The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
Brush earns big victory THE SCORE
Arcs had dropped previous eight meetings vs. North
This just in — the Brush girls basketball team is hitting a stride.
While that’s good news for the Arcs, it’s probably bad news for everyone else remaining on Brush’s schedule.
Rallying from an early seven-point deficit, Brush used a 12-0 run in the second half to beat host North, 59-46, in a key Western Reserve Conference game on Jan. 20.
The win came on the heels of a quality victory over Akron St. VincentSt. Mary two days earlier. It also snaps North’s eightgame winning streak over Brush, dating back to the 2016-2017 season.
Prior to this meeting, the Arcs’ last win over the Rangers was Jan. 4, 2017, a 56-52 victory.
“Maybe two or three years. They had a long run on us,” said Brush coach Demarris Winters, “but we got them and I’m happy about it.
“The job is still not done. We’ve still got to beat other teams in the conference to stay one game up on North. That’s what we want to do. That’s our goal.”
North (3-2) used a ferocious defensive effort in the first half, trapping every time the ball went into the post against the taller Brush lineup. And when Avril Drew hit a 3-pointer late in the third quarter to give the Rangers a 37-35 lead, it looked as though North would be in the game for the long haul.
But then Brush went on a game-changing run.
It started late in the third when Zennia Thomas hit a 3-pointer to give the Arcs a 38-37 lead going into the fourth.
Then Brush scored the first nine points of the fourth quarter. Asia Nicholson
BRUSH 59, NORTH 46
started the run with a bucket, followed by a 3 from Brianna Vickers and bucket by Thomas. Nicholson then added another basket to complete the 12-0 run, which turned a 37-35 deficit into a 47-37 lead.
North stemmed the tied briefly when Abby Carter split a pair of free throws. But then Taylor Johnson-Matthews made two free throws and drilled a 3-pointer from the corner for a 52-38 Brush lead.
The two runs together made for a 17-1 spurt for the Arcs.
The Rangers never recovered and never got closer than 10 the rest of the way.
“As long as we were patient and got the ball where we needed to, we knew we could score,” Winters said. “In the first half, we were fast and out of control. We needed to be quick and precise (in the second half).”
North coach Paul Force credited his team’s defense for limiting Brush in the first half, but then it unraveled.
“Their shots weren’t falling (in the first half),” he said. “Once shots started falling, we had to take some chances in the fourth quarter defensively and they took advantage of it.”
Brush (8-4) got good balance in scoring. JohnsonMatthews had a team-high 15, with Kayla White and Thomas each scoring 12. Eight different Arcs scored.
Additionally, the Arcs held a 28-18 rebounding edge.
Winters credited his team’s defense for limiting Akron commit Abby Carter to 11 points.
“We knew if we could stop 10 - Abby- we’d be OK,” he said. “I put my best defenders on her. She’s an excellent player, but we had too much.”
With Carter shackled, Drew had a game-high 24 for the Rangers.
“They were clearly putting defensive emphasis on Abby,” Force said. “I think Avril did a nice job taking advantage of that. She’s tough. She can score in the post, can shoot from the outside, can get to the basket and she’s an excellent free throw shooter. She plays hard. Her best basketball is still in front of her.”
Because of the novel coronavirus pandemic that has abbreviated many league schedules, the WRC teams will play each other only once this season. That means North and Brush won’t play again the regular season, and that the Rangers need someone else to beat the Arcs to get back in the league race.
“We haven’t been in the situation where we’re relying on help from somebody else,” Force said. “But we don’t talk about league games or non-league games. We focus on the next opponent and treat it like it’s our Super Bowl. You’ve got to embrace the opportunity to step on the court.”
Brush is doing that, too. After some early season losses to the likes of Olmsted Falls, Perry, Laurel and Medina, the Arcs are starting to play like Winters has envisioned.
“I think we’re getting there,” he said. “We’re getting there now.”