Chardon came into the Feb. 1 game having won six of its last seven, including three conference opponents who took their first contests against the Hilltoppers.
Game photos click here.
Chardon came into the Feb. 1 game having won six of its last seven, including three conference opponents who took their first contests against the Hilltoppers.
The Hilltoppers and Rangers first met Dec. 21, when Eastlake North’s senior point guard Kailey Minch recorded 31 points. The Rangers defense shut down leading Chardon scorer Emily Noerr and came away victorious, 66-62.
But this time would be different, as Chardon picked up its sixth conference win on the season, 69-63.
“Throughout the season we have gotten better at passing the ball, and being patient on offense,” said senior forward Anna Landies. “We came into the game in second gear; we wanted to get them.”
Rangers freshman Kaitlin Dobida got things started with a three at the top of the perimeter, giving the first points of the game to the visitors. Then Chardon senior guard Julianne Sweet got the home team on the board with an easy layup under the basket one minute into the contest.
Shortly after Sweet’s layup, Noerr jumped the passing lane and scored her first points of the game. Minch would find sophomore Alex Hamilton down low, retaking the lead.
The teams were so evenly matched coming into the contest, one game separating their standings in the Western Reserve Conference. At the end of the first quarter, the Rangers held a four-point lead, 16-12.
“Before the game, we talked about how every possession matters, and to beat a team like Eastlake, we have to play four quarters and not take a quarter off,” Chardon Head Coach Erik Hoenigman said.
Thanks to a big-time three by Abby Zeiger, Chardon created a 9-0 run from the end of the first quarter to the start of the second, and led 16-15. Minch dished out another assist to junior Cami Welty after she went to the line for an and-one opportunity. It was a missed free throw, but the Rangers had taken back the lead, 18-15.
Coaches Hoenigman and Paul Force, in his 15th year, corralled their teams and adjusted their game plans when players got into foul trouble. Back and forth the two teams would go, walking 84 feet to the free throw line. A five-point lead for the visiting Rangers would have the Hilltoppers scratching their heads to come up with some adjustments.
Out of halftime, junior Nicole Krakora knocked down a three out of the half, pulling the Hilltoppers within one. An answer from Minch, and the lead would extend back to four. Another three from Noerr, and the Hilltoppers were within one point.
“Personally for me, I like to drive the ball,” said Noerr on her team’s second-half adjustments. “I knew the first half, my shots weren’t falling, but in the second half my shot selection was better, and I kept taking it to the hoop. As they started collapsing, I tried to get the ball to Nicole. She’s a great three-point shooter.”
With five minutes remaining in the quarter, as his team’s lead vanished to just three, Hoenigman called a timeout.
But by the end of the third quarter, 13 points by Noerr, including two threes, had extended her team’s lead to seven.
In fact, in the third, the Hilltoppers outscored their opponents 22-12.
“Emily played a great game,” Hoenigman said. “She involved her teammates and made the right basketball play over and over, and was clearly the best player on the floor that night. Emily turned up her defense and continued to bring the pressure we have been waiting for, since she is finally making it back from a tough season of injuries. Our team fed off of her, and she kept everyone in the game and kept the composure needed to close that game out.”
On the season, Noerr is averaging just under 17 points per game. She also leads her team in assists and steals on the season.
In both contests this season against the Rangers, the Hilltoppers had entered the fourth quarter ahead. What would Coach Hoenigman’s team need to do to close out Wednesday’s game?
Take care of the basketball and close out the game with foul shots, and the Hilltoppers did just that.
As Chardon avenged its early-season loss, Noerr scored a game-high 35 points, while Krakora added 17. Zeiger added six, while Sweet and freshman Cami Gerlica added five and four, respectively.
Underclassmen such as Zeiger and Gerlica have been asked to step into big roles since the team lost senior guard Kayla Oriani to a season-ending injury.
“We had no choice but to bring on the freshmen and sophomores and throw them into the fire,” Hoenigman said. “What a great job they have done trying to adjust to the game at the varsity level and the speed of the game.
“Cami has great court awareness and is a competitor. She is fearless. Lilli Dillworth has been asked to play defense and is really beginning to understand the speed of the game. She just has the ability to always be around the ball whether it’s a rebound or a steal or a loose ball. If there is a pile of players on the floor, you will most likely find her there somehow with the ball in her hands.
“Payton Platz, Ava McDevitt, and Abby Zeiger and Lauren Jackson have demonstrated that they will be ready to help the team next year. They play hard and do whatever it takes to help the team. They all have a lot of varsity minutes and have been in many tough situations that will only get them ready for next season.”
Chardon would close out conference play Feb. 8 with a game at Mayfield, facing off against previous Head Coach Cullen Harris. The Hilltoppers took game one, 57-34. Then they close out the regular season Feb. 11 against Walsh-Jesuit.
