Strongsville OH– It was all Lady Mustangs in the first round of the OHSAA girls basketball tournament as Strongsville defeated Elyria 72-22 Wednesday night. Strongsville entered the game 21-1 on the season and it took no time at all to see how they were able to get to that mark. In the first quarter the Lady Mustangs outscored the Lady Pioneers 30-8. The Lady Mustangs were led by the Kee On Sports Duo Of The Year in seniors Sydney Bass and Kennedi Neale, who scored 21 of the 30 Strongsville points in the quarter. Bass had 14 points while Neale had 7. The dynamic duo were joined on the scoresheet by Kee On Sports GCC sophomore of the Year in Sidney Butera who had 7 points and Kee On Sports Most Improved Player in Ester Dioszegi who chipped in 2 points. 

The Lady Pioneers, despite being outscored by 22 points in the quarter, did not back down and even had their highest scoring quarter of the game with 8 points. Senior Sirriah Drummer had 5 of her 8 points while freshman Alexis Luckey scored her only 2 points of the contest in the quarter. Senior Danielle Witten added a free throw in the quarter as well. 

The Lady Mustangs were far from finished after the first quarter. Bass and Butera continued where they left off. Bass scored her final 9 points of the game, finishing with a game high 25 despite only scoring in the first half. Butera had her high quarter of the game, with 9 of her 18 points coming in quarter number 2. Dioszegi added 2 more points and Neale went 1 for 2 from the free throw line in the quarter to add a few points to the Lady Mustang total. Senior Faith Rodak also joined the scoring party adding a 2 pointer of her own. The Lady Mustangs took a 55-15 lead with them into halftime as a result of their hard work. 

To start the second half, it seemed like there was a lid on the basket as neither team was able to make a shot for nearly the first 4 minutes. The Lady Mustangs were able to take the lid off their bucket and ended the quarter scoring 10 points, with 3 pointers by junior Luaren Sobczynski and freshman Rosalynda Jordan and 2 pointers by Neale and Butera to give the Lady Mustangs a 65-15 lead going into the final quarter of play.

The Lady Pioneers despite being down battled the entire night. The Lady Pioneers in the fourth quarter were able to hold Strongsville to a game low 7 points. Unfortunately, Elyria was only able to put up 7 points themselves in the quarter as Strongsville held on and won by a comfortable 72-22 margin. 

Player of the Game: Sydney Bass. The 5’10” senior scored a game high 25 points despite only scoring in the first half. It seemed like when the ball was in her hands, it always found the hoop. If you blinked, you may have missed her shots going in because of how fast and sharp her shots were.