The West Geauga Wolverines took on the Marlington Dukes in the district semifinals on Feb. 22.
The West Geauga Wolverines took on the Marlington Dukes in the district semifinals on Feb. 22.
In an extremely physical match up, the Dukes needed overtime to narrowly defeat the Wolverines, 49-47.
Marlington took an early lead, going up 11-9 at the end of one.
The Wolverines were led in the first quarter by Alexa Hocevar, who scored four points.
In the second quarter, the Wolverines outscored the Dukes 9-7 to tie the game at 18 going into halftime.
Marlington jumped out to a five-point lead in the third quarter as they led 35-30 at the end of three.
But the Wolverines did not quit. They came roaring back behind Hocevar’s eight points as they outscored the Dukes 15-10 in the fourth quarter to tie the game at 45 and force overtime.
In the end, though, the Dukes outscored the Wolverines 4-2 in overtime to claim the win for themselves.
Hocevar, who now moves on to play NCAA Division I basketball at Indiana University Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) this fall, led all scorers in the final game of her high school career with 25 points.
Hocevar hit four three pointers and went five for six at the line.
For the game, West G hit five of 11 three-point attempts, or 45 percent, and hit eight of 14 from the line.
“Alexa, you can’t really say enough about her,” West G Head Coach Brandon Stewart said. “She’s a special player, a special talent. We are lucky to have her as part of this program, and her sister before her. They left a heck of a legacy in this program.”
After the game, Coach Stewart also discussed how important this group of seniors was to the school’s basketball program.
“We have eight seniors who are all really special — they all contributed, some who haven’t played since their freshman year and they came back this year, and we appreciate that. You know, we started four seniors this year.
“We got huge contributions out of all of them all season long, especially tonight. They did a great job.”
Seniors Ashlyn Drayer (5 points), Haley Ottman (3 points) and Grace Laster (3 points) also contributed to the scoring.
Although the Wolverines lose eight seniors after this season, the future is bright for Wolverines girls basketball. Next year, the pack will be led by current junior Maggie Furst.
Furst had a great game controlling the post in this game and contributed 11 points on offense. Thanks to her contributions, the Wolverines won the battle of the boards, out-rebounding the Dukes 42-34.
Furst talked about the importance of effort and staying focused on the task at hand. She believed the Wolverines did a good job of staying present in this year’s playoffs.
For her, she said a highlight of the game “was definitely an effort thing, trying to pick up my teammates,” Furst said. “We struggled with that a lot during the regular season, and we knew we had to bring it for the playoffs or else we wouldn’t get too far.”
Coach Stewart also credited Furst’s excellent play throughout the season.
“Maggie came on in the middle of last year and started dominating last year, making first team in the conference,” he said. “She is going to make first team in the conference this year, and she is just another one who has really came a long way; she just continues to get better.”
The Wolverines finished the 2022-23 season with a 14-10 record.
