by The Midview Middies played the long game today in their win over the Avon Lake Shoregals. The Shoregals had the lead for most of the game, but the Middies kept it close. The Middies took the victory over the Shoregals 42-29. Both teams played hard in the first half, but it seemed that the Shoregals would avenge their loss to the Middies last month. Midview took the lead in the third quarter and never looked back. The Middies were led by Juniors Mary Meng and Olivia DiFranco who combined for 33 of the Middies 42 points.
The Middies won the tip to start the game and tried to capitalize quickly to start the game. However, the Shoregals played tight defense and aggressive offense. Midview tried to keep Avon Lake beyond the arc, but the Shoregals put their heads down driving hard and taking shots at every opportunity. That’s not to say that the Middie defense was not on their game. Middies Senior Grace Seymour played tough and was constantly in the face of whoever she was assigned to cover. Avon Lake Sophomore Izzie Polinko felt the heat from Seymour, but the Shoregals withstood the heat in the first quarter, pushing and driving their way into the paint. Shoregals led 13-10 after one.
The defense continued to be the focus going into the second quarter. The Middies and Shoregals continued to play hard, neither team wanting to give an inch. Avon Lake continued to keep the defensive pressure on the Middies. Midview took some low percentage shots, especially under pressure in the quarter. That pressure went both ways as the Middies found ways to get rebounds and steals that allowed Midview to close the gap to 1 point at halftime. Shoregals led by 22 to 21 after 16 minutes of play.
The Middies got back to basics in the second half. Middies Coach Brittney McNamara said “We started to play better defense in the second half…”. The Middies defense was not weak by any means, but they stepped it up in the second half. Olivia DiFranco was a big part of that turn around with 6 steals and 8 rebounds on top of her 22 points in the game. Midview tied it up 3 minutes into the half and the Middies never looked back. The Shoregals turned the ball over several times in the quarter, leading. One minute later the Middies took the lead on a Olivia DiFranco lay up in traffic. Midview pushed hard and kept the Shoregals out of the paint with 66% of Avon Lake’s shots coming from the far outside perimeter. Middies lead after 3, 26 to 24.
Midview turned it up in the fourth , scoring 16 points in the quarter while holding the Shoregals to 5 points. The Shoregals fought hard to stay in the game, never giving up until the final buzzer. The Middies slow played most of the quarter content to hold on to the ball, after 2 Olivia DiFranco buckets, including one lay up in heavy traffic. The Shoregals were forced to play the foul game to try and stay in this one. Unfortunately, it was not enough for the Shoregals to retake the lead.
The Middies sweep the season series against the Shoregals and improve to 15-3 on the season. Speaking to Middies coach Brittney McNamara about the combination of Mary Meng and Olivia DiFranco she had this to say: “Those are 2 of the best…It’s hard to guard 2 of them.”
You can see my short interview with Coach McNamara of the Midview Middies below:
@Midviewhoops coach Brittney McNamara after their 42-29 win over @ShoregalsBBall.
@SportsKee1 pic.twitter.com/vrmnwbqMc7
— Chris Grunau VA/ High School Sports Reporter (@ChrisGrunau) January 28, 2023
1 2 3 4 Final
Avon Lake 13 9 2 5 29
Midview. 10 11 5 16 42
