by MEDINA, OH — In game two of the night, the Brecksville-Broadview Heights Bees led by head coach Joe Zenir took on the Green Lady Bulldogs led by head coach Alicia Manning. The Bulldogs got it DONE thanks to #24 Jenna Slates with 19 points and #21 Armahni Wagler with 13 points. The Bees were led in scoring by #22 Bridget Barber with 20 points and #25 Josalyn Hackney with 7 points.
Green won the opening tip and turned the ball over to the Bees. #15 of the Bees Adelyn Rahe hit a slick jumper to open the score. The Bees defense was VERY tough to start the game as #5 Ashley Perdion hit a tough shot. #3 Brooklyn Wood of the Bulldogs hit a tough shot of her own. The scoring then opened up for both sides as Brecksville took a 4 point lead.
The Bulldog crowd encouraged their team to take a breath and relax and it worked as #24 Jenna Slates nailed a tricky layup. Slates also went to work on the boards, drawing a foul nailing a free throw and a steal to a layup that gave Green the lead! To put it short, Slates looked like Hakeem Olajuwon in the first quarter. Her post moves were out of this world!
#21 Armahni Wagler hit a clean 3-pointer extending the Bulldog lead to 7 points. Wagler looked amazing coming off the bench, drawing a pair of fouls and nailing all her free throws! The Bees were getting good looks, but just couldn’t nail their shot attempts and got into foul trouble early. The Bees trailed 22-15 at the end of the 1st quarter.
The Bulldogs controlled the boards to start the 2nd. But, #22 of the Bees Bridget Barber hit two critical threes bringing the Bulldog lead down to just 3 points. Barber cut it within 1 after a steal and a hook shot. Slates and Barber battled back and forth, as did their respective teams.
With 3 minutes left in the half, the Bees still trailed by 4. #13 Jessie Zenir took matters into her own hands on the boards, getting into it with Slates from the Bulldogs! The game was fairly high scoring so far and quite intense with Green leading Brecksville 34-28 at halftime.
Wood of the Bulldogs started the 2nd half scoring with a wide open jumper. Wagler hit an and-1 that extended the lead to 11. #25 Josalyn Hackney hit a critical and-1 to bring it back to a 9 point lead for the Bulldogs.
Rahe helped the Bees bring it within 7 after a nice hook shot, but Slates was still unguardable. Thanks to Barber and #30 Lexi Ganley of the Bees off the bench, the lead was cut down to just 3 points! The Bulldogs still led the Bees 46-39 at the end of the 3rd quarter.
The 4th quarter saw the Bulldogs play STIFLING defense as mistakes began to mount for the Bees. The 6-man rotation employed by head coach Alicia Manning of Green seemed to work wonders. The intensity in the gym increased by the second, and with 4 minutes to go Green still had the 5 point lead over Brecksville.
Green held on to win 61-52 in an AMAZING game!
