WADSWORTH — When its defense plays like this, only a select few teams in Ohio can hang with Wadsworth’s girls basketball team.
Heavy Valley Forge Division I District favorite Magnificat isn’t one of them — at least for the moment, anyway.
Wadsworth’s Jodi Johnson goes up for a shot between Magnificat’s Lily Schwind, right, and Abigail Adler during the second quarter. (RON SCHWANE / GAZETTE)
Even when the Grizzlies’ run-and-jump press wasn’t working, the Blue Streaks still couldn’t do anything in the half court as Wadsworth cruised to a methodical 47-29 victory in the final game of the Believe Roundball Classic.
The Magnificat preseason hype even the Grizzlies bought into turned out to be ill-advised. It was the teams’ first meeting since Wadsworth won 46-27 in the 2013 North Royalton Division I Regional semifinals.
“This was a really big game from looking at the schedule at the beginning of the season,” shooting guard Jodi Johnson said. “We were hyped up for this game. That’s what really decided it. We were more intense, and that definitely carried onto the court and into our play.”
Wadsworth (11-0), which has won 14 straight regular-season games and 18 in a row at home, took control with a 16-4 second quarter. No one scored for the Blue Streaks besides aggressive and tough 5-foot-9 center Elise Keshock (12 points, 7 rebounds) until 3:21 was left in the first half.
Magnificat’s guards kept trying to pass over the press, leading to easy tip steals and transition opportunities for the Grizzlies. The story was nearly identical to the Blue Streaks’ upset loss to Twinsburg on Tuesday.
Moving 6-0 small forward and Penn recruit Phoebe Sterba (2 points, 3 rebounds, 3 assists) to the point didn’t help, as Magnificat had nine turnovers in the critical second quarter. It also shot just 5-for-19 and attempted one free throw while trailing 25-11 at halftime.
“If we give them pressure and we work our butts off on defense, we’ll get what we want,” Grizzlies point guard Sophia Fortner said.
Wadsworth got no eye-popping stats individually, but balance was key.
Ashland recruit Johnson had 13 points and passed Elisa Inman (1,173, 1995-99) for fifth on the school’s career scoring list, Fortner had seven of her nine points in the third quarter, Peyton Banks (8 points, 4 rebounds) contributed inside and backups Maddie Movsesian (4 points) and Olivia Chaney (4 steals, 2 assists) made impact plays in the critical second quarter.
The Grizzlies struggled finishing at the rim against Magnificat’s frontcourt of 6-0 Lily Schwind, Sterba and Keshock, but kept attacking anyway and got to the foul line.
In the first half, Wadsworth was 6-for-26 from the floor but 13-for-15 at the foul line. The Grizzlies were in the bonus with more than six minutes left in the half and the double bonus shortly thereafter.
“That was one of our points of emphasis — to attack them,” coach Andrew Booth said. “I told them this before the game: ‘Those three 6-footers are going to have to guard three of you,’ and I thought we had a quickness advantage. All of our girls can go pretty good off the dribble, and we just wanted to get by them.”
Wadsworth passed a significant test, and another is on tap next week when it battles Nordonia (9-1, 4-1) in Suburban League National Division play.
The Grizzlies gained confidence for that one after suffocating the Blue Streaks with defense.
“I think we were aggressive and I think we took them out of their comfort zone,” Chaney said. “They’re a fast-paced team, and they’re kind of a team that’s exactly like us. They’re well disciplined. They’re well coached. Defense was the deciding factor of that game.”
Notes
- Camryn Brown, Emily Brock and Viktoria Farian had 12 points apiece as Revere defeated GlenOak 41-31 in the first game of the night.
- Chippewa beat Twinsburg 58-43 in the second game, but that was only part of the story. The Chipps led 46-21 after three quarters, but the Tigers went on a 22-0 run. Chippewa then countered with a 12-0 run to end the game. Ashlee Richardson (23 points, 8 rebounds, 3 assists, 3 steals, 5 blocks) and Taylor Richards (16 points, 6 assists, 17 turnovers) had big games for the Chipps, while Twinsburg center Jasmine Bishop scored 20 of her 21 points in the second half.
- Maria Busson had 12 points as Wadsworth’s junior varsity won 37-29 over Magnificat. The Grizzlies moved to 132-4 since the start of the 2009-10 season.
Wadsworth 47, Magnificat 29
MAGNIFICAT 7 4 9 9 — 29
WADSWORTH 9 16 15 7 — 47
Magnificat — Phoebe Sterba 1-0-2, Lily Schwind 1-3-5, Elise Keshock 4-4-12, Jillian Birchfield 1-1-3, Sara Spicer 0-0-0, Molly Normadin 0-0-0, Abigail Adler 1-0-3, Theresa Farnan 2-0-4, Leah Becker 0-0-0, Anne Ruddy 0-0-0. TOTALS: 10-8-29.
Wadsworth — Jenna Johnson 0-2-2, Laurel Palitto 1-0-3, Lexi Lance 2-2-6, Jodi Johnson 4-5-13, Sophia Fortner 3-2-9, Olivia Chaney 0-0-0, Peyton Banks 1-6-8, McKenna Banks 0-2-2, Maddie Movsesian 1-2-4, Alexa Conley 0-0-0, Maggie Sonntag 0-0-0, Meggie Flanigan 0-0-0, Maria Busson 0-0-0, Camdyn Brady 0-0-0. TOTALS: 12-21-47.
3-point goals — Adler, Fortner, Palitto. Rebounds — Magnificat 25 (Keshock 7), Wadsworth 21 (P. Banks 4). Assists — Magnificat 3 (Sterba 2), Wadsworth 5 (Chaney, Palitto 2). Records — Magnificat (9-3), Wadsworth (11-0). Junior varsity — Wadsworth 37, Magnificat 29.