Surprises come up in basketball, but one of them nobody wants to see from an opponent is a zone.
Avon Lake found that out the hard way against North Ridgeville’s zone defense in Southwestern Conference action on Dec. 6. The Rangers (4-1) had the zone tucked away in their back pocket to use, and they effectively did so by grinding out a 32-23 road victory.
“I think we just preached game plan, game plan, game plan. That was just rely on our defense,” North Ridgeville coach Amy Esser said. “Offensively, I thought we were really stagnant in the first half. We weren’t making shots and we could’ve caved on defense, but I thought every time we didn’t do well on offense, we took a step forward on defense.”
“They’re trying to figure out the nuances of the defense, it’s new. I thought they did a heck of a job defensively tonight.”
The zone caught Avon Lake off guard. The Shoregals had solid ball movement but shots weren’t falling. They finished 2 of 20 (10%) from 3-point range for the game and grew more frustrated as the lid on the rim wasn’t going away.
Both teams played great defense for most of the game, but Grace Kingery was the difference that Avon Lake couldn’t provide on the other side. The senior guard put up 21 of the Rangers’ 32 points, including the final 11 of the game in the fourth quarter. She also grabbed a game-high 14 rebounds.
“I just think we have a reason this year. We’re playing for our girl Brooke (Schroeder) who went down with an ACL,” Kingery said. “In the fourth quarter knowing that she wants to be out here, I’m going to do what she could’ve done on the floor. That was my mindset the whole time.”
Avon Lake scored the first five points of the game with a layup from Izzie Polinko and a deep 3-pointer from Olivia Tobin. The Shoregals were only able to knock down one more triple for the game. Brooke Lime nailed a 3-pointer and Kingery scored to the game up to end the first quarter.
Early on with a lead, the Shoregals were able to counter not hitting shots with stout defense. In a grind-out game like this, every point loomed large. Tobin and Marisa Summerfield Tobin scored to give them a five-point lead before Maddie Eldridge answered with a layup before the half for Ridgeville.
Summerfield boosted the lead back up to five to start the second half, but North Ridgeville’s defense cranked it up a notch after that. The Shoregals only scored seven points for the rest of the game afterward. Whenever Avon Lake couldn’t beat the zone with fast break points, it had difficulty scoring in the half-court.
Kingery answered back with two free throws and scored inside to cut the deficit to one. Cecilia Bouman stepped up with and-one to cap off a 7-0 Ranger run, giving them an 18-16 lead. Polinko answered to tie it entering the fourth.
Other than Kingery and a few attempts from Lime, North Ridgeville was struggling to look for its shot. Early in the fourth, Reyna Balderas stepped up and made a very deep 3-pointer to put the Rangers in front again. Points were at a premium all night, so getting three points on two different possessions from Bouman and Balderas was the turning point.
“I thought we guarded Grace really well and you look at the book and she had 21,” Avon Lake coach Paul Appel said. “She’s so good, she just finds ways to score. The 3-pointer (from Balderas) at beginning of the fourth quarter was really big. Another big shot there. They made a few more plays and had a really defensive game plan. They made life hard on us, so a lot of credit goes to them.”
Following Balderas’ 3-pointer, Kingery scored the team’s final 11 points. She made some free throws to keep the lead, but Bre Jones made two free throws of her own for Avon Lake to keep the deficit at three, 26-23, with 3:35 left. In those final three minutes and change, Kingery scored six more points and Avon Lake didn’t score again.
“t was going to come down to who took care of the ball at the end, who could get stops and who could finish,” Esser said. “That’s when it’s nice to have Grace Kingery on your team because you know she’s a guaranteed bucket and a guaranteed free throw at the end of the game.”
Both teams are back in action on Dec. 11 as North Ridgeville hosts Amherst and Avon Lake faces off with Bellevue.
