Shorthanded Chagrin tops depleted West G

When Chagrin Falls and West Geauga took the court, it was clear both teams were missing a number of players.

West Geauga was missing half of its players and its head coach due to quarantine, while Chagrin Falls was missing six players, including two starters.

While both teams were missing significant pieces, Chagrin Falls had two the Tigers knew they could rely on, Jack McMullen and Josh Norton.

The duo led the Tigers to a 6431 win over their Chagrin Valley Conference competition. The win moves the Tigers to 6-3, while the Wolverines fall to 0-6.

One of the big differences was the rebounding of the Tigers. They brought in nearly every rebound in the beginning of the game, and coming down with a majority of them was McMullen.

A lot of teams like to set up their offense as soon as they come down with the rebound, but the Tigers have a different approach. They come down with the board and let the offense develop before bringing the ball up the court, as McMullen explained.

“We look to get a longer outlook pass instead of pushing the tempo,” said McMullen. “I think it helps after we play good defense and then transition into our offense.”

While McMullen and Norton played well as they normally do, with 12 and 13 points respectively, there were a lot of different players on the court for the Tigers from normal. Henry Newell was the third Tiger in double figures with 14.

With so many new faces, the usual chemistry a team has is going to be off. At times you could see the chemistry wasn’t there for Chagrin Falls, but at other times it looked like nothing was different.

Coach Dave Bargar says the new group is starting to get their feet under them, and the different players in the starting lineup doesn’t affect them as much as some would think.

“We had a close game on Tuesday against Aurora.

So tonight our guys were a little more comfortable because they had that game underneath them,” said Bargar. “They got a chance to play a lot of minutes, and were still able to do what we normally do, it’s just a little more limited on the offensive sets that we can run.”

While Chagrin Falls was missing a handful of players, West Geauga had not just players in quarantine missing this game, but also head coach Dan Jones.

Filling in for Jones was freshman coach Bill Fisher. The Wolverines had five players finish on the scoring column, and only one senior scored. While it was a tough night, Fisher sees this as a chance for them to learn a lot and help them to develop in the long run.

“In the short term having a lot of young players on the court at once might not help us,” said Fisher. “But in the long term they are getting valuable experience and learning to adapt in tough situations and playing a lot of tough competition.”

Leading the way for West Geauga was Andrew Prexta with 10 points. The Wolverines will look to find their first win when they take on Orange in another CVC matchup on Feb. 13, while Chagrin Falls will step out of conference to take on Twinsburg on the same date.

“Our defense is all about communication. That’s what we base ourselves on. If we can communicate and rotate while being aware of the shooters, it definitely helps us.” — Mentor’s Brooke Hickman