allowed him to draw up one last play for the tie or win.
“I’m disappointed. Just disappointed,” Arth said. “It comes down to one play. We shoulda won the game. We had the game. It came down to one play and we called for a timeout and the ref doesn’t give it to us. It’s disappointing.”
Along with her 18 points, Leinweber had eight steals.
“Eric is an unbelievable defender,” Arth said. “She can get to the basket. We’re really proud of the way she came on this year.”
With NDCL’s defense limiting Athena (12) and Alexa Hocevar (8), Munko’s 11 points and M.J. Thompson’s 10 came up big for the Wolverines.
“It means a lot to me,” Munko said of her clutch shots. “Normally I’m not the one to lead the team in scoring. If I do, I don’t make all my shots. That means a lot to me I could come through for my team.”
Athena Hocevar credited the win to her team’s tenacity. She said the team
wanted the district semifinal win for their one senior — Thompson.
“We knew it came down to grit,” she said. “Their defensive pressure really set us off. We learned out to handle it somewhere in the second half. That pushed our momentum. Working hard did it for us.”
With the win, West G moves on to the district final, set for Feb. 29 against a Perry team the Wolverines defeated earlier this year. Perry beat Gilmour, 46-39, in the first of two district semifinals on Feb. 26.
Perry advances
The Perry girls basketball team has hung its hat on defense all season long.
With their season on the line against Gilmour in a Division II district semifinal at Lakeside, the Pirates hung not only their hat, but also their hopes on their tenacious defense.
Pressuring the Lancers into turnovers and missed shots, Perry held Gilmour to 16 second-half points and ran away with a 46-39 win in the first of two semifinal games.
With the win, secondseeded Perry (19-5) advances to the district championship game at 7 p.m. on Feb. 29 to play topseeded West Geauga, a 4846 win over fourth-seeded NDCL in the district nightcap on Feb. 26.
“I’m so excited,” said junior Madyson Hacking, whose 14 points led the Pirates. “I was here when we lost my freshman year and that’s not a good feeling. You have to take every opportunity and enjoy it, because you never know when it’s going to happen again.”