By Roger Gordon

Correspondent

Aurora trailed visiting Warrensville Heights by 15 points after one quarter and by 18 points at halftime Feb. 25 in their Division III district semifinal.

The Greenmen rallied, though, and pulled to within seven points in the fourth quarter before running out of steam en route to a 56-46 loss.

They finished with an 18-6 record.

“The girls fought extremely hard. They didn’t want their season to be over,” head coach Erika Greenberg said. “I’m really proud of how they played and how much grit they showed.”

The Tigers’ speed hindered Aurora’s shot making.

“We didn’t shoot the ball well and rushed our shots,” said Greenberg. “Warrensville Heights is a really good team. They’re very athletic, they have some great players.”

Pacing the home team was senior guard Addison Witting with 15 points.

According to the coach, her players had to deal with what every other team in Ohio except the seven state champions has to deal with every year — concluding the season with a defeat.

“It’s always hard when your season ends,” she said, “especially seeing the seniors upset after their last high-school game. It tears at your heartstrings a little bit.”

Four days earlier, on Feb. 21 also at home, Aurora easily defeated Painesville Harvey 66-20 in a sectional final.

“We played pretty well,” said Greenberg. “Harvey played hard, but we were able to do what we wanted to on offense, and our defense was pretty good, so we were able to hold them a little bit.”

Leading the way were junior shooting guard Jillian Monastero, who had a double-double with 21 points and 10 rebounds and came within three assists of posting a triple-double. Witting added 12 points.

“Jillian shot the ball really well, going 8-for-10 from the floor. She had a monster game,” Greenberg said. “Addison played like she always plays — really great defense, handling pressure on offense, making good decisions with the ball.”

Greenberg will lose Witting, guard Brooke Pierce and forward Autumn Eichenauer to graduation in the spring. That will pose many questions come next season.

“We’ll be good,” the coach said, “but you never know until you get them in the gym.”

KENT ROOSEVELT

“It was one of those games where, if you weren’t a coach, a player or a fan of the teams, it was really fun to watch.”

Those were the words of Craig Foreman, who did happen to have a passing interest in the game he was talking about — the Feb. 21 Division III sectional final between visiting Kent Roosevelt, of which he is the head coach, and Ellet.

The Rough Riders were on the short end of a 59-54 final score, finishing with a 14-9 final record.

“Obviously, it was a disappointing loss,” Foreman said. “It was back and forth. We’d go up four, Ellet would go up four. We went up seven, they turned around and, all of a sudden, were up seven. You kind of flash and don’t even know how it happened. We’d hit a 3-pointer, they’d hit a 3. We hit two 3s, they hit two 3s … just crazy like that. It was a fun basketball game, just not a fun one to lose.”

Leading the way were senior center Claire VanDamme with 16 points and seven rebounds and sophomore point guard Grace Schoenberger with 14 points (including four 3-pointers). Both

were Kent Roosevelt’s two leading scorers all season, VanDamme averaging almost 18 points

per game and Schoenberger averaging more than 10 points per contest, making for a great inside-outside combo.

VanDamme scored more than 1,000 points this season, only the fourth player in school history to do so. She scored a school-record 38 points in a game this season and also set a school

mark with 712 career rebounds.

“We’re truly going to miss Claire,” said the coach. “We’re going to be a lot smaller without her. She was 6-foot-3 and dominated the paint. We’re just going to have to be a totally different team next season. We’re really going to miss her leadership, too.”

Schoenberger was a shooting guard her freshman year, but became a point guard this season. She set school record with 53 3-pointers this season and already has the school mark for career 3-pointers with 90.

“Grace really developed throughout the whole season, just getting better and better,” Foreman said. “She has a bright future ahead.”

Foreman will lose to graduation VanDamme, guard/forward Lindsay Wills and guard Mahlia Friedman. Junior Sophia Vorhauer, who is more than 6-foot tall, will fill the center role next season.

“Beyond that,” the coach said, “we’re going to be more guard oriented and will just have to transition our style. I think we’re going to be a lot smaller. Next season will be my 21st season as head coach here, and I’ve always had multiple 6-footers. Next season will be the first time that I can remember that I won’t.”

GARFIELD

Sixteen-point deficits after one quarter and at halftime and a 14-point hole after three quarters left Garfield fighting for its life Feb. 21 in a Division V sectional final against visiting Orrville.

