The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
Stopps cherishing opportunity
Cornerstone coach on state semifinal with daughter: ‘I’m so enjoying this one’
Riley Stopp wasn’t real impressed the first time she attended the state girls basketball tournament.
It’s safe to say the sophomore forward will be more amped up this time around, when she and her Cornerstone Christian teammates play Minster in a Division IV state semifinal at 1 p.m. on March 15.
Riley’s first state-tournament experience came in 2006 when she was in the stands for Lake Catholic’s state-tournament run, with her mother, Lisa, an assistant on Coach Frank Soria’s staff.
“We were beating a 28-0 team and she’s sleeping,” Lisa said with a smile of her then-2-year-old. “She slept through the whole thing on my husband’s lap. It’s the loudest crowd you can imagine and she sleeps through the whole game.”
That won’t be the case this time around.
When 23-4 Cornerstone takes to the court for its state semifinal, it will do so with sophomore Riley as the leading scorer (13.3 points) on an underclassman-laden team.
“I’ve been told by some of her friends that I remind them of her.” – Cornerstone Christian’s Riley Stopp on her mom and coach, Lisa
It’s a dream come true for Lisa, a former standout at Mentor who went on to play at Cleveland State, and her daughter.
State tournament runs are always memorable for players and coaches.
When a mother-daughter tandem get to share it together, well, that’s a scenario that’s hard to top.
“Just enjoy it,” Lisa said of her advice to her daughter. “We’re a family of faith and a program of faith. Count this as a blessing from the Lord. When you step on the court with that gratefulness, it makes it much more special.”
The dream to get to the state tournament together has been a dream for quite a while, and it is one that has been shared not only by the Stopp family, but also with other players from her childhood.
When they were in third and fourth grade, Riley, Madison Cloonan and Michaela Cloonan all were taken to state tournaments with Lisa and her husband John.
The young hoopsters were captivated.
“I remember going every year,” Riley said. “We were like, ‘I want to play here someday.’ Me and the twins told Mom before we ever played together at Cornerstone, ‘We want to play here someday.’ The environment was awesome. Little did we know we’d
all be playing together and she would be our coach, so it’s a dream come true.”
In her playing days at Mentor, the then-Lisa Kipp — her cousin is current Mentor star quarterback Ian Kipp — was an athletic, energetic guard/ forward who played with passion.
Not much different than her daughter now.
“I’ve been told by some of her friends that I remind them of her,” Riley said, comparing their styles of play.”
“I see a lot of her passion for the game, and obviously her length and physicality. We play alike,” Lisa said.
Combine Lisa’s playing past and her coaching history, both at Lake Catholic and now at Cornerstone,
with Riley’s hunger for the game, and it’s easy to see the family is deeply entrenched in the game of basketball.
Riley said there have only been two years that her mother HASN’T been her coach.
She’s been my coach ever since I was 4-years-old,” said Riley, harkening back to her days in the Upward basketball program. “I love it so much. She’s the best coach around, but I’m a little biased.
“She’s tough on me sometimes, but that’s what coaches do.”
One of those days was earlier this week in practice, the pair agree, but both smiled about it.
When a parent coaches their child, there can be a difficult blurred line between being a parent and a coach or a player and a child. The Stopps manage it well. “Basketball is such a big part of our lives, it’s going to overlap a little bit,” Lisa said of the basketball life and home life. “We had it today in practice. I was kind of hard on her today. But when we get home, it becomes Mom. We might talk about a game, but it’s different at home. It’s more intense here.”
Added Riley, “At home, we put basketball aside.”
Preparation for a state tournament can be a stressful situation. There’s scouting to be done, game-planning, hard practices and — of course — the anxiety of playing on the grandest stage of Ohio high school basketball.
Lisa is making sure she and her teammates enjoy this trip.
Back in her days as a Lake Catholic assistant, Lisa didn’t join parents and players for dinner and entertainment. She scouted teams and went over film.
After the first practice of the state-tournament week on March 11, the Patriots had pizza together, laughed, joked and played.
This is a trip the Patriots are going to enjoy — especially a mother-daughter tandem that has waited for this opportunity for years.
Perhaps this opportunity is what Riley was dreaming about while she slumbered through her mom’s state semifinal 13 years ago.
“Being down there three or four times, I never took time to enjoy it,” Lisa said. “I’m so enjoying this one.”