by What a wild and crazy game this one was, but in the end, Normandy hung on to spoil North Olmsted’s Senior Night with a thrilling 46-37 victory over the Eagles. Normandy raced out to a 16-4 lead minutes into the action and it looked like it was going to be a blowout, then North Olmsted came racing back to cut it to just 7 in the third and fourth quarter but could never quite complete the full-on comeback.
The Invaders were led by the dynamic Ziley Minich with 13 points and 10 assists for a double double. Minich is one to watch in the CWC this year as she is one of the best pure ball handlers and passers I have ever seen. Her partners in crime tonight were Lindsey Meriwether with 12 points and Keilie Anderson with 12 while Giana Carcioppolo had 6 and Rebecca Spadafore with 3.
As mentioned, the first quarter was a blowout warning within seconds, as Normandy raced out to a 10-0 lead 2 minutes in until Katie Strong stopped the run for the Eagles. Between Minich and Meriwether the Invaders couldn’t be controlled however and finished the quarter strong, up 20-8 after one.
The second quarter went back and forth for a bit as the Invader lead grew until Amaya Capps, the feisty and highly talented North Olmsted Eagle freshman hit a pair of three pointers to keep the Eagles in it. The three balls by Capps were cold blooded as she nailed both with confidence, giving the Eagles a boost they badly needed at the time. It was enough to keep the Eagles within reach at halftime, only trailing 33-22 in a game that could have been much worse.
Capps finished with those 6 for the Eagles as they were led by Katie Strong with 10 and Julia Tahsin with 9 while Shelley Gray and Taylor Wengstrom each had 4. Rose Lane finished the scoring with 2.
The third quarter was one like you may never see again. It took Normandy nearly 7 minutes to score a point. When they did however, North Olmsted had only closed the gap to 7 by that point, with 4 points in the quarter from Tahsin. For the Invaders, the scored the final bucket as well, as each team would finish with just those 4 points each for the quarter, keeping the Invader lead at 11, heading into the final chapter.
Again, it was some nice shots by Tahsin that helped the cut the lead all the way down to 5 after a three from the hot shooting Eagle with a little over 4 minutes to play. The Tahsin three ball cut it to 42-37 but it turned out to be too little too late as a 7-point quarter from Anderson helped the Invaders close out the 46-37 win.
