Last week, the Lions of NDCL and the Kenston Bombers both were seeking their first win of the season.
Last week, the Lions of NDCL and the Kenston Bombers both were seeking their first win of the season.
Kenston has brought back long-time head coach Kevin Hinkle, and lost against Aurora and Hudson in his first two games.
NDCL opened its season up against Cleveland Heights, then hosted Gilmour. Neither team had found a way to win yet.
In this contest, though, one of the teams had to win, and the Bombers won out, 26-21.
Junior center Amy Jarmolowicz won the opening tip for the Bombers. A deflection from the Lion’s defense forced an out-of-bounds play for Kenston underneath its hoop. Emily Kratzert found Hanna Busby cutting to the basket for two. She was fouled on the play, but unable to connect for the three-point play.
After the missed basket, Kenston jumped out in a full-court press to bother the Lions’ offense. On their first two possessions, the Lions were unable to connect to the basket.
Their first points came at the five minute mark, when senior Ava Baeslach got around her defender and snuck under the hoop for two, tying the game.
Mariela Macias broke the tie after she connected on a 3-pointer, retaking the lead 5-2. Baeslach tried to answer with her own three, but was unable to connect. On her next shot, Baeslach tracked down her own shot and scored two more, giving her four points in the first quarter and cutting Kenston’s lead to one.
One play that would not be recorded on the stat line was Jarmolowicz’s charge that was taken with 1:15 left in the opening quarter.
NDCL Head Coach John Kamkutis would draw Lexie Simon to take the final shot of the quarter. Simon would be rebounded by Baeslach, but she, too, could not connect. The Bombers held onto a 8-4 first quarter lead.
On their first possession in the second quarter, Brooke Pagon pulled down an offensive rebound and pushed her team’s lead to six, 10-4. Melissa Brownlee went to the free throw for two, but connected on just one of two shots. Another assist added to Kratzert’s stat line, this time to Caroline Neimes for two. Back-and-forth the teams would go halfway through the second quarter; the Lions’ defense would force a five-second violation and score on the next possession. Brownlee had a step on her defender, and cut the deficit to five, 12-7.
Brownlee then connected on her team’s first 3-pointer of the evening with two minutes remaining in the first half, cutting the lead to just four.
With a back-cut to the basket from Pagon, a teammate found her open and she scored two. Right before the half, Ramsey Smith picked up a defensive rebound and found an open Neimes running the length of the court; Kenston now led 17-9.
The remainder of the game would allow Kenston to go to the free throw line, including Pagon’s trip with 7:30 remaining in the contest.
Tarah Popik got her defender off her feet after a pump fake, and the Lions trailed by five. Coach Kamkutis then called a timeout, stopping the clock at 36.7 seconds. Kratzert cleanly inbounded the ball, and her teammates got past half court, where they could run the remainder of the clock out.
“Our trap at the very beginning of the game was easy for us to break,” said Pagon when asked how her team kept the Lions to nine points in the first half. “When NDCL was doubling down, Caroline (Neimes) was able to steal it.”
Leading the way offensively for the Bombers was Pagon with eight points. Neimes added six, while Kratzert finished with five points. Neimes pulled down seven rebounds, while Kratzert added six. The Bombers picked up 24 rebounds, including nine offensively. Neimes and Jarmolowicz each had three steals.
“Ultimately, our defense kept us in the game,” said Kratzert. “During timeouts, (Coach) Hinkle was telling us to execute our offense, focusing on our free throws. But at the end of the day, our defense was what really helped us and the communication with each other.”
Ava Baeslach scored eight points, while Brownlee added seven.
Despite the loss, Brownlee and Emily Foley talked about what they liked from their team.
“I liked our energy,” Foley said. “Even at the end of the game, we were still pushing to stay in it, we were putting pressure on the ball, we were doing whatever we could. Our bench was loud, too; that’s the loudest they have ever been.”
“In the first half, our energy wasn’t there,” said Brownlee. “In the end we were able to learn to stay within ourselves. We were still learning to adapt to the pressure that they were able to put on us, but we are learning to stay within ourselves, and keeping the energy up on and off the bench, helped.”
