It was a different feeling for Firelands coach Onyx Lopez, as she entered Lorain’s gym for the first time as a visitor. Lopez played and coached at Lorain under Titans coach Mark Feldmann, and she got the best of him on Dec. 17.
For the players on that opposing bench, Lauren Valerius carried the Falcons in the first half, and Bella Simmons picked it up down the stretch in the team’s 52-39 win over Lorain. Firelands had up-and-down moments throughout the game, but improved to 8-1 on the season. As exciting as it was to get this victory, it was an emotional afternoon for the Falcons’ rookie coach.
“I haven’t had the chance to publicly mention this, but I am very thankful for the experience that I got from him (Feldmann),” said Lopez. “I’m just very thankful, playing for him and coaching for him was really important and really special to me. I’ve adopted the things that he does off of the court into my own program because I think the way he cares about kids has taught me a lot about how to care about kids.”
Firelands got off to a 6-0 lead with four points by Valerius and two by Simmons, and never gave the lead up again. Valerius scored eight of the 12 first-quarter points for the Falcons, and had 11 total in the first half.
PHOTOS: Lorain vs. Firelands girls basketball, Dec. 17, 2022
Lorain hung around for large stretches, but the Titans couldn’t crack the Firelands' zone. In the first half alone, Lorain shot 2-for-17 from 3-point range. Points were at a premium in the first half for them, as the score was 26-16 at the break. Despite forcing turnovers, Lorain couldn’t finish on the other end with points.
“We turn people over, but we don’t cash our checks,” said Feldmann. “We have a bunch of paychecks sitting in the glove compartment of our car that we never cashed. That’s our problem, scoring is at a premium for us.”
Despite the offensive shortcomings, Lorain stayed it. Firelands stretched the lead to 29-16 on a 3-pointer from Kendra Hardwick, but that was as big as it would get. Trailing, 31-20, the Titans went on an 8-0 run to cut the deficit down to three. Samone Whitt started the run with a jumper, and a layup by Jelynn Carrington made it 31-24. Dalasha Pruchinsky made a pair of free throws, and Kayla Mosley got loose in transition for another basket to follow.
The Falcons needed to respond, and a 6-0 run to end the third quarter sparked by Valerius and Lexi Schrader is exactly what the doctor ordered. Despite getting the lead back up to 37-28, Firelands couldn’t put Lorain away quite yet. Buckets from Carrington and Danielle Witten for the Titans made it 37-32, and Pruchinsky buried a 3 to answer two Firelands free throws, cutting the deficit to four.
Valerius controlled most of the game down low for the Falcons, but Simmons stepped up after Lorain cut it to 39-35. The senior guard scored nine of her game-high 17 points in the fourth, and was a big reason that Firelands was finally able to pull away. After Pruchinsky’s 3-pointer, Firelands ended the game on a 13-4 run, and Simmons had two timely buckets to make the score 48-37 late.
“To be perfectly honest, I don’t look to score on a personal level, but I knew that we needed to score,” said Simmons. “Honestly, I just give my all, and when you give your all, good things happen.”
Simmons also corralled 10 rebounds for a double-double. Valerius also had a double-double for the Falcons with 14 points and 14 rebounds, and both Hardwick and Schrader had seven points each. Pruchinsky led Lorain with 10 points, Carrington scored nine and Mosley had eight.
Lopez played and coached under Feldmann, but also coached some of the Lorain players in middle school. In every way, this has come full circle.
“To come back and play him (Feldmann), I keep saying that this is the most full circle moment that I’ve had because to come back and play your old coach in your old gym that you used to coach in,” said Lopez. “Some of those girls, I used to coach in seventh and eighth grade, so it’s really full circle for me. I would really like to mention publicly, I am just super appreciative of what he’s given me in the past and now even in the future.”
