Hughes the boss as Blue Devils top Clippers

January 23, 2015 at 12:07a.m.

COLUMBIANA

Columbiana basketball coach Ron Moschella has perhaps — barring a potential showdown in a Division III district tournament — seen the last of Western Reserve standout forward Aleah Hughes.

He has three more years of her younger sister, Alexis, however.

With the Clippers on the verge of a monumental fourth-quarter comeback Thursday night, the Hughes sisters turned the tide of the game, combining for eight points and three assists in helping the Blue Devils escape Berryman Gymnasium with a 52-46 Inter Tri-County League, Tier Two victory.

With the Clippers having cut a 13-point deficit to three points with just over five minutes remaining in regulation, Alexis Hughes, a freshman reserve, accepted a pass from her older sister and made a crucial basket to extend the Blue Devils’ lead to 45-40.

After a Columbiana miss, Aleah responded with a basket of her own for a 47-40 lead with 4:10 left. Columbiana forward Emily Witmer then scored two of her game-high 24 before Aleah again found Alexis underneath the basket for uncontested layups on two straight possessions to increase the lead to seven with 1:40 to go.

Witmer again made a short basket to cut the Clippers’ deficit to five, but they failed to foul Western Reserve for 30 seconds, allowing precious time to fade off the clock and dash any remaining hope.

“I’ve been waiting to play with [Aleah] for a few years,” said Alexis Hughes, who scored 13 points Thursday. “She was double-teamed and we knew it was going to come. We planned it at practice for a few days.

“I’ve never felt this. It’s pretty cool.”

Aleah, the focal point of likely every opponent’s defensive alignment, scored 12 points, but it was her playmaking abilities that set her sister — and her team — up for success, especially late in Thursday’s game.

“It’s definitely exciting, especially in such a close game,” said Aleah Hughes, who navigated the fourth quarter with four personal fouls. “We definitely lost our composure at the end and passing the ball around to get us moving and get them moving, it freed up some space and allowed Alexis room to get to the basket wide open.”

With the victory, Western Reserve tied the Clippers (9-2 ITCL) for first place in the conference’s lower tier. The burgeoning rivals played a 62-59 thriller Dec. 11 in Berlin Center with Columbiana earning a road win.

The Clippers overcame two double-digit deficits Thursday, but could not recover.

“We got out-rebounded atrociously,” Moschella said. “Our pressure did affect [Western Reserve] at times. I thought we buried ourselves in the first half, but then we came back and got [the deficit] to three and then we buried ourselves again and then we came back and got it to three. It was one of those kinds of things.

“Overall I was pleased with their effort for how outmanned in terms of height we were, but we can’t let that happen. It’s not an excuse.”

Rachel Maslach led Western Reserve with 14 points.