Lake County Sentinel
Cougars stop Hornets in defensive battle 25-18
BY JOEY SCHNEIDER
STAFF
(KIRTLAND, OH) - The Kirtland Hornets (5-5) hosted the Lady Cougar's of Lake Catholic (7-4) on Wednesday night. Kirtland who has played strong all year, having two of their losses this year by three points or less were relying on strong play from junior forward Lauren Palagyi and sharpshooting sophomore guard Anna Dumstorff. On the other side the Lady Cougar's who seem to have someone different step up big every game looked to lean on senior guard Avery Burdrys Rini, senior forward, Ava Budrys Rini, and senior forward Carmella Sowers.
The first quarter was all Kirtland. Anna Dumstorff drilled two three pointers on assists from Emily Ridgeway and Kennedy Boyd who also showed off her intensity on defense near the end of the quarter forcing bad passes, diving for lose balls, and doing anything she could to keep Kirtland's intensity going. Kirtland led 6-2 after the first quarter.
The second quarter saw the same intensity from both teams as they battled on defense. Lake Catholic's Ella Zampedro lead the scoring in the second quarter with four points, while the Cougar's defense was stout, so was the Hornet's who only allowed six points in the quarter.
The first half was a tale of two immensely talented teams battling for rebounds, forcing turnovers, and neither team willing to break. At half, Kirtland held just a two point lead, 10-8 as the players headed into the locker rooms.
The third quarter again was a show of tough defense. However Lake Catholic came out fast and Ava Budrys Rini hit two free throws early in the second half to tie the game at 10-10. Kirtland's Emily Ridgeway would knock down a shot to give the lead back to the Hornet's. Lake Catholic's Avery Budrys Rini would hit a three pointer a little more than halfway though the quarter to give the Cougar's their first lead of the game 13-12, but Emily Ridgeway would hit another shot with 40 seconds left to keep the Hornet's on top 14-13 going into the fourth.
The Cougar's opened up the game in the fourth quarter with big points coming from sophomore guard Maddie Cox who scored five big points in the quarter, along with Carmella Sowers, who scored three points and had six rebounds in the final quarter alone. Kirtland's senior forward Kristiana Katic did her best to try and keep the Hornet's in the game with four points, but it wasn't enough as the Cougar's onslaught ended with two free throws made by Ella Zampedro with 25 seconds left and the Cougar's winning 25-18.
After the game Carmella Sowers and Ava Budrys Rini were asked how great it was to both have both players have over ten rebounds each and how they achieved that feat. Ava started "I think it helps that we have each other to practice against everyday. We both can get up pretty high. It's pretty good to have that competition every day". Carmella continued, "I think knowing we were going to go up against girls that are our size and bigger really motivated us before the game. We wanted to box out and get up there."
Lake Catholic coach Michael Pecjak was asked what was said in the locker room at half to get a response from so many of his players in the second half. "I told them we needed to take care of the ball. Defensively we were doing what we needed to do. We held them to ten points. Single digits in the first two quarters, it was just being confidant in our shots, take our time on offense, and just taking care of the ball.
With the win the Lake Catholic Cougars improve to 8-4 on the year while the Kirtland Hornets fall to 5-6. The Hornets will have a chance to avenge this loss on January 11th as they are on the road taking in the Cardinal Huskies, while Lake Catholic will also play on the 11th as they look to keep the winning momentum going hosting the Padua Franciscan Bruins.
tshirer@lakecountysentinel.com follow Tim on Twitter @TBBucsTim or follow us on Twitter @LCSentinelcom
POSTED 01/09/2025 00:15
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Photos by Joey Schneider
