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S. Range pulls back on fouls for win
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BASKETBALL - (10) Kenzie Pfeiffer of South Range looks for help as (10) Colleen Kenneham keeps a close eye on her during their game Thursday night. - Special to The Vindicator/Nick Mays
By Tom Williams
BEAVER TOWNSHIP
Coach Josh Scott wasn’t surprised that his Western Reserve High girls basketball team’s 57-54 loss to South Range on Thursday was an extremely physical contest and wasn’t settled until the final missed shot at the buzzer.
“We have a little friendly rivalry that dates back to the summer,” said Scott a few minutes after Hannah Mowery’s half-court buzzer shot bounced off the backboard. “It’s always been a little bit physical, which is great because it makes both teams better.”
The Raiders (3-0) won despite accumulating 19 fouls through three quarters. Three of their starters — Gab Naples, Tab Stanton and Samantha Smith — had picked up their fourth personal foul before the fourth quarter.
To the Raiders’ credit, all remained in the game until the final 16 seconds when Stanton and Smith eventually joined Western Reserve’s Colleen Kennehan on the bench with five personal fouls each.
“The three that came in to replace us picked it up,” said Naples who scored 16 points and made six rebounds. “Last year, we lost to Jefferson and Campbell, so this feels good. I want to keep this going.”
Powered by baskets by Stanton and Naples, the Raiders jumped out to a 13-3 start and appeared to be headed for an easy night. But then they started taking fouls in rapid fashion and the Blue Devils (1-1) posted an 11-0 run.
“They just kept coming back at us with foul shots, chipping away and chipping away,” Naples said. “At halftime, we talked about how we couldn’t foul like that again, that we had to be way smarter.”
The Blue Devils’ lead grew to five at halftime before the Raiders regained the lead, 42-41, at the end of three quarters.
“They did a real good job of adjusting and we kind of stopped attacking a little bit,” Scott said. “We let them play the gameplan they wanted — you definitely have to give them credit.”
Down the stretch, a basket and free throw by Kenzie Pfeiffer and three foul shots by Smith gave the Raiders a 56-50 lead with 75 seconds remaining.
But the Blue Devils weren’t finished. Hannah Shrader’s basket sliced the lead to four and Sammi Burton’s two free throws with six seconds remaining gave the Devils hope at 56-54.
Burton took her fifth foul and Ellen Stoffer made a free throw for the game’s final point, leaving the Blue Devils down to their final desperation shot.
“We played last year and it was tough, we only won by six,” said Naples of battling Burton underneath the basket. “She wasn’t going to back down so I knew I had to pick up my game on her.
“We play up in faces,” Naples said of the Raiders’ style. “I like the physical game very much.”
Burton led the Blue Devils with 18 points and six rebounds. Tori Korda contributed nine points and Shrader and Kennehan eight apiece.
“As hard as it is to open with Crestview and South Range, it definitely prepares us,” Scott said. “That’s why we’re here.”
“We feel we are a lot more prepared now then when we walked into this gym,” Scott said.
For the Raiders, Smith scored 12 points and Pfeiffer 11.