Lowellville girls fall in overtime

By TOM WILLIAMS

williams@vindy.com

MASSILLON

Photo

ROBERT K. YOSAY | THE VINDICATOR ..Lowellvilles #5 sophmore Ashley Moore is surrounded as she goes for two by Cuyahoga #40 Carly Stock #44 (hidden) Brianna Stock and #51 Brooke Rayokovich during second quarter action= as Lowellville Lady Rockets played the Cuyahoga Lady Redskins at Massilon Perry High School Thursday night in playoff action - 30-

Minus their top scoring threat, the Lowellville High girls basketball team still took Cuyahoga Heights to the brink before falling in overtime, 40-39, in Thursday’s Division IV regional semifinal at Perry High School.

The Rockets overcame a 30-24 third-quarter deficit to force the extra session. But little went right for Lowellville (21-4) during the extra four minutes.

“I truly wanted one more game on this floor just to get them another look,” said Lowellville coach Tony Matisi who started one senior (Jamie Hynes), two sophomores (Ashley Moore and Emily Carlson) and two freshmen (Kaye Solak and Rachel Durbin).

“I know the outcome wouldn’t have look real good on Saturday,” said Matisi of playing defending state runner-up Berlin Hiland or Lutheran East, “but to get them one more game on this floor would have been helpful” to their development.

The Rockets (21-4), champions of the Inter Tri-County League Tier Two, were without sophomore guard Taylor Hvisdak, who broke her arm in the district semifinal on March 4.

“Without Taylor, it was tough,” Matisi said. “It was tough getting ready for McDonald [in the district final], it was tough this week trying to find people to take her spot.

“She does so much. You can maybe replace her points, but [not] the contributions she makes with ball handling.”

With Hvisdak cheering from the bench, the Rockets kept Cuyahoga Heights (20-4) close as they trailed 21-20 at halftime.

The Redskins controlled play for most of the third quarter, opening up a six-point lead,

The Rockets responded with an 8-0 run. Moore scored from underneath the basket then Carlson and Moore hit 3-pointers to put Lowellville ahead, 32-30.

After Carly Stock scored twice to give the Redskins a 36-34, advantage, Carlson made two free throws with 1:25 to go in regulation.

The Rockets had the possession for most of the final minute, but missed their one shot.

Lowellville trailed most of the overtime after Heidi Mervar made a basket with 3:10 to go. After made a free throw, Mervar scored again with a minute remaining to give Cuyahoga Heights a 40-37 lead.

The Rockets worked the clock down to eight seconds then called their last timeout.

Carlson took the inbounds pass from Moore then passed to Hynes who fled from pursuit, drove to the net hoping to draw a foul and scored without being touched.

“Definitely, we felt we were in this thing. We worked hard to get back,” said Carlson who scored 12 points. “It’s hard because it was a close game. Now [we ask] what if we were in the regional finals?

“It [would have been] more experience for the freshmen to come back next year,” Carlson said. “But we’re proud that we were one of the final 16 teams in the state.”

Moore, who led the Rockets with 16 points, said she enjoyed the challenge of a back-and-forth contest.

“I thought we had it,” Moore said. “I was excited because I like playing close games. We don’t usually get that. I like that adrenaline rush more.”

Mervar led the Redskins with 19 points while Stock and Deanna Lewis each scored eight.

“Sometimes you don’t realize what you have until it’s gone,” Carlson said of playing without Hvisdak. “Taylor is my second point guard. I didn’t have her to pass the ball to when trapped. It felt like something was missing out there.”