The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
Raiders’ strong defense propels solid offense
Sophomore Ally Ross scores 20 for Columbia
Playing the role of spoiler, Columbia swept into Keystone looking to avenge a loss to the Wildcats earlier in the season and keep the season alive and came out on top with a gritty 34-26 win to stay alive in the the first round of the girls’ state tournament.
In the eight vs. nine seed matchup in the bracket, it was Columbia’s defense that did its job and held Keystone down on an emotional night to earn the rights to move on to play Elyria Catholic on Feb. 23 at North Ridgeville High School.
Starting off the game hot from deep, the Raiders’ offense looked ready to rumble after jumping out to an early 8-3 advantage thanks to the three ball.
“The two 3’s at the beginning of the game from Riley Thomas were huge and then Ally Ross being able to control the flow of the offense into the later quarters, it was exactly how we planned on playing,” Columbia head coach Corey Taylor said. “We knew it was going to be a dog fight, (Keystone head coach) Scott (Terry) does a really good job with his group and his girls, he’s been doing it for a long time, he’s done great. Congratulations to him too, that’s an unbelievable career for him, but I’m really proud of our girls and they way they responded.”
Turning to sophomore point guard Allyson Ross, Columbia’s offense moved and kept pace to give the youthful point the pose to find players and open shots with Keystone playing tough defense all night
as well.
Scoring 20 of her team’s 34 points, Ross said it was the trust in her teammates that fed her to have the night she did.
“I just wanted to get the ball to my teammates because at the beginning of the season, we had trouble with me just taking the ball and not trusting my teammates that much,” Ross said. “But me having faith in my teammates and knowing that they’re going to do something with the ball and they’re going to do the right thing was the most important thing of the game.”
While Ross took the ball and was efficient from the free throw line, jump starting the offense was junior Emma Roberts on the defensive side. Tasked with covering Keystone’s physical forward Taylor Stefan, Roberts pulled in 10 boards and was a big spark for the Raiders’ offense.
“Emma Roberts did an excellent job, she had the heavy task of dealing with Taylor Stefan, who’s an unbelievable player down in the post,” Taylor said. “Emma did a really good job of trying to contain her,
she still got her looks, but she did a really good job and I’m really proud of her.”
Never taking a possession off, Roberts said she knew she needed to be competitive against Stefan.
“With Stefan being so good and we knew going into the game that we were going to have to compete with her and get boards and that was the key element to winning the game,” Roberts said. “I think we did that pretty well as a team. We got after the defensive and offensive boards pretty well and I think that’s what brought us to our win today.”
Claiming a win over Keystone after losing 30-20 in the previous matchup on Jan. 26, it wasn’t meant to be for the Wildcats and head coach Scott Terry in his final game as a head coach after 21 seasons leading the purple and silver.
It’s difficult to put that many years of coaching, mentoring and parenting in words, but Terry reflected back on this group that never let him down in effort, even when things turned bleak.
“As far as this team goes and this season, I told the
girls postgame that you take a look at our record halfway through the season where we were out of contention for a league championship, we’ve got a losing record, and there’s a lot of teams at that point that I think can just fold and go through the motions and just get the season over with,” Terry said. “What I’m proud of with this basketball team is they didn’t do that. They continued to come to practice, work hard, they competed every night and that’s says a lot for those girls.
“Taking the record aside, that’s just something they can be really proud of.”
Saying goodbye, for now, to the coaching ranks and sideline, Terry said that won’t keep him away from the gym where he has grown so accustom to spending his time in.
“I’m not moving, I’m staying in the LaGrange area and I’m sure I’ll be in the gym whether it being a spectator or trying to sneak my grandkids in to get a little extra work,” Terry said. “I’ll certainly be around, I wont get away from the game of basketball, that’s for sure.”