by Olmsted Falls traveled to Avon Lake tonight to open up SWC play with a 52-33 victory. They were led by Danielle Cameron who scored 15 points, with 11 of them coming in the second quarter. It was a second quarter that ended with a 17-0 run to give the Bulldogs a 20-point lead at the break.
I spoke with Head Coach Jordan Eaton who had this to say about his two-year junior starter and why her experience is paying off, “You can see that experience is a big factor in High School Basketball and when you have a team of 3 or 4 experienced girls who are willing to help the girls without experience, you can really catch girls up quickly. Danielle helps out a lot with her communication. Yes, she can score a lot of points but she is talking to girls who didn’t get a ton of minutes last year and all of sudden those girls are making significant impacts on the game.”
Paige “The Energizer Bunny” Kohler never let up from pillar to post, as she brought it in every facet of the game. The 2022 Kee On Sports MVP scored 12 points with 9 in the first half. Once again however, it wasn’t the scoring that makes Paige one of the best players in the state, but the relentless effort on defense and court vision on offense that continues to make her a leader. She makes everyone around her that much better with her nonstop effort.
The same can be said of Mia Kalich who had 8 points, and attacked the boards and paint all night. One of the biggest challenges of Coach Eaton will be replacing the points put up by the graduated Sara Glover and Lauren Noernberg. We saw some of that tonight as Erin Birch had 9 while Jessica Wolanin and Emily Scina had 3 and Maddie Cerovac 2. Cerovac worked her way into a lot of gritty shots, and I expect we will see big things out of her this year.
For the Shoregals, Brynn Bondar sunk two long balls early and finished with 8 total points. Marissa had 5 points while Leah Hicov had 3, Courtney Borland 6, Claire Springer with 6 and Olivia Tobin 2.
The Shoregals got up 4-3 early when Olmsted Falls went on a 11-3 run to lead 14-7. The run was stopped by a Courtney Borland bucket. The Bulldogs would finish strong and close the quarter on a Paige Kohler three pointer from 25 feet out. Kohler had 9 in the quarter as the Bulldogs held a 17-9 lead after one.
The Shoregals started the second quarter red hot with a 5-0 run on the strength of a Bondar three ball and nice move to the hoop by Claire Springer. From there, it was all Bulldogs as a 17-0 run would close the half on the strength of 11 from Cameron and 4 from Erin Birch in that stretch with 2 from Kalich.
The Bulldogs would hang on to win 52-33 with a pretty even second half.
Our bulldog girls continue to impress me year in and year out. Such a unselfish team that is so well coached and plays together. These girls look like they are having fun playing the game. Great job ladies
Turnovers … Shoregals don’t protect the ball. Probably 20 in the 2nd Q alone, from the same 1 or 2 players. Coach has to start sitting them when it’s every touch. 14 pts from TO 2Q. So disappointing to see. If they can’t handle the ball and turn it over almost every touch, they shouldn’t be in …it’s repetitive from last season. Stop dribbling TOO MUCH. OF a very good team. Shoregals should have stayed within 12 pts. Hopefully the rematch will be much improved!