With the help of 3-pointers by guards Kylene McMayon, a junior, and Payton Soltis, a sophomore, the G-Men rallied to pull within four points with a minute to go. It was anybody’s game.

“We had all the momentum,” head coach Aaron Gilbert said. “We had a steal but then missed a semi-contested, but makeable, layup that would’ve made it a two-point game. That kind of sealed our fate.”

That pretty much sealed Garfield’s fate in a 57-52 defeat that left the G-Men with a 12-11 final record.

Pacing the home team was senior shooting guard Mandy Cardinal, who posted a double- double with 31 points and scored 31 points (including four 3-pointers) and 10 rebounds to go with an assist, four steals and two blocks.

“Mandy pretty much put us on her back and did everything she could to keep us in the game,” said Gilbert. “She’s special. She’s a unique player who we were fortunate to have had for the last four seasons. I wish we could’ve had her healthy for all four seasons.

Forward Riley Grace, Cardinal’s classmate, tallied seven points, seven boards and four assists.

According to the coach, filling the shoes of graduates to be Cardinal, Grace and Kaelyn Tasker will be a tough task.

“We have to regroup next season and find some points, some people to step up and score,” he said. “We’re going to be relying on some underclassmen to step up and seize the opportunity they have in front of them.”

MOGADORE

Mogadore head coach Jen Ritch was well aware that Loudonville is a tough place to play and that the Redbirds have a good team this season.

“Traditionally,” she said, “they’re well coached, physical and fundamentally sound.”

Thus, the Wildcats’ 58-30 loss Feb. 19 at 15-7 Loudonville in a Division VI sectional final was not a surprise. The visitors’ deficits by quarter were, respectively, 10 points, 12 points and 15 points. They ended the season with a 10-14 record.

“Loudonville was just better than us. That’s just the bottom line,” said Ritch. “They shot better than us and handled the defensive pressure better. We fought them, but we just didn’t have the gas.”

Junior point guard Kasey Bolyard scored 11 points and had three rebounds, two assists and two steals. Hayli Clester, Bolyard’s classmate, added four points, six rebounds, an assist, a steal and a block.

Two nights earlier, on Feb. 17, Mogadore won 61-42 at Independence in a sectional semifinal. The exact opposite of the previous game occurred as the visitors’ leads by quarter were, respectively, six points, 11 points and 13 points.

After spotting the Blue Devils an 8-0 lead – with all of those points by their best player – to start the game, it was all Wildcats after that.

“It was an opponent we’d never played before and a place we’d never played at before after a 45-minute bus ride. It took us a minute to figure it out who was guarding who and how to stop that early run from happening again,” said the coach. “We pressed the heck out of

Independence pretty much the whole game, so that helped. We caused a lot of turnovers that turned into transition points. We shot really well from the floor. We had five or six 3-pointers.”

Bolyard exploded for 31 points to go with four rebounds, two assists and three steals.

“Kasey went off. She played beyond well not only offensively but defensively too,” Ritch said. “She had a really good shooting night and was able to attack the rim and get any shot she wanted off of turnovers. So you had to guard her both ways.”

Senior shooting guard Rylee Clark scored eight points and had four rebounds, three assists and two steals. Sophomore guard Ava Murphy had six points, four rebounds, four assists and two steals, while her classmate, forward/guard Jessica Holler, tallied six points, four boards, two assists, two steals and a block.

“Ava had a really well rounded game,” said Ritch. “She hit two big 3’s and was a big defensive stopper for us on the press.”

The coach is hoping this season’s experience gained by the underclassmen will pay off next season.

“I’d like it to make us stronger and readier to battle next season,” she said. “There are at least six, maybe eight, teams that made it to a district final this season, and four of them are now in regional play, so our schedule was incredibly tough. These girls did the best they could while trying to rebuild after we went to the state tournament last season. It was a tall task, and they handled it well.”

CRESTWOOD

Crestwood was on its heels from the start in its Division IV sectional final Feb. 19 at Ashtabula Edgewood.

“Edgewood came out and hit a bunch of shots,” head coach T.J. Henderson said. “We were down by 10 points at halftime. Edgewood extended its lead to about 15. We battled back and got to within seven in the fourth quarter, but by the end of the game it was back out to 10.”

