The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
RH clinches share of CVC Chagrin
One down, three to go. That was what the Richmond Heights girls basketball team was thinking after a 55-44 win over Chagrin Falls gave the Spartans at least a share of the CVC’s Chagrin Division title on Feb. 10.
With the 11-point win, Coach Eugene White’s team accomplished the first of the four goals it set before the season’s start. The Spartans can claim the outright Chagrin Division title, which it would pair with the Metro Division title it won last year, with a win over Orange, West Geauga — or both — in the coming week before postseason play begins.
“You’re always excited because when the season first started, the first goal is to win a conference championship,” White said, “then districts, then regionals, then states. So year, we won one out of four so far. We’re at 25 percent. We’re really excited.”
Two weeks after Chagrin pushed them to the brink in a 36-35 win in a game played at Richmond Heights, the Spartans had more answers and more scoring balance this time around. Honor Hall had 21 points, Nisey Darden had 15 and Mya Johnson had 11 in a game in which Chagrin Falls held only two leads — at 2-0 and at 5-3 early in the first quarter.
“When Nisey Darden is rolling and when Mya Johnson is rolling and Honor Hall is rolling it’s a problem,” White said.
A point that Chagrin Falls coach Brittany Laseak had a hard time arguing.
“I give them credit,” Laseak said. “They knocked everything down. They had make, make, make and we just couldn’t get the ball in the hole today.”
Down, 31-21, at the half, Chagrin Falls dug in for a flurry to start the third quarter. Coming out in a 1-2-2 fullcourt press, the Tigers forced a few turnovers quickly and got two free throws from Avery Russell, a bucket by Lilly Stukus off a Russell steal and dish, and a putback from Abby Kay to trim Richmond Heights’ lead to four at 30-26. But after Darden hit a 3 to stop that run, the Spartans went on an 8-0 run — including a drive by Hall and a pair of MiAngel Harrell free throws — to push the lead back out to double digits at 43-31.
The Tigers never got closer than eight the rest of the way.
“We came out in the third and we knew somebody was going to deliver a punch,” Laseak said. “We were hoping it would be us and not them. We were able to get them a little off balance and catch them a little off guard. Unfortunately, it was just too little too late.”
Johnson had an explanation on how her team was able to regain its composure after Chagrin’s 6-0 run to start the third.
“We practice against boys every day,” she said. “We knew they wanted to come out and win. We just did what we had to do.”
Chagrin Falls trimmed the lead to nine points with less than two minutes to play, 48-39 on a Stukus 3-pointer, but Johnson hit two free throws, Darden hit two free throws and Hall hit one — with Darden getting a rebound and putback — to keep the Tigers at bay. Russell made a 3 and Stukus made two free throws, but Richmond Height’s performance at the charity stripe evened them out.
“Those were big. Very big,” Johnson said of her
team making 5 of 6 fre throws in the final 90 seconds.
Stukus had a team-high 17 for Chagrin Falls, while both Russell and Amelia Bencko had eight apiece. Chagrin Falls (13-8, 6-2 CVC Chagrin) closes out its regular season this week against Cuyahoga Heights.
“We can let it sting today, but then it’s back to the drawing board tomorrow,”
Laseak said.
Richmond Heights turns its attention to closing out the CVC slate against Orange and West Geauga before embarking on a Division IV tournament run.
“Just rebound the ball, be in better shape and be ready to work,” White said of the keys for his team going forward. “If we do those things and play defense, I think we’ll be successful.”