ELYRIA, Ohio — It was not an easy day on the court, but the
Holy Name (Parma Heights) girls basketball team will take the end result.
The Green Wave took another step toward winning a Division II district championship by turning two late Keystone mistakes into a 46-41 overtime victory Saturday evening at Elyria High School.
Late in the fourth quarter, Keystone had a two-point lead and tried to push the ball up the floor in transition. As the Wildcats looked to advance the ball, one of them inadvertently kicked it into the hands of Holy Name sophomore forward Taylor Krusinski.
Krusinski hit the game-tying lay-up and sealed the win with a put-back off a missed free throw in the overtime session.
"That was definitely big," said Holy Name coach Kim Luthman. "We capitalized on their mistakes down the stretch and it played out perfectly."
Holy Name, the No. 2 seed in the tournament, improved to 18-4 overall with the win, while sixth-seeded Keystone saw its season end at 14-7.
"It’s always a fight, especially because it’s the district tournament," Luthman said. "I knew coming in they were league champs. We knew they were going to give us a fight, especially with the height that they have, the quickness of their guards."
"I thought our girls played their hearts out," said Keystone coach Scott Terry. "We had some mistakes and they were inexperience mistakes. We can live with those and we’ll move on from there. It comes down to making a couple shots and our shooters really didn’t have a good shooting night."
Holy Name moves on to Thursday night’s district semifinal against the Vermilion Sailors and will need another set of performances from Krusinski and junior guard/forward Jenny Prochko. Krusinski and Prochko led the Green Wave with 17 points each against Keystone.
"They’ve definitely worked over the summer on their games to get better and they’ve definitely been go-tos for us," said Luthman. "The others that play with them definitely know that our play comes from them, but they’ve also got to do their job and get them the ball or relocate for the passes back outside."
The Sailors, a senior-laden group trying to follow in the footsteps of last year’s experienced Vermilion boys basketball team, got a late free throw from Chelsey Lantsberry to secure a 58-57 win over the Bay Rockets.
It was the third meeting of the season between the teams and first time Vermilion pulled out a win.
"It was one heck of a basketball game," said Vermilion coach Steve Kelly. "We’ve been preaching all week long, we had two good games with Bay this year. I said, ‘Girls, you can play with them. Don’t be intimidated. Come out and do what you do best; play hard and be ready to go on to the next round because I want to practice Monday.’"
"We’re tiny, but we’re tough," said senior guard Katie Karres. "We won’t let anything go."
Karres scored 14 points and hauled in five rebounds in the win.
More Ohio preps stories
2.
Crestwood senior 103-pound wrestler Paige Nemec made history with her final win of the district tournament Saturday afternoon. When a penalty for an illegal scissors hold was ruled against her opponent, Jesse Gunter, in overtime, Nemec became the first girl to qualify for the Ohio High School Athletic Association State Wrestling Championships. Nemec has more than 100 wins in her career, with most of those coming against male competition.
3. Southview (Sylvania) outscored Notre Dame Academy by four points in the fourth quarter of Saturday’s sectional final and pulled out a 41-38 victory to advance in the postseason. Taylor Hall and Lexi Lopez combined for 22 points for Southview.
4.
Dublin Coffman and Centerville both advanced to the district hockey final in Columbus with victories Sunday. Coffman was tested in a 5-4 win over Cincinnati Sycamore, while Centerville posted a 3-1 victory over Cincinnati Moeller.
5.
The Hawken girls and University School boys swim teams accomplished their goals of defending their Division II state championships in Canton on Saturday. Hawken has now won 12 straight and 20 overall girls state swimming championships.
Top performers
* Bishop Watterson swimmer Gracie Finnegan. The senior swimmer won four gold medals at the state championships, including individual titles in the 50- and 100-yard freestyle events as well as the 200- and 400-yard relay events. Finnegan entered the event as the defending state champion in both the 50- and 100-yard events.
* Perrysburg girls basketball player Erin Mesker. In the Yellow Jackets’ 50-33 win over Whitehouse Anthony Wayne, Mesker tallied 20 points. Perrysburg is 15-6 on the season.
* Liberty-Benton girls basketball player Caite Craft. Craft led the Eagles (21-0) to an 86-18 victory over Lakota with a 28-point effort. Craft was one of four Eagles in double figures.
Looking ahead
* OHSAA State Wrestling Championships, Thursday-Saturday at The Ohio State University. The Lakewood St. Edward Eagles and Wadsworth Grizzlies are considered the favorites for the Division I state championship after qualifying nearly all of their wrestlers for the tournament. Wadsworth has 12 wrestlers in the field, while the Eagles have one less with 11.
* Columbia (Columbia Station) vs. Loudonville girls basketball, 7:30 p.m. Thursday at Wellington High School. The Columbia Raiders are looking to upset the top-seeded Red Birds and advance to the district finals. The Raiders were a step away from the district finals last year before being eliminated by Elyria Catholic. Elyria Catholic sits on the other half of the playoff bracket in Wellington.
* District hockey finals. Four state semifinal berths will be handed out over the weekend and the perennial northern powers are still in the mix. Cleveland St. Ignatius, Lakewood St. Edward and Parma Padua Franciscan are three of the four teams remaining in the Brooklyn District and will have to contend with the upstart Brecksville-Broadview Heights Bees.
Recruiting news
According to The Plain Dealer in Cleveland, Glenville football standout Latwan Anderson pulled out of his visit to the University of Southern California and is now considering just West Virginia and the University of Miami (Fla.). Anderson had given a verbal commitment to West Virginia at the U.S. Army All-American Bowl, but has yet to sign a letter of intent.
Matt Florjancic currently works as a freelance reporter and sports show host for WOBL and WDLW
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