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Photo credit Tracy Tighe
A division 1 district championship was on the line tonight at the Elyria Catholic Coliseum. The 1 seed Olmsted Falls Bulldogs were looking to 3-peat as district champs, while the 10 seed Avon Lake Shoregals looked to continue their great run. It was also a matchup of two SWC conference opponents.
The game started off with 4 straight turnovers and smothering defense on both sides. That streak of turnovers ended when Mia Kalich got the Bulldogs on the board with a layup. The Bulldogs would get out to a 6-0 nothing lead after Danielle Cameron put one in after 3 consecutive offense rebounds for the Bulldogs. Marissa Summerfield finally got the Shoregals on the board with about 2 minutes left in the opening quarter. The Bulldogs then began to pull away. They scored 8 straight to go up 14-2, back-to-back three pointers by Paige Kohler and Erin Birch. The Shoregals stopped the run after a Claire Springer layup, but after Danielle Cameron was fouled attempting a putback with under 1 second left in the 1st, the Bulldogs lead went back up to 12 points. It was a 16-4 Olmsted Falls lead after the first.
In the second quarter the Bulldogs continued their great defensive play and their lead only grew larger. To start the second Bulldogs were again active on the offensive glass, as Mia Kalich immediately scored on a putback layup. Courtney Borland responded immediately with a layup of her own making it 18-6. The Bulldogs then went on another run, this time scoring 10 straight points and extending the lead to 28-6. With the first half winding down Marissa Summerfield provided some life for the Shoregals, scoring 5 points in the final minute. The Bulldogs held a 30-11 lead going into halftime. Mia Kalich and Paige Kohler had 8 points each in the first half for the Bulldogs.
To start the second half Mia Kalich and Paige Kohler had back to back tough finishes inside. That set the tone for another Bulldogs run, as they scored 7 straight points to put the score at 37-11. Danielle Cameron led the Bulldogs offense in the third quarter, scoring 9 points. At the end of the third quarter Paige Kohler raced down the court hit a running floater as the buzzer went off. It was 43-18 lead for the Bulldogs after 3 quarters. In the fourth quarter Danielle Cameron added 5 more points, including a three to put the Bulldogs up 52-24.
With around 3 minutes left Shoregals head coach decided to put all his seniors out there for a final sendoff. Brynn Bondar and Meghan McNally then made back to back threes. Bondar then hit another three and followed that up with a layup. With time running out Bondar then launched one from way down town for the final shot of career and swished it. It ended up being a feelgood way to end the season-ending loss for the Shoregals. The Bulldogs ended up winning by a final of 55-38, clinching their 3rd straight district championship.
Bulldogs head coach Jordan Eaton made it clear how much after the game how much this district championship means for the team, saying that “I will never take a district championship for granted and our kids won’t either, it’s a big deal, it’s a hard thing to accomplish. Only 16 teams in division get to do it. We’re going to enjoy and make sure we’re ready to prepare. But we’re gonna take some time in the next 24 hours to reflect and enjoy the hard work we put in to earn this.”
