Ochman, Maze lift Howland to road win over Poland

December 19, 2017 at 12:05a.m.

By BOB ETTINGER

POLAND

Mackenzie Maze was forced to step into the spotlight and lead the Howland girls basketball team. She took that challenge head on. She turned that spotlight toward teammate Alex Ochman as the Tigers scored a 51-42 victory over Poland.

Ochman tallied 22 points and 15 rebounds and Maze added 15 points, 14 boards, six assists and three steals as the Tigers earned a signature victory.

“[Ochman] is starting to believe in her shot,” Maze said. “Everyone knows what a great ballplayer she is. Once she she knows it herself, she’ll be a great player. She works hard in there.”

The teammates are mutual admiration society.

“[Maze] has stepped up so much,” Ochman said. “We needed a leader this year and she stepped up. Maze took on that role. It’s a tremendous help to look over see her. She’s always so cool, calm and collected.”

Maze made a jumper to open the contest and assisted Ochman on the next two as the Tigers (5-3) ran out to an 8-2 lead.

“I told [Ochman] it was her best game,” Howland coach John Diehl said. “She was moving to the ball more. When we ran that first play for her and she scored, I knew it was going to be a good night. She’s a go-to player for us. Maybe tonight she established herself as a go-to girl.”

Ochman scored the first two buckets of the second period on assists from Maze and Ka’Rina Mallory, Gabby Hartzell knocked down a 3-pointer and Maze was good on both ends of the bonus to complete a 9-2 Howland run for a 22-11 lead.

“Some kids maintain what they were as juniors,” Diehl said. “[Maze] has become much better. She’s the backbone of the Howland Tigers. Now, she’s great on defense, she runs the offense and she’s a great free-throw shooter.”

Hartzell’s 3-pointer to open the second half extended the Tigers’ lead to 29-18 before the Bulldogs went through a stretch where they rebounded well on the offensive end.

“We came out in the third with a play for Hartzell, she got a wide-open three and buried it,” Diehl said. “That gave us a double-digit lead.”

Jackie Grisdale and Maggie Sebest each scored on putbacks and Gabby Romano made a free throw as the Bulldogs closed to within six, 35-29, with 2:33 to play in the third.

Grisdale hit a triple to open the fourth and added a jumper to pull the Bulldogs within two, 41-39.

“The kids don’t quit,” Poland coach Nick Blanch said. “I’m proud of the kids. They’d run through a wall if I asked them to. Sometimes, the ball doesn’t bounce your way, but we don’t have time to hang our heads. We have to come back and play another tough game against Struthers in two days.

“We were gassed. I leaned on some girls I normally don’t. Their legs were done. I have to praise them. They tried their best, but their legs were done.”

Maze scored on an offensive rebound, then later found Ochman on an inbounds pass. She in turn sent it over to Kendyl Buckley for a bucket and the 45-39 advantage. The Tigers were made four of eight foul shots in the final 1:09 to seal the win.

“I don’t know what the shooting percentages were, but they were horrible all the way around,” Blanch said. “We had plenty of open shots and they weren’t falling. Hat’s off to Howland. They played a better game than we did. It just wasn’t our night offensively.”

Grisdale led Poland with 13 points and eight boards, Bella Gajdos was held to nine points, eight rebounds and four assists and Kat Partika had eight. Sebest had 10 rebounds and six points.