Aggressive Chippewa takes down Golden Flashes

March 7, 2019 at 12:07a.m.

Champion struggled with man-to-man defensive pressure

By BOB ETTINGER

cuyahoga falls

The Champion girls basketball team hadn’t really seen what the Doylestown Chippewa defense can do to a team. The Golden Flashes found out, though, in a 67-44 Division III regional semifinal loss at Cuyahoga Falls High School on Wednesday night.

“That’s a very good basketball team,” Chippewa coach Dennis Schrock said. “We watched a lot of film. I wanted to see film of the games they lost. A lot of teams up there play zone. I’m a man-to-man coach. If you’re not used to the man pressure we throw at you, it will disrupt you. It did and got us the lead. “Our pressure disrupted their sets and they were never really able to get into the sets they like to run. We were able to convert on the other end.”

The Golden Flashes (20-6) never really surrendered an extended run until the fourth quarter, but they also couldn’t quite keep pace, either.

“Especially in the first half, that pressure was something we’re not used to,” Champion coach Michael Cole said. “We knew they were going to come out and pressure us, but it took a while to adjust. We were trying to preach spreading the floor and getting to the basket with our athletes. We missed some layups and you can’t miss layups against a good team like that. [Chippewa] is just good. They’ve been here five years in a row.”

The Chipps (25-1) will play Elyria Catholic, a 52-32 winner over Southeast in the other semifinal, in the regional final at 1:30 p.m. Saturday.

Despite the loss, Cole was pleased with his team.

“I told the girls, the feeling I have compared to last year is like night and day,” Cole said. “It was nothing but effort. I’ll leave here proud. At the end of the day, all I can ask is that they give the maximum effort. We just came up short.”

Chippewa forced a multitude of miscues as it puled away for a 30-19 lead at the half and a 50-33 advantage through three quarters.

“That was more them than us,” Cole said. “We were passive and just trying to get the ball out of our hands. We’re not used to that kind of aggression. We cut it down to 14, but we got no breaks. When you’re down 14, you need every break.”

A free throw and a bucket from Brooke Whitt had the Golden Flashes down, 53-39, with 5:51 to play in the fourth, but the Chipps rattled off a 14-2 run to put the game out of reach.

Whitt led Champion with 15 points, Emma Gumont had 10 and Abby White added eight.

Grace Lindquist paced the Chipps with 21 points, Celina Koncz added 17 and Taylor Thomas had 13.