ROCKY RIVER, OH – The Cuyahoga Heights Red Wolves pulled out a nail-biting victory over the Lutheran West Longhorns Friday night. Their win keeps them undefeated on the season advancing to 4-0. Julia Jaenke carried the load for the Red Wolves tonight putting up 26 big points.
The opening quarter was evenly matched as neither team could give themselves much of a lead. The Lady Longhorns came out moving the ball and knocking down the 3-ball. Senior Ce Grant picked up a couple of assists on 3-balls. Out of the four field goals made for Lutheran West, 3 of them came from 3-point land. The Red Wolves had an answer, however. Senior Julia Jaenke dropped 8 points in the opening quarter for Cuyahoga Heights to keep them close. The score was knotted up at 12 after 1.
Not much changed in the 2nd quarter for either team offensively. Julia Jaenke continued her shooting masterclass by dropping all 10 of the team’s points in the quarter. Lutheran West added three more triples in the 2nd to give them six at the half. The six three-pointers came from five different players, 2 of which belonged to Ella Heisner. However, the Longhorns started to attack the basket more in the 2nd and gave themselves multiple free throw opportunities. Heading into the break, Lutheran West held a 26-22 lead.
Lutheran West came out in the second half with a different defensive strategy to slow down Julia Jaenke. It worked for the most part as they held Jaenke to just 2 points in the 3rd period. Nonetheless, the Red Wolves had their best offensive quarter of the night. Interior play and second chance opportunities were big for Cuyahoga Heights in the quarter. Lauryn Wilson led the team with 6 points in the 3rd. The Red Wolves held strong defensively as well by holding the Longhorns to just 7 points. After the 3rd quarter, Cuyahoga Heights had their biggest lead of the night at 38-33.
The 4th quarter could not have gotten off to a better start for the Longhorns. Sophomore Aliciana Medina was leading the comeback by hitting multiple 3-balls as well as a tough contested layup. In the blink of an eye, Lutheran West was back on top after a 7-0 run. The Red Wolves were not going down easy though. Julia Jaenke continued her incredible night by dropping in a couple of shots that included an and-1 that cut the Longhorn lead to 2 late. With just over 40 seconds to play, Senior Ava Galek drained a go-ahead 3-ball that would end up being the deciding factor in the game. Cuyahoga Heights would go on to secure a 51-48 victory to move to 4-0.
The Cuyahoga Heights Red Wolves (4-0) travel to Fairview (3-1) next Friday for a great CVC matchup. Meanwhile, the Lutheran West Longhorns (2-2) travel to the Hoban Hoopfest Saturday to take on Thomas Worthington (2-2) at 1:30PM.
Top Performers
Cuyahoga Heights
Julia Jaenke: 26 points
Ava Galek: 11 points (2 3-pointers)
Lauryn Wilson: 8 points
Lutheran West
Aliciana Medina: 16 points (4 3-pointers; 11 points in 4th)
Ella Heisner: 11 points (3 3-pointers)
Ce Grant: 9 points
