GAME PHOTOS: http://smu.gs/1A5Tmfw
Things are coming together for the West Geauga Wolverines girls varsity basketball team, a team that ended 2014 with four wins in seven games. Four is more than all of last year.
With a deep roster, sophomore through senior, and a healthy Jenna Kijauskas, West Geauga hopes to continue the trend in 2015.
“We talked about ending the year with a win,” said head coach Cheryl Rye after the team beat Berkshire in a nail-biter, 60-56. “This is an accomplishment for these girls, but we also know we have a long way to go.”
West Geauga used its entire varsity roster to fend off the Badgers, who only had six players check into the game. Hanna Zuzek, Christina Rakich, Lindsey Stanforth, Hannah Brinning and Joelle Baliker were the West Geauga starters.
But aside from Kijauskas’ 12 second-half points, it was a total team effort.
“We don’t have a stud player,” Rye said. “We just kind of look for who’s playing well together one night, and then who’s playing well another night.
“I’m not afraid to put anybody in the game at any point.”
The Wolverines rushed out a 11-2 lead and almost overwhelmed the young Badgers. But turnovers, which have been a Wolverine concern, allowed to Berkshire an 8-0 answer to close the gap to 11-10 to start the second quarter.
A Stanforth jumpshot pushed the West Geauga lead to 18-14 at halftime.
Berkshire would tie the game in the third quarter.
But then Jenna, as she usually known given the difficulty pronounced her last name (KEE-ow-skus), who was just playing in her second game this season after just three practices, took over the offensive glass.
She had eight points in the third quarter alone, giving West Geauga a 26-22 lead heading into the final quarter.
“When we needed her, Jenna stepped up,” Rye said. “She wanted to come back right where she left off last year, and that’s just not going to happen. We’re doing baby steps with her.”
The Wolverines ran a zone most of the game, with Zuzek and Kijauskas causing havoc for the Berkshire guards at the top.
Assistant coach Julie Kless typically sets up the defense for the Wolverines.
Berkshire kept the game close, but looked fatigued in the fourth quarter, as West Geauga’s Brinning sunk two free throws with 1.2 seconds left to ice the win, moving the Wolverines to 4-3 on the season.
Badger senior Megan Arnold was happy with the team’s performance. She said there are pros and cons to having a six-player rotation.
“The cons are we are tired, there were a couple of us who played the entire game without any breaks,” she said. “The pros are we play together so well because we know each other to the core, so that helps us a lot.”
Of course, it is better to be in the game than out of the game, right? Arnold smiled when asked about this.
“Exactly, it’s fun to play the whole time.”
The six players, Arnold, Erin Drew, Anna Carlson, Breanna Pennypacker, Kylie Scott and Alexis Johnson, work well together. Carlson led all Badgers with 14 points.
Drew, an junior important guard, thought heading into the game West Geauga was a little intimidating.
“They are a bigger school,” she said. “But we knew if we came out of the lockerroom hard we had a chance.”
Drew said the team is good defensively.
“I know my teammates are picking me up,” she said, adding she is having fun.
Berkshire coach Dennis Lory was happy with his team’s competitiveness.
“The kids played well defensively,” Lory said, adding the team forced more turnovers than they committed.
Lory also pointed out West Geauga had 15 offensive rebounds to Berkshire’s four. “I know they’re bigger than us, but that’s no excuse. We have to get in there and rebound the basketball,” he said.
He admitted the team is thin on options. “They get tired as the night goes on,” he said. “But the rest of our players aren’t ready yet. It’s not like we have a lot of options.”
Berkshire started 2015 with a 1-7 record, beating Fairport. The schedule will eventually get easier in the new year.
West Geauga was happy with the way they finished.
“We picked it up, and our defense got better,” said Brinning afterward. “We started to communicate more.”
On her free throws she said: “I was a little nervous because I looked at the score. But my coaches and my teammates said, you got this. Just see it in.”
Brinning and Stanforth played varsity as freshmen, so as sophomores, getting significant playing time has been easier. Both have been starting.
“It’s been fun,” Brinning said. “I’ve learned from the older players. When I make mistakes, I see from the other players to see how to play.”
Stanforth agreed, saying she wasn’t as nervous now.
“Learning from our past games, we are staying more positive,” the sophomore said. “We’re able to stay up. We played as a team and not individuals.”
“Now that we have a year of knowledge and training,” Brinning said. “It helps a lot.”
Stanforth helps bring the basketball up the floor, and so when the offense looks frantic she tries to slow it down. “I try to get everyone moving and talking,” she said.
Stanforth scored eight points; Rakich had seven; and Zuzek scored six. Marissa Dalesandro had one basket. Brinning was 4 of 5 from the free throw line.
GAME PHOTOS: http://smu.gs/1A5Tmfw