by River Basketball Coach Jeff Hammond Named Kee On Sports Man of the Year
It started off like it was going to be a defensive dogfight for the D3NE5 championship.
The Highland Hornets and Rocky River Pirates couldn’t get anything cooking in the first quarter with the score lingering at 4-2 Highland. But when Nora Bruder drilled a three late in the first, Highland looked like they had their hands full. Then, after Emeri Gausman split free throws, Madi Morgan would drill a clutch three at the end of the first quarter to give the Hornets an 8-5 lead they would not relinquish.
In the second quarter, the Hornets would outscore the Pirates 11-7, but it wouldn’t be until the third quarter when they took sheer command and ran away with it. Highland would get 14 in the third while limiting the Pirates to just two points and made it 34-14 after three.
“We just know we have that fire and spark, and we kept going” sophomore Madi Morgan said as she led everyone with 14 points. The second half was when she caught on fire on behalf of the rest of the team. ”
“We kinda settled in and took good shots, and we made a couple of threes to make it 7-8 points in the second half” Highland head coach James Madison said after the game.
Juniors Rowan Kildoo and Emeri Gausman each had over ten points to go along with Morgan’s 14. Things were looking so good for the Hornets that with 97 seconds left in the game, Madison resorted to the bench to finish off the game. It was sweet relief for the starters, who, along with Scarlet Gordon, had played the entirety of the game.
The win was special for JV coach Kendall McCormick, who never got to experience a district title as a player for Highland, as her team senior year lost to Medina in the district finals.
For Highland, they await the winner of Padua vs St. Vincent-St. Mary later today and improve their record to 22-3. The Pirates end their season with an impressive 20-5 record having swept the Cleveland West Conference.
River Basketball Coach Jeff Hammond Named Kee On Sports Man of the Year