The final score was 57-47 as the Red Devils slipped to a final record of 10-12.

Pacing Crestwood were junior guard Madiegrace Gonczy and freshman forward Reese Harper. Gonczy scored 14 points and had five rebounds, two assists and a block, while Harper tallied six points, eight rebounds and a steal.

“Madie Grace battled injuries throughout the season. They really took a toll on her,” said Henderson. “During the middle of the season when we went on an eight-game losing streak, she was pretty much injured that whole time. Once she got back, it took a little bit of time to get her legs underneath her. She’s an ultimate competitor. She’s one of those kids we needed to come out and score and be aggressive against Edgewood, and she played really tough and really hard.

“Reese was our motor. She always is playing at 110 percent. She’s really hard on herself but always is fighting and clawing for another rebound, getting a deflection, trying to put the ball in the hole when she can or just looking to stay positive.”

Senior guard Rebecca Brady had nine points and three steals, while junior shooting guard Livia Martini had seven points, three rebounds, three assists and a whopping eight steals.

“Rebecca and Katrina Richards, our senior power forward, were great leaders this season, always trying to put the team first,” said the coach. “We definitely had a rollercoaster of a season. They were two players who we really leaned on to keep everyone’s minds right. That way, we could keep working hard and better at practice and then going from there.

“We should be able to learn from this season and really grow. We have a lot of young talent and a lot of experience coming back. All those girls who played most of this season are returning. It’ll be something we’ll be able to watch and see some of those juniors who played some major roles for us this season lead us as seniors and see where some of our sophomores and freshmen grow into.”

FIELD

Head coach John Misenko knew host Salem would be a tough opponent for his Field team Feb. 19 in a Division IV sectional final.

But he didn’t know the Quakers would be that tough, as in a 55-30 defeat for the Falcons, who wound up with a record of 11-12.

Field was down by only two points heading to the second quarter, but things fell apart after that.

Salem closely guarded the 3-point line, limiting senior guard Morgan Stoicoiu and sophomore guard/forward Audrey Richmond, who combined to hit 91 3-pointers on the season, to a pair of 3-pointers combined.

Defensive lapses throughout the game, especially against the Quakers’ best player, who plays underneath, were problematic.

“That girl scored 24 or 26 points. We didn’t do a very good job guarding her. She absolutely destroyed us in the third quarter,” said Misenko. “We picked a bad time to not play well.”

Stoicoiu scored eight points and had five rebounds, an assist and a steal, while Richmond had six points, six rebounds, two assists and a pair of steals.

Sophomore guard/forward Rylee Stoicoiu (Morgan’s younger sister) chipped in with six points and five boards.

RAVENNA

The Ravens lost 61-19 at Cloverleaf Feb. 18 in a Division IV sectional final that dropped their final record to 5-18.

“Cloverleaf played a really well-rounded game,” head coach DaVante McKinney said. “Their coach has those girls ready to play always. Evie Barth, their senior guard, is just a handful. She dominated on both sides of the ball. She forced seven or eight turnovers from our guards. She just got whatever she wanted. Those girls just feed off her energy.”

Senior post player Jalysia Thompson scored 13 points.

As for next season, McKinney said it is a numbers game due to losing seven seniors to graduation in the spring.

“It’s all about what we inherit from eighth grade,” he said. “Hopefully our numbers will allow us to compete.”

WINDHAM

Windham’s 64-11 loss at Warren John F. Kennedy on Feb. 21 in a Division VII sectional final was a microcosm of its season, which concluded with a 2-20 record.

“John F. Kennedy was just better than us,” head coach Jim Collins said. “We had a young team, started two sophomores, and the whole bench was freshmen.”

Collins will lose three seniors to graduation this spring — power forwards Brielle Jones and Skylar Bailey and shooting guard Tierra McCall.

“Losing Brielle, the heart of the team, is going to be … filling that void is going to be a tough one,” he said. “Skylar maximized her potential throughout her four years. She was a hardworking kid.”

According to the coach, off-season practicing will determine a lot when it comes to next season.

“Basketball is a game that you have to spend time on,” he said. “You have to spend time shooting, you have to spend time dribbling. If you just do it during basketball season, you’re not going to get to the level you need to be at for sure.”