The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
Hawken girls on 10-game win streak
The 2020-21 season was only three games old, but the Hawken girls basketball team could already feel things slipping away.
Hawken had just lost to Gilmour to give the Hawks a 1-2 start.
Something had to change and fast.
So the team captains called a players’ only meeting in the gymnasium and laid it all on the line.
“It’s been a long time,” said senior Gabi Cicerini, glancing up at the girls basketball banner above her in the gymnasium showing that the Hawks hadn’t won a league championship in nearly 20 years. “Let’s create something people are going to remember.”
That players’ meeting, anchored by captains Makayla White, Rachael Slotta, Julianna Pollard and Cicerini must have hit home, because the Hawks haven’t lost since.
When Hawken takes to the court this weekend in its CVC Chagrin Division finale against Chagrin Falls, it will do so riding the momentum of a 10game winning streak.
Additionally, the Hawks (113, 4-0) have already wrapped up a share of the CVC Chagrin. All that has yet to be determined is if they’ll have it alone — which they will if the defeat Chagrin — or with someone else.
Chagrin Falls and West Geauga are both one game off the league pace set by the Hawks.
The league schedule is abbreviated this year because of the novel coronavirus.
Thus, whether or not a bona fide league champion is crowned is yet to be seen.
However, if Hawken runs the table in the shortened league schedule, well, the Hawks will take it.
“I know! Isn’t this exciting?” exclaimed White, bubbling over emotion when reminded that her team hasn’t lost a game since December. “I think it’s just a culture shift. We put in a lot of work in the offseason, did more weight training, and it’s translated into the season. We’ve been locked in and focused.”
Since starting 1-2, with losses to Kirtland and Gilmour, the Hawks have upstaged Chagrin Falls, Beachwood, VASJ, Lakeside, Harvey, West Geauga, Lake Catholic, Orange, Richfield Revere and Berkshire.
Because of their success, the Hawks have been voted the 13th seed in the recently Division II super-district. The Hawks will open tournament play Feb. 17 against 31st-seeded Fairview.
“They’re excited,” said fifth-year coach David Murray. “There’s an appreciation for what they’ve accomplished so far, but they’ve been very balanced in their approach in taking things game by game. There are still goals yet to be accomplished.”
As with everyone, the Hawks were slowed by the novel coronavirus. Unable to start practice as usual, and unable to scrimmage other teams, Murray called in a few officials and played intrasquad scrimmages in the preseason.
That was the team’s first game-type situation since last February, which might account for the 1-2 start.
“I think over the course of the season, we’ve gotten into a rhythm,” Murray said. “Our confidence has grown as a team.”
Winning tends to do that.
Each and every win has been important. However, across the board, the Hawks feel the overtime win over West Geauga was the marquee win. The Wolverines led in the fourth, but the Hawks evened the score to force overtime where they won.
“Kate Bollinger and I started crashing the boards and got a few putbacks,” said White, a 5-foot-10 junior forward. “We got some momentum and it carried over to overtime, and that’s where we closed it out - in overtime.”
Speaking of White and Bollinger, they lead the Hawks in scoring with 13.5 points and 8.1 points per game, respectively.
White also leads the team in rebounding (7.5) and steals (2.8).
“She’s arguably the hardest working athlete I’ve ever coached, and that includes boys basketball, girls basketball and football,” Murray said. “Every day, it doesn’t matter how she’s feeling. She gives you 100 percent every possession, every game, every practice.”
The Hawks are hardly a one-trick pony, though. Pollard (16) and Maya Dori (14) provide the long-range shooting from 3-point land. Gabi Cicerini (2.6) and Pollard (2.4) lead in assists, while the Cicerini girls — Gabi (2.4) and Carmen (2.3) — are among the team leaders in steals.
The combined team effort has allowed Hawken to outscore its foes by an impressive 19.4 points per game thus far.
“We’ve had talented players the whole time I’ve been part of the program here,” Gabi Cicerini said. “But there’s something about this team and the way we work together.”
Even though the Hawks have won 10 in a row and have already clinched at least a tie for the league title, they want more. That’s why there’s so much emphasis on this weekend’s game against Chagrin Falls.
Murray said he has the utmost respect for the teams and the coaches in the CVC. He knows the game with Chagrin is a biggie just because his girls want to have that unscathed league record and some momentum heading into the postseason.
“You know, my classroom is adjacent to the gym. I can see it,” he said of the banner celebrating Hawken’s last league title in 2002. “The opportunity to do thinks like win a conference, win a sectional title, win a district title those things mean a lot to the girls. You can see it in the way they prepare.”