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Fitch holds off N. Falls
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Newton Falls’ Rachel Ellis, center, tries to split Fitch defenders Cassie Custer, left, and Megan Sefcik (11) as Falls’ Victoria Workman (25) trails during Thursday’s game in Newton Falls.
By Doug Chapin
NEWTON FALLS
It probably didn’t go as planned but as the saying goes, “a win is a win is a win.”
The Fitch High girls improved to 3-0 with a 62-56 victory Thursday night over Newton Falls in a non-divisional game between All-American Conference schools.
The Falcons trailed 14-6 after one quarter, rallied for a 29-26 halftime lead and built the advantage to as much as 10 in the third quarter. Ahead 48-39 with one quarter remaining, Fitch saw the Tigers (2-2) score the first eight points of the final period to get back into the game.
Falls took a 54-53 lead with 2:11 remaining on a 3-pointer by Cassandra Smith, but a Fitch 3-pointer by senior Anissa Hill at the 1:47 mark put the Falcons back on top for good.
“We made a ton of mistakes tonight but we hung in there,” Fitch coach Stacie Cepin said. “We know how to fight from start to finish. We don’t make it pretty but that’s big to get a win like this on the road. They [Newton Falls] are real scrappy, they’re a tough team.”
Sophomore Megan Sefcik (almost) literally could not miss, scoring 27 points on 11-for-13 shooting from the field. She scored 13 of the Falcons’ 19 points in the third quarter and also had six rebounds for the game.
Hill provided 19 points, 12 in the second quarter, and six assists, and Brianna Edwards came off the bench to contribute six points, seven rebounds and four assists. Cassie Custer grabbed eight rebounds as Fitch held a 30-24 edge on the boards.
“We’re real happy with our rebounding,” Cepin said. “That’s one of the things I know is consistent with us.”
Newton Falls also was led by a sophomore, Brooke Barreca, who scored 19 points on 8-for-13 shooting and grabbed 10 rebounds. Rachel Ellis had 14 points, Victoria Workman added 10 and Angela Giuliano dished out four assists.
“Our progress has been good, though we struggled early on with chemistry,” Newton Falls coach Mark Baker said. “We had some girls who were out injured this summer and we were kind of late putting a group together. I think we’re steadily progressing. I’d have to say tonight was the best we’ve played and you have to play well against that team [Fitch]. They are a very good basketball team.”
“I think we’ve turned the corner here with girls basketball. The expectations are much higher than they’ve been. We’re starting to build a tradition of a winning program and the credit is all to the kids because it’s their mentality. They are the ones that want to get into the gym, they’re the ones that want to do the work.”
Cepin said the Falcons relish the challenge of playing in a new conference.
“We made our scrimmages really tough going into a new league with new challenges and a lot of young kids,” she said. “We’re still trying to jell and find our identity but each game we’re fighting and doing the best we can.
“We had a really great summer. Right now we’re fighting some injuries that made us have to adjust. We had roles and now everything has changed a little bit. But the kids are stepping up in different spots and our practices have been unbelievable. We’re proud of that and it is transferring on to the floor.”