2018 vol. 78, no. 2 - December 19, 2018

              B4 West Life, December 19, 2018
BASKETBALL continued from page 3
trouble and nobody really did that.”
Barrett-Reed shined for Avon in the third
quarter, going a perfect 3/3 for six points
and six rebounds. The senior said he didn’t
feel any extra pressure to perform when
outside shots aren’t falling.
“I think we just came out with no energy.
When we start out games like that, it’s going
to be a fight to come back,” Barrett-Reed
said. “We just go out there and do our thing.
Once they start focusing on us down low,
it’s going to be easier for our three-point
shooters so we just help out a little bit.”
Even though they were outscored 17-16 in
the fourth quarter, North Olmsted was led in
the quarter by the three players who accounted
for nearly all their points. Elbin and senior
guard Austin Murphy each had four points in
the fourth (eight and nine points for the game,
respectively). Senior guard Jack Kelly had
just two points in the fourth but had 12 total.
The remaining five North Olmsted points
were split between Thomas Cvijovic (two
points), Reilly Kinter (two points) and Evan
Gabvolic (one point).
Behind Barrett-Reed for Avon, Jake
Parker also had 12 points with six rebounds
and two assists, followed by Dean Emerine
with nine points and four boards.
Next up for Avon, they’ll take on Olmsted
Falls at 7 p.m. Friday at home, while North
Olmsted heads to Midview on Friday.
Contact this reporter at jkopanski@westlife
news.com or 440-871-5797.
Blue Streaks rally comes up short against Saint Joe’s
By ROB DiFRANCO
ROCKY RIVER – Even trailing by 14 points
in last Thursday’s showdown with Saint Joseph
Academy, the Magnificat Blue Streaks girls
basketball team never quit. In just two posses-sions,
they had the deficit down to four points.
The rally wasn’t enough to make up for a
rough defensive third quarter, as the Streaks
ultimately lost 55-47.
The Magnificat Blue Streaks cut a 14-point
fourth quarter deficit to just two points in four
possessions, but eventually ran out of gas in last
Thursday’s showdown with St Joseph Academy.
The Blue Streaks turned in an abysmal de-fensive
third quarter, getting outscored by nine.
“With our young girls we can’t slip on one or
two-minute stretches,” Magnificat head coach
Danny Gallagher said. “There were two runs
from them that really hurt us, one at the end
of the half and then one in the third quarter.”
The Blue Streaks had two major runs,
including the fourth quarter explosion that
accounted for a majority of their offense on
the night. In the second quarter Magnificat,
led by Maura Robinson and Brenna Varga,
paced the Blue Streaks offense on a 12-4 run
that gave Mags a four-point lead. However,
the Saint Joe’s offense came storming back
to take a lead heading into the locker room.
The third quarter was the turning point for
the Jaguars who shot 6-of-9 from the floor,
including five three pointers.
Down by 14 with a minute gone in the
fourth, Magnificat found their footing thanks
to a three from Robinson quickly followed by
a steal on the inbounds pass and another three
from sophomore Claire Chambers. On the next
Jaguars possession, the Blue Streaks forced
another turnover, leading to a one-and-one
from sophomore Mary Spear, cutting the lead
to five in a matter of seconds.
Another three-pointer from Robinson after
a Saint Joe’s timeout would get Magnificat as
close to taking the lead as they would be for
the rest of the night. The Blue Streaks were
held to just two more points through the rest
of the quarter as the Jaguars defense clamped
down on the young Blue Streaks.
“We needed to do a little bit better of a job
getting to the basket and trying to get fouled,”
Gallagher said. “Contested shots at the hoop
are tough to finish, but we definitely settled
more than we needed to and that’s going to
fix itself with maturity.”
Coming off of a humbling loss at the hands
of Archbishop Hoban, Gallagher was happy
to see their performance.
“I thought it was great,” Gallagher said. “I
feel like we were at our highest level for about
26 out of 32 minutes tonight.”
This was the first taste of this heated rivalry
for some Blue Streaks who played key min-utes
down the stretch. Magnificat plays four
underclassmen including Spear and Chambers,
who finished the game with 11 points.
