Western Reserve Devils hope for banner year in the ITCL

The Blue Devils improved to 10-0 in the ITCL’s Tier Two.

BERLIN CENTER — When head coach James Scott looks around the gym at Western Reserve High, he notices there is something missing among the athletic banners that adorn the walls.

As of now, there is no banner for girls basketball, and Scott hopes he and this year’s version of the Blue Devils can change that.

“We set the goal at the beginning of the season that we at least wanted a share of the banner; we want to put a banner in the gym because if you look around, there isn’t one for girls basketball,” Scott said.

The Blue Devils (14-2, 10-0 in the Inter Tri-County League’s Tier Two) helped their chances with a big 61-23 win over Wellsville on Thursday.

Scott said he uses the banner — or rather lack thereof — in the gym as motivation for his team during practice.

“I have them look up at all the other banners, and the other people who have been successful,” he said. “I think that’s another motivator to them, to know that they can be part of something special and something we’ve never done here at the school.”

With a big game against Lowellville looming next week, it would have been easy for Western Reserve to overlook Wellsville. The Rockets defeated the Blue Devils twice last year during Western Reserve’s three-loss season and kept the team from winning its conference.

“With Lowellville coming up on Monday, that’s kind of been the game we’ve been eyeing, but it’s one step at a time, one game at a time,” Scott said. “We’ve been preaching all week that Wellsville is the most important game of the year because if you lose that one, the rest don’t mean a thing.”

And win the Blue Devils did.

Western Reserve’s defense held the Tigers (6-8, 4-5) to fewer points than the Blue Devils’ top two leading scorers.

Senior Matti Shahaden and sophomore Hannah Mowery each had a game-high 12 points.

The leading scorer for Wellsvile was sophomore Rilee Livolsi, with nine.

Mowery said the pressure to win a banner keeps the team focused and makes toughing out practice all that much easier.

“It is so important to me and my teammates,” she said. “We strive every day at practice to work as hard as we can for that banner. Even if we have to share it with someone else, that’s all we want.”

Scott said the team defense has been the driving force for the Blue Devils. That defense was on display as the team allowed only two points in the first quarter against Wellsville.

The Tigers struggled to find an open shot and were frustrated by the Blue Devils’ pressure.

On the other side, Western Reserve was able to find open looks and get the ball into the hoop. A 34-8 lead at halftime game the Blue Devils all the confidence they needed to finish the job.

“We put a lot of focus on the defensive end and that’s something that no matter what the score is, or how much time is left, we want to make sure we’re going as hard as we can all the time,” Scott said. “We may not be pressing the whole time, but we want to make sure we put a lot of focus on staying strong defensively.”

It helps that the Blue Devils are as close-knit off the court as they are on the hardwood.

Mowery said the team is like a family and the players are friends off the court as well.

“We all know each other so well that we just pump each other up all the time,” she said. “We know everybody like they were sisters.”

jmoffett@vindy.com