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Berea, OH- Berea-Midpark ends their 3-game losing streak with a 38-21 victory over Bay powered by 17 points from Regan Braaten.
The first quarter started off with a few trips to the line for both teams. Lucy Bisson knocked down the lone free throw of the quarter for the Rockets. For the Titans, Rylee Szojka converted both of her attempts from the line as she posted 4 points in the opening frame. The only triple of the opening period went to Berea’s Regan Braaten. The freshmen went on to score 7 total points in the first. Emma Arnold contributed to the cause as she would score 2 of her first 4 points. Bay would keep things close as Anna Weingart scored her only points of the game. With that, the first quarter ended with Mid-Park up 13-7.
The second quarter was all Berea-Midpark as they would outscore Bay 12-2 as the only points Bay scored came from Maddie Bigler. Those points were from the free throw line. For Berea, their defense reigned supreme as the Titan defense forced miss after miss. In addition, Arnold got board after board en route to her 15 total rebounds on the night. However, she humbly stated postgame that “defense is a team thing, the rest of the team guarded someone too.” On the offensive, it was Taylor Kowalewski who led the way for Berea-Midpark as she sunk two 3’s which gave her 6 total points. She would end the night with 6 points but kept being an impact player with distribution. Postgame, she said she was happy to see her shots fall and is happy anytime her shots help the team. The run propelled the Titans to a 25-9 halftime lead.
Bay would come back from the half with a vengeance while looking crisp. The Rockets were cleared for liftoff and went on a 7-0 run. A combination of Bisson along with Sophie Sharpnack and Norah Trefz gave Bay their 7 points. This forced the hand of Coach McNamara as he called time with 3:52 left to play in the third quarter. The experienced McNamara inspired his team as they would put an end to the Rocket’s scoring while scoring 4 points of their own from Braaten and Szojka. While Bay won the quarter, Berea still led 29-16 entering the final frame.
The Titans would shut the door on the Rockets quickly in the fourth as Szojka and Braaten both drilled triples to kick things off. With 6:47 on the clock, Coach Heldt called time to regroup. She got her team on the right track down the stretch as Bay went on a 5-2 run to close out the game. Berea-Midpark got the job done as they took home the 38-21 victory to close out 2023.
Following the game, Coach McNamara talked about how important Braaten’s addition to the team has been. Even with her being a freshman, he said he trusts her decisions and he’s “grateful for whatever her decisions are.” The Titans’ next opponent is Midview on January 5th. Braaten said “We got to come out, we got to play hard, we got to play even better than we did tonight.”
Bay Key Players:
#21 Norah Trefz: 4 Points
#22 Lucy Bisson: 10 Points
#23 Maddie Bigler: 2 Points
Berea-MidPark Key Players
#10 Emma Arnold: 4 Points, 15 Rebounds
#12 Taylor Kowalewski: 6 Points
#55 Regan Braaten: 17 Points
Player of the Game: Regan Braaten
