BAINBRIDGE, OHIO — The Kenston Bombers girls basketball team had the best of both worlds in its home game Saturday night.
They started well and finished strong in their 48-40 Chagrin Valley Conference victory over cross-town rival Chagrin Falls.
With the win, Kenston improved to 10-5 overall, including a 6-0 slate in the CVC. The Tigers dropped to 10-5 and 5-3 in league play.
"We just gutted it out," said Kenston coach Kevin Hinkle. "It's always going to be a dogfight with Chagrin. They're a very good team and have a very good player (in Sam Lucci). We took the lead early and every time they cut into it, we had something to respond. I'm just very, very proud of the girls.
"Our girls played on heart," he added. "They were kind of tired. We rode our upperclassmen and starters as long as we could and even when they got tired, they realized the importance of closing out the game. They just stepped up."
Perhaps, the Bombers' heart and hard work showed through the most in their rebounding. Kenston held a 35-16 advantage in rebounds, took advantage of several second-chance opportunities and made it very difficult for Chagrin Falls to get an offensive carom.
"We pound boxing out in practice," Hinkle said. "Our girls really do a great job of executing it. It's not the most fun thing to do, but they do a great job — we're not the biggest team — they do a great job of trying to control the boards the best they can."
"I'd be lying if I said it wasn't a big deal," Chagrin Falls coach Curtis Howell said. "We talked about that a lot all week. When they shoot the ball, they go rebound. They like to shoot the ball from outside a lot more than we do. We knew they were going to be long rebounds as well. We emphasized all week, you've got to get in and box out and hit people. We came out and didn't do that early. When we did make adjustments and started doing it, we were fine."
While all of the Bombers contributed to the win, it was the second-half effort of Megan Cardaman that helped seal the victory over Chagrin Falls.
Cardaman scored all nine of her points in the second half, including an uncontested lay-up in the final 90 seconds. Cardaman's last shot of the game gave the Bombers a seven-point lead at the time and stopped any momentum the Tigers held.
"She's one of the hardest working girls that I've coached, if not the hardest," Hinkle said. "She knew this was her last chance at Chagrin. She wanted the ball in her hands and she came through in the end for us.
"They responded nice by cutting it to one and we were trying to keep our spacing because they were being very aggressive on defense," he added. "Finally, we got turned and squared and looked and found her. That was just big to keep that up three because at worst, we knew they could tie the game with one shot instead of taking the lead."
Early in the game, Kenston junior forward Megan Waldorff made an impact. She scored eight of Kenston's first 13 points, hitting two baseline jumpers and converting a layup in the process.
"It was really great," Waldorff said. "It was a key to the game for us to come out and get a jump on them because if we would've let them stay with us, it would have been a much tougher game than what it turned out to be."
Waldorff scored a team-high 14 points and added seven rebounds for the game. She had four alone in the fourth quarter, including the last one of the game on a missed Chagrin Falls shot.
"She's a great player," Hinkle said of Waldorff. "She has always come out fast for us, especially in a CVC game. She puts herself in a position to finish and she finishes. She stepped up because she knew that was her role and we needed it."
2. Hathaway Brown continues march to state: The Blazers turned in another solid effort as they disposed of Lutheran East 44-25 in girls basketball action Saturday afternoon. Hathaway Brown, the defending Division II state champions, and Lutheran East teamed up to raise money for cancer research. They dubbed the meeting a "Hoops for the Cure" game.
3. Cleveland Heights boys become road warriors: A dunk from Ricky Slaughter proved to be the exclamation point for the Tigers in their 61-55 win at Shaker Heights on Friday night. The Tigers, who were led in scoring by Kendale Dunn's 15 points (11 alone in the fourth quarter), broke a two-game losing streak with the win.
4. Wadsworth wrestles with success: Much like last year, the Wadsworth Grizzlies have many people looking forward to the Division I Sectional, District and State wrestling tournaments coming up in February and March. The Grizzlies posted 449.5 points in winning the 24th Annual Grizzly Invitational Tournament. Four Grizzlies, sophomores Brandon Jones (103 pounds) and Kagan Squire (119) joined seniors Brad Squire (145) and Louden Gordon (135) as first-place finishers. Gordon won his 100th match Saturday.
5. Toledo St. Francis rules ice: Junior Tyler Murphy scored an overtime goal to give the Knights a 4-3 win over the St. John's Jesuit Titans on Friday night. Toledo St. Francis is 25-1-3 and ranked No. 1 in the state.
Top performers
* Benedictine senior basketball player Cameron Wright. The Bengals' all-time leading scorer poured in 32 points in Benedictine’s 73-59 win over Massillon-Washington on Friday night. Wright buried two 3-pointers, hit 11 2-point field goals and added four free throws in the nonconference matchup.
* Minerva girls basketball player Kassidy Hardgrove. Hardgrove led Minerva to a 64-45 win over Northwest on Saturday night when she hit eight 3-pointers and posted a game-high 31 points.
* Perrysburg senior basketball player Charlie Hughes. The fourth-year player scored 20 points and corralled 11 rebounds in a 62-57 win over East Cleveland Shaw on Saturday night. Hughes surpassed the 1,000-point mark and has helped the Yellow Jackets to a 14-1 record this season.
Looking ahead
* Strongsville at St. Ignatius ice hockey, Sunday at noon. Super Sunday starts a little early, as the Mustangs (18-7-1 overall, 8-1-0 Red South) travel to Brooklyn for a matchup with the Wildcats (20-6-3, 6-1-1 Red North). These two teams have not met yet this season, but this could very well be a preview to a playoff game with the state tournament draw coming up Feb. 10.
* Kenston vs. Chagrin Falls ice hockey, Friday afternoon at 4:30 p.m. The Bombers won 23 straight games at the start of the season and since a 2-0 loss to Troy, they have rattled off another four in a row. They look to close out conference play with a perfect record, but must get through Chagrin Falls and Benedictine on Saturday to do so.
* Orrville at Triway boys basketball, Saturday night. The Pit, as Triway's gym has been dubbed, will be rocking as these two rivals square off in their annual nonconference meeting. Orrville comes in needing a victory to remain in a tie for second place in the Ohio Cardinal Conference, while the Titans want a signature win heading into the playoffs after struggling against cross-town rival Wooster a couple weeks ago.
Matt's minutes
Wednesday is National Signing Day, and many athletes around the country will make life-changing decisions in pursuit of a good education and the chance to excel on the athletic fields. While the real work begins soon after the Letters of Intent are faxed to their respective destinations, we as fans of high school sports should take some time to celebrate the successes of the student-athletes and thank them for their contributions to their programs. We should also remind them to work hard and continue representing the program and a community in a positive manner.
Matt Florjancic currently works as a freelance reporter and sports show host for WOBL and WDLW.
