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South Range girls rally to stay perfect
By Steve Wilaj
BEAVER TOWNSHIP
From the get-go Monday night, Western Reserve didn’t let South Range be South Range: No up-tempo pace for the undefeated Raiders. No running and gunning. No domination of the paint. No frantic press.
And it resulted in a three-point halftime lead for the Blue Devils.
“[Western Reserve head coach Steve Miller] scouted us well and knew what we were doing,” South Range coach Tony Matisi said. “He took us out of everything we’ve done well so far this year. So I was happy to see the way we fought in the second half.”
It took a little adjusting, but South Range tied the game after three quarters and outscored Western Reserve by six points in the fourth quarter to defeat the Blue Devils, 60-54.
“I thought the second half we worked the ball a lot better,” Matisi said. “I never saw us make so many passes in the halfcourt. This was the first team all year that made us play that way.”
In turn, the scoring column looked a little different for the Raiders (8-0). Senior guard Jordan Youngs led the way with a career-high 20 points, freshman Maddie Durkin scored 14 and Ashley Sharp, a senior, scored 13.
It was Youngs’ 3-pointer — her third of the game — with 2:41 remaining that gave South Range a 53-52 lead it never gave back.
“We’re usually not down at halftime. It was different for our team,” said Youngs, who scored 12 second-half points. “I saw that a couple of my teammates were in foul trouble, so I felt that as a senior I needed to take it upon myself to step up for my team and make some more shots.”
Western Reserve (5-5) — which was led by Rachel Maslach (15 points) and Aleah Hughes (14) — had its opportunities, though. Two missed Blue Devils layups and three turnovers with under 2:30 remaining allowed South Range to ice the contest.
Sharp made two free throws with 1:10 remaining to make it 55-52, before Durkin connected on three free throws to extend the lead to six.
“The difference in the last three minutes of the game was that Hughes and Maslach — who played great all night — both missed some bunnies inside,” Miller said. “But they played so good up to that point. I’m proud of our effort.
“I thought we did a good job of executing the game plan. We wanted to take [Morgan] Czopur away and we did. We knew that Sharp and Youngs could shoot the ball, but we had to pick our poison and they stepped up and knocked a few of them down.”
Western Reserve outshot South Range 43 percent to 37. The rebounding battle favored the Raiders, although it was close, 28-26. But the Blue Devils committed 19 turnovers compared to just nine by South Range.
“This just shows us how much we have to stay focused as a team and not get frustrated,” Youngs said. “It’s good for us — teaches us a lesson every time.”