A talented Berkshire Badgers girls basketball team upended the Kirtland Hornets early this season.
Game photos click here.
A talented Berkshire Badgers girls basketball team upended the Kirtland Hornets early this season.
So, with a load of pride in their programs, both schools were ready for their Jan. 25 rematch at Kirtland.
Kirtland, doing what it does best — playing smothering defense with pressure all over — used a full-court effort to open a double-digit lead in the first half. Then, on a night when the hoop was about as cold as the wet weather outside, the Hornets claimed first place in the Chagrin Valley Conference Valley Division with a solid 53-40 win.
Kirtland Head Coach Matt Ridgeway summed it up best after his team stopped a late rally from the Badgers (9-8, 4-1 CVC).
“We work everything off of our defense,” Ridgeway said. “We’ve got good athletes who are good at applying pressure anywhere on the court. You look at Berkshire, and they give up only 37 points a game. We give up just over 38 a game, so it’s safe to figure that if you can score 40 or more, you stand a good chance to win.
“We got some big efforts tonight from some of our bench players, like Kristiana Katic in particular in the first half, and that got us a good lead, and our pressure made it tough for them to score. Add in that they were missing their top post player, and we had more to work with in our game plan.”
Ridgeway was referring to Berkshire post player Hayley Stoddard, out on concussion protocol.
She was missed. Without her, the Badgers had no response to the inside presence of Natalie Glowe and Katic.
Katic put home a trio of baskets in the first half as Berkshire collapsed inside on Glowe and Emily Ridgeway. That helped Kirtland (9-7, 5-1 in CVC) to snag many loose balls and errant shots toward their first-half lead. In particular, Marissa Carmosino got free to grab seven offensive rebounds to maintain Kirtland’s ball control.
The Badgers also played some solid defense, so it was a rough night for shooting overall.
Carmosino ended the game with eight offensive rebounds, and Glowe had a big second half leading her team with 14 points, all on the inside, while grabbing nine boards.
These efforts allowed the Hornets, with 35 rebounds total, to win that battle. Berkshire snared only 24 rebounds, with Lanie Wadsworth and Brooke Ruchowski each grabbing six. But with Julia Fleming and Corinne Greenlee covering the ball together all night, stopping shots or making it tough to get good shots, the Badgers had trouble getting continuity.
“It was a matter of execution all night for us,” Berkshire Head Coach James Bosley said. “It was tough not having Hayley, but her health is the most important thing for us on the court. Their pressure kept us off guard and didn’t allow us to get good shots. We did have some opportunities, but we didn’t finish.”
