Hawken and Chagrin Falls are an even 5-5 against one another since February of 2020, but not for long. The Hawken Hawks will head out to face off against the Chagrin Falls Tigers at 6:00 p.m. on Wednesday. Hawken will come in still looking for their first win of the season.
Hawken is headed into the match out to prove that what happened against Richmond Heights on Saturday (when they were outscored in every quarter) was just a minor bump in the road. Hawken was dealt a 69-38 defeat at the hands of Richmond Heights. While losing is never fun, the Hawks can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Ohio basketball rankings (they are ranked 738th, while the Spartans are ranked 189th).
Despite their loss, Hawken saw several players rise to the challenge and make noteworthy plays. Sasha Miller, who posted 13 points, was perhaps the best of all. Another player making a difference was Sarah Liu, who earned nine points.
Meanwhile, Chagrin Falls didn't have too much trouble with West Geauga on Saturday as they won 56-38. The Tigers pushed the score to 42-21 by the end of the third, a deficit the Wolverines cut but never quite recovered from.
Chagrin Falls found their leader in freshman Molly Wheatley, who went 6 of 10 on her way to 18 points along with five boards and three steals. As a matter of fact, that's the most points Wheatley has scored all season. The team also got some help courtesy of Abby Kay, who had eight points in addition to five rebounds and five steals.
Chagrin Falls' win was their fourth straight on the road, which pushed their record up to 8-5. Those victories came thanks to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 61.0 points per game. As for Hawken, their defeat dropped their record down to 0-11.
Rebounding is likely to be a big factor in this contest: Hawken has been smashing the glass this season, having averaged 23.5 boards per game. However, it's not like Chagrin Falls struggles in that department as they've been averaging 27.9 rebounds. With both teams battling to corral missed shots, we'll see if one team can grab an edge.
Hawken was dealt a bruising 80-13 loss at the hands of Chagrin Falls when the teams last played back in December of 2024. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Chagrin Falls' Avery Russell, who went 12 of 16 on her way to 27 points along with eight rebounds and seven steals. Now that Hawken knows the damage she can cause, will they be able to stop her this time? Check MaxPreps.com after the match to find out.
