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Streetsboro sets girls basketball program wins record with sectional title game
victory





STREETSBORO SETS GIRLS BASKETBALL PROGRAM WINS RECORD WITH SECTIONAL TITLE GAME
VICTORY

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------




Jonah Rosenblum   Record-Courier


CHAGRIN FALLS — The Streetsboro girls basketball team hadn't won a sectional
championship in decades.



Until last season.

Then, on Saturday, they did it again.

Streetsboro also set its single-season wins mark last year.

Then, on Saturday, the Rockets broke that record again.

Yes, these are bold, new times for No. 7 Streetsboro, including a 41-29 victory
over No. 4 Chagrin Falls in Saturday's Division II sectional championship game.

"It feels amazing," Rockets sophomore post Naomi Benson said. "It feels really,
really good, because we came in here and we were like, 'Yeah, we're getting
another sectional W.' That was our mindset."

Streetsboro (19-5) relied Saturday on a weapon it didn't use two weeks ago when
it edged Chagrin Falls on that same parquet floor. The Rockets turned to their
lethal 1-3-1 zone defense, which kept the Tigers off balance all afternoon,
forcing 20 turnovers and limiting them to 30% shooting from the field.




"I love defense," Streetsboro freshman guard Olivia Johnson-Wilson said. "I love
getting on their nerves, yelling in their ear, making them turn the ball over.
Defense is just my thing. Like, I love defense."

"I would say our 1-3-1 is our most powerful," Benson added. "It was like a
secret little pop."

Meanwhile, the Rockets got just enough spurts of offense to lead throughout,
even if their advantage was never quite comfortable.



And when Chagrin Falls rallied late, on a flurry of drives and buckets by senior
Elana McGinnis (who scored eight of her team-leading 11 points in the fourth
quarter) to get within six, Johnson-Wilson wasted little time answering. Right
after Tigers senior Kate Bartlett found McGinnis under the defense to draw
within 29-23 with 5:15 left, Johnson-Wilson stormed up the court and finished
strong through a defender.



"I just felt like we needed that," Johnson-Wilson said. "So I had to make sure I
was under control to make it, finish it through contact without being scared,
and no charges."

The Rockets then essentially clinched the game with a lengthy possession that
included multiple offensive rebounds and ended with freshman guard Carlee
Bedford sending a pass down the baseline to Benson, who spun around her defender
for a layup to push their lead back to 10 with 4:25 left.

Benson led all players Saturday with 16 points and 10 rebounds, immediately
making an impact with six points and five boards in the opening quarter. As the
Tigers defense invariably swarmed around Benson, Johnson-Wilson was one of
numerous Rockets players to step up, scoring all 11 of her points after
halftime.

"I just felt like I had let my team down a little bit because I was settling,"
Johnson-Wilson said. "I wasn't really shooting a lot, so I just was, like, 'I
need to lock in and get to the basket so we can win this game.'"




STREETSBORO SURGES AHEAD

The Rockets' first spurt Saturday was like the water in an old sink, turning
from a trickle into a full flow.



Up 6-4 with three minutes and change remaining in the opening quarter,
Streetsboro scored the last two buckets of the quarter. The first came on a
well-placed lob from Johnson-Wilson to Benson for a layup. The latter came
courtesy of sophomore guard Sydney Abbuhl's steal and slick jump stop en route
to a fast-break finish.

While the Rockets' last two buckets of the first quarter were spread over
three-plus minutes, their 5-0 surge to start the second came quickly. After
Streetsboro began the second with a great defensive possession, Benson swished a
deep jumper 28 seconds into the quarter. After another strong defensive
possession, this time forcing a turnover, Streetsboro junior Maddy Hajec dished
to Bedford for a 3-pointer.

Just like that, the Rockets' two-point lead was up to 11 (15-4).

Johnson-Wilson added another key surge with the Tigers still within eight midway
through the third, knocking down a 3-pointer from the left wing off a dish from
Hajec and then turning a steal into a fast-break layup with a high kiss off the
glass.



Reanne Barzal, the Rockets' lone senior, elicited yet another rousing cheer from
the visiting crowd when she entered in the final minute and snagged a rebound.

Unfortunately for Chagrin Falls, McGinnis went down with a leg injury in the
final minutes of the game and had to be carried off the court in a stretcher. In
addition to McGinnis' 11 points to lead the Tigers, sophomore Lilly Stukus had
seven points and seven rebounds and senior Jenna Santamaria added six points.

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