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It’s become commonplace when the girls basketball team from Olmsted Falls takes the court, but Wednesday’s Division I regional semifinal game turned into the Danielle Cameron show.
Facing Fremont Ross for the second consecutive year in a regional semifinal at Sandusky High School, Cameron lit up the scoreboard for 27 points, including making six 3-pointers, as Olmsted Falls broke open a close game in the third quarter and then pulled away to a 61-41 victory. Looking to win their second consecutive regional title, the Bulldogs will face Massillon Jackson at 1 p.m. Saturday. Jackson upset Whitehouse Anthony Wayne in the other semi, 55-50.
“She should be first team all-state, district player of the year, all those things,” said Olmsted Falls coach Jordan Eaton. “Everybody wants to see some kid score a million points. How about making your team great? That’s what Danielle does. She makes her team great. I’ve heard a lot of talk about why Danielle isn’t considered for some of those things, and people say it’s because she’s on a better team. I wonder why that’s a penalty. She’s on a better team because she makes her teammates better.”
Certainly, Fremont Ross wouldn’t argue the point. The Youngstown State signee dominated the proceedings, not only leading all scorers, but also playing great defense, pulling down rebounds, finding open teammates and making steals.
“The other thing about her is that she can go inside,” Eaton said. “Sure, making threes is great, because they’re worth the most points. But you can’t play her as just a shooter. If you do that, she’s going to find ways to score. She gets an offensive rebound, she cuts hard backdoor, she goes to the rim and scores. I think the fact that she’s complete and she really hates to lose really helps.”
Following a frantic first quarter that saw the teams combine for nine 3-pointers and ended with the Bulldogs on top, 20-18, the staple of the Olmsted Falls program, its defense, took over. Fremont Ross only scored 23 points in the final three quarters, as Ross clearly wore down and the Bulldogs gradually pulled away.
The Little Giants had three players finish in double figures, led by Toledo signee Destiny Robinson with 13. Lyndi Wolf and Carma Johnson each had 11. But, most importantly, Robinson scored only five points in the second half and Wolf and Johnson each only had two after halftime.
“We just didn’t want to let their best players have their best game,” Eaton said. “That’s what was happening. They’re a good team. I don’t want to just single out three players and say that’s all they have. That’s not the case. But, when their best three get going, they win every time. So, we had to stop those three girls. We made a halftime adjustment to go at their best players better and be more aware of where they were.”
The game was decided early in the third quarter. Lanae Tucker scored on a nice feed from Robinson to allow Ross to forge a tie at 30, but the Little Giants would be outscored the rest of the way, 31-11. The depth of Olmsted Falls certainly was a factor, as was the constant pressure that the Bulldogs put on Ross, especially Robinson, who was hounded most of the night by either Emily Scina or Emma Schaefer.
“We just wanted to wear her out, annoy her,” Eaton said of Robinson. “She’s really good. The only chance you have against her is to do that. If you just want to play her straight up one-on-one and let her get comfortable, she’s going to torch you. Fortunately, we have a few girls who are really good at defending on the ball.”
Olmsted Falls made 12 of 28 3-pointers, which is an impressive 43% clip. In addition to the six made by Cameron, Jessica Wolanin made two and Jesse Simon, Avery DeLisio, Scina and Schaefer each made one. Wolanin finished the night with 8 points, while Schaefer and Maddie Cerovac each had seven.