Grace Flannery led the way for the Jaguars
with 16 points, including 11 in the second
half that helped Saint Joe’s establish their
14-point lead. Flannery hit two of the Jaguars’
five three-pointers in the third and played
tremendous defense late in the fourth quarter
to secure the win for her team.
With the loss, the Blue Streaks dropped their
second in a row and three of their last four to
start the season. Gallagher is confident his
team will be able to bounce back following
two disappointing losses and take valuable
lessons from them.
“There are going to be
some growing pains when
you’re playing freshmen
and sophomores,”
Gallagher said. “But I
understand that, and we’ll
go back to the drawing
board a little bit tonight
and work hard tomorrow
and for the rest of the
week and get ready for our
next opportunity.”
For questions about this story, call
440-871-5797.
Photos by David Cleveland
ABOVE: Saint Joseph’s Molly Neitzel
(21) dives for a ball during the Jaguars’
matchup against Magnificat last
Wednesday. The Jaguars won 55-47.
LEFT: Saint Joseph’s Gabbie Schafer,
left, and Magnificat’s Mollie Laspisa
battle for the ball last Wednesday night.
Lutheran West bowling claims fourth in a row
By ROB DiFRANCO
INDEPENDENCE — The Lutheran West
bowling team is not used to losing. Prior to
their match against Cuyahoga Heights on Dec.
8, the Longhorns hadn’t lost a regular season
Greater Cleveland Interscholastic Bowling
League match in two years.
The Longhorns’ astounding streak spanned
13 matches, over 773 days and saw Lutheran
West finish second in their sectional tournament
last season. So when their streak was snapped
it was fair to wonder how the Longhorns would
respond to facing something they haven’t seen
in over two years.
“It’s awesome,” Lutheran West head coach
Bob Magee said. “Because when you don’t
perform like you should, and you know you
can, you have doubt. So coming here today,
we wanted to hit the reset button, and to start
over again in a positive direction which we
accomplished. Our kids have been great at
listening and sometimes we can’t implement the
game plan, but our attitude has been fantastic.”
The Fairview Warriors stood in the way of
a motivated Longhorns team at Spins Bowl in
Independence on Saturday and faced the brunt
of the highest scoring outing of the season for
Lutheran West.
The Longhorns defeated Fairview 2850 to
2284, securing their fourth win on the season
and the first win of what they hope will be a
new streak.
In game one of the match, Lutheran West,
led by senior Ryan Klusak and his game high
score of 190, outscored the Warriors by 100
setting the tone for the rest of their match.
Klusak was on top of his game all afternoon
with a 532 series score. The senior shined the
brightest in the first baker game, where he
anchored the Longhorns 202 score with four
consecutive strikes in the ninth and 10th frames.
“I was happy, because we’ve been not so
great this year” Magee said. “We’ve been a
little low on confidence, but definitely today
was an improvement and we’re moving forward
in the right direction.”
The Warriors were led by Connor Bartselme,
who bowled a 523 series, including a 204 game
in the final regular game of the match. Both
the series score and the game score are season
highs for Bartselme, who leads Fairview with
a 142 game average on the season.
Game two saw Lutheran West continue to
push their lead behind junior Lucie Alecia
and her season high 165 score. Alecia finished
the afternoon with a season high 456 series.
For Fairview Ian Pfeiffer paced the Warriors
scoring with a personal season high 160 score.
Pfeiffer also finished with a 447 series, his
highest mark of the season.
The Longhorns made their dominance
known in game three of the match with juniors
Nick Schneider and Derrick Hollis notching
season high scores of over 200. Lutheran West
extended their
The match saw several Warriors and
Longhorns set season bests for both single
game scores and series scores.
Despite the loss, the Warriors had three
bowlers set season highs and certainly have
positives to take from their outing. The Warriors
will take on Benedictine in their next match
up as they look to pick up their 10th GCIBL
point on the season.
“We’ve had a little bit of a
nervous start to the year,”
Magee said. “Even though
we’re winning matches,
but not like we’re capable
of. So we’re happy.”
For questions about this story, call
440-871-5797.