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On a day where it didn’t seem likely the game would be played, the Solon Lady Comets grounded the North Olmsted Eagles at home with a commanding 61-17 a playoff win at home.
The game, which was in question due to a power outage that forced Solon Schools to close for the day, was played despite the weird circumstances to the day. A transformer apparently went down on Route 91 not too far from the school in the wee hours of the morning. Most of the town was in the dark at the time including the schools.
The Comets, who had off today and needed a spark after being off from classes today, got off to a 2-0 lead thanks to Mackenzie Blackford free throws but it was the Eagles who lit things inside the gym off Inwood Drive next.
A three-ball by Eagles junior Julia Tashin gave North Olmsted a 3-2 early on in the first quarter. Solon sank a quick bucket to regain the lead but the Eagles wouldn’t go quietly as junior Katie Strong came back and tied it 5-5 just minutes into the first quarter.
“I don’t think we came out ready,” Solon head coach Trish Kruse commented after the game. “We didn’t respect our opponent.”
Solon head coach Trish Kruse called a timeout to settle the team down but the Comets still seemed to be playing in the dark. It wasn’t until 3:16 left in the first quarter that Solon would take the lead when senior guard Sophia Lance drained a three to give Solon an 8-5 lead at that point. Lance then drained another three at the 2:45 mark to put Solon up 11-5 and forcing the Eagles to take a timeout.
“I thought Sophia Lance actually did a really good job in the first quarter,” said Kruse. “She knocked down a couple of threes to really get us going. She got some steals in transition.”
Once the lights and the power turned on for the Comets offense and defense, there was no stopping them at that point.
The timeout didn’t help the Eagles as Blackford had two consecutive scores for the Comets to give them a 15-5 lead with 2:01 left in the first quarter. Blackford had six points at that time. Free throws from Lance and an inside jumper from Erica Olszewski would give the Comets a 20-5 lead after the first quarter. Lance had eight points for the Comets to her name on the scorebook at that time.
Things weren’t much different for the Eagles’s fortunes in the second quarter as Mackenzie Blackford continued to torment the Eagles with several scores in a row. Solon public address announcer Don Holub got to say her name several times in a short amount of time as Blackford continued to create turnovers and drive to the basket to give Solon a 33-8 lead with five minutes left in the second quarter. Blackford had 19 points at that time.
As the last two minutes approached, Blackford had 26 points and a three ball by Sophia lance would give Solon a commanding 43-8 lead.
The Comets defense held the Eagles to only five points in the second quarter and Solon had a 47-10 lead at the half.
Coming out after the half, both teams struggled to get anything going until Blackford put one in off the glass to give Solon a 49-11 lead with about five minutes left. The running clock rule was in effect at that time. The Comets defense continued to put the pressure on and held the Eagles to one point in the third quarter to be up 57-11 as we approached the final quarter of play.
The fourth quarter saw the running clock and the Comets just continued to put the defensive pressure on to hold on to the 61-17 win and to advance to the next round of the playoffs.
Player of the Game:
Solon – Mackenzie Blackford – 36 points for the Comets
