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Bay Village, OH— The last time the Bay Village Rockets and Westlake Demons met, the green and white came out victorious with a come-from-behind effort, 42-32. The offense was firing on all cylinders in the first quarter. But the Rocket’s defensive scheme gave them a 27-23 lead heading into the fourth. It took them awhile to get going again but, the Demons would go on to outscore Bay 15-9 to snag one for the win column.
Westlake has been up and down, but they had won a competitive game on January 5 against Elyria Catholic 54-49. Unfortunately for Bay Village the losing woes continue as the girls from Westlake would scratch and claw their way to another comeback win 54-47 in an overtime affair.
The first quarter was mostly dominated by a great team-defensive effort from the red and blue. Forcing jump balls and getting into the passing lanes helped get the Rockets out to 8-0 start.
However, the Demons would catch a little bit of a rhythm towards the end of the first. They moved the basketball well and began to disrupt what Bay was doing offensively.
Moving into the second, the scoring pretty much doubled for both squads.
Senior for Westlake Abbie Gardner and sophomore stud Lucy Bisson for Bay went back forth trading buckets. Gardner showed her abilities and height in the paint pouting in six points.
Bisson was able to get to the cup with ease and was extremely aggressive getting to the free throw line. She tacked on eight points in the quarter. Emily Martin was also hitting her stride as well adding in seven.
The score at halftime was 24-20 a small advantage for the home team but, you could tell this one was going the distance. It seemed Bay Village had the Demons on the ropes with that quick 8-0 lead, but the resiliency really shined through as they were able to keep pace with any run the Rockets tried to make.
The third quarter was a thrill to watch. More dynamic playmaking for both teams teased the ending to this one even more. Great defense and the willingness to attack the rim were on full display. Westlake was able to get to the line quite a bit due to their hustle on the offensive glass.
Whether it be a missed shot or free throw a girl in a green jersey always seemed to come up with a second chance opportunity.
As a team they knocked through four free throws and had a balanced scoring attack. Anna Williams, who had not scored a bucket all throughout the first half stepped into a corner three and swished it, beating the third quarter buzzer to keep them within three.
On the home side, Chaeli Ziebarth had also not scored at all, but she could simply not be stopped underneath the hoop. She racked up 8 of the 13 points in the quarter to carry the load. She also led the way in their win against North Olmsted with 13. Her highlight of the day came on a strong finish through contact for an and-one opportunity.
Clinging to a three-point advantage, Bay needed another strong quarter on offense to seal a victory in regulation. Unfortunately, they would only muster nine points.
The Demons defense was strong yet again and they were able to force an extra four minutes with some seriously clutch free throws by Katie Whitesell. Her stroke was pure from the line, putting in four big ones with about 2:30 minutes to play to eventually tie the game at 46.
Bay Village appeared to not have anything left on offense as the visitors took over the extra minutes. Sarah Colman, Whitesell and Ella Henton did the rest to put this one away and grab another win against the Rockets.
Westlake moves to 5-6 as they travel again to meet with the North Olmsted Eagles. Bay Village falls to 3-7 and they will also go on the road to face off against Rocky River.
Players of the Game
Bay Village: Lucy Bisson- 15 points
Chaeli Ziebarth and Emily Martin 10 points
Westlake: Abbie Gardner- 13 points
Kate Whitesell- 15 points
