For the seventh consecutive season, the road to the girls basketball championship of the Southwestern Conference will be going through Olmsted Falls.

Winners of the last six SWC crowns in a row, the Bulldogs showed yesterday that they are the team to beat once again, putting on a defensive clinic to defeat visiting Avon Lake, 40-33. With the victory, Falls is now 9-3 overall and 7-0 in SWC action, while the Shoregals fall to 10-2 and 6-1.

“Defending was the number one priority today,” said Olmsted Falls coach Jordan Eaton. “We have some length, and we have some kids who play really hard. We’re trying to get them to move their feet and be in position before they go after the ball, because they like to go after the ball. They did a great job with that today.”

As expected, the game was a slugfest, as both teams defended exceptionally well. But on this day, the Olmsted Falls defense did one thing that Avon Lake’s didn’t—force turnovers. The Shoregals turned the ball over 16 times, which is high for a low-scoring, defensive battle. Even more to the point, the majority of the miscues came when the Bulldogs broke the game open, five in the second quarter and seven in the third.

The hosts enjoyed an 8-1 scoring advantage in the third quarter to turn a 19-15 halftime lead into a 27-16 advantage. The Shoregals found their offensive footing in the fourth period, but it was too little, too late, as the teams traded baskets for most of the period until Izzy Polinko hit a desperation 3-pointer at the buzzer while falling into her team’s bench to reach the final score.

When asked about scoring just one point in the third quarter, Avon Lake coach Paul Appel said, “I don’t even know that it was us going cold. I felt like we turned it over on 10 straight possessions, and it was just silly things. They do a lot of things really well, but we made them look even better with our decision making. It’s just very uncharacteristic for who our girls have been all year.”

While the Olmsted Falls defense was on-point, the Bulldogs as a team are in a shooting slump, which is unusual for a program that is known for its shooting. In this game, Falls made just 2 of 18 from beyond the 3-point line for 11%. In Thursday’s 49-31 loss to Strongsville, the Bulldogs put up 37 from beyond the arc and made just three for 8%.

“It’s strange what’s happening with our team right now,” said Eaton. “It’s the kind of thing that happens throughout a season. It’s why we work so much on defending in practice, because you can’t just make shots all the time. It’s just some weird thing. All five of our starters are great shooters. We bring in two kids off the bench who make shots all the time. Then we get into a game, and we go 2 for (18) or 3 for 37.

“I think you just have to keep in mind that you’re going to have poor shooting nights. It’s not anybody’s fault, it’s just one of those things. But when you’re not shooting well, you still need to win the game or give yourself a chance, and that’s what our kids did today.”

Rather than fire away from the outside like they did at Strongsville, the Bulldogs took a different offensive approach against Avon Lake, often looking to get the ball into the post. Maddie Cerovac scored eight of her 13 points in the opening period, with all resulting from post-up moves. She added a 3-pointer and a layup in the fourth period.

“We just really liked our matchup with that,” said Eaton. “Izzie Polinko is a great defender, but we felt that was going to be the matchup. Maddie is hard to guard in the paint. We put a couple wrinkles into our offense this morning to get it to her in there, and it worked out.”

Emma Schaefer was the leading scorer for the Bulldogs with 14, including hitting 12 of 14 free throws, a major factor in her team making 16 of 19 for the game. Schaefer aggressively took the ball to the basket, often drawing fouls.

“Emma’s a 10^th-grader who’s figuring it out, slowly but surely,” said Eaton. “Today she did a good job of attacking the basket and making sure that she went very strong. You have to against Avon Lake. They’re so good defensively. We know they’re going to be there and they’re going to be physical. If you fade or you don’t go strong, you’re going to get your shot blocked or you’re going to miss.”

Polinko was the leading scorer for the Shoregals with nine points. She was backed by Olivia Tobin with eight and Olivia Miller with seven.

“I just didn’t think we played well,” said Appel. “I don’t think we played well on Wednesday, despite what the results said (a 45-13 victory over Elyria). So, we’ve got to spend a lot of time getting back to us and working hard in practice and keep working to get better. They’re a very good team, but we didn’t play well, and that’s on me and us to figure that out.”

The SWC schedule is just past its midpoint, and the teams will meet once again on February 8 at Avon Lake, the final matchup on the conference schedule.

“We know we have battles on our hands from a few teams,” said Eaton of being the team to beat once again. “Getting through the first round is great, but it’s hard to beat teams twice. We know that and we’re going to prepare for that.”