GBB: Strongsville defeats Olmsted Falls 51-45; Advance to Regional Semifinal

Elyria, Ohio- The No. 1 seeded Strongsville Lady Mustangs defeated the No. 2 seeded Olmsted Falls Bulldogs 51-45 to claim the Elyria District title.

Things started relatively slow as the Mustangs took their time trying to find the right shot in the first quarter. Olmsted Falls played solid defense in the quarter holding the Mustangs to just six shots in the quarter. Olmsted Falls got out in transition and managed to shoot 6-of-11 in the quarter to take a 14-10 lead into the second quarter.

Less than 30 seconds into the second quarter, Shannon Carr, who had 17 points in the semifinal, picked up her third foul of the game and got sat down for the remainder of the quarter. Early in the quarter, Strongsville brought it to 14-14. Olmsted Falls went on a 9-0 run to take a 23-14 lead before Strongsville scored five unanswered points to keep the deficit manageable at 23-19 heading into the locker room for halftime.

In the third quarter, Strongsville shot the ball very well shooting 6-of-10 from the floor giving the Lady Mustangs their first lead at 33-32 as the third quarter ended.

The fourth quarter was not kind to the Bulldogs. Strongsville continued a 14-0 run that was started in the third quarter to take a 41-32 lead. In the fourth quarter, Reagan Bass shot 4-of-4 from the field and added four free throws to have a 12 point fourth quarter. Bass finished with 21 points on 6-of-7 shooting and went 9-of-13 from the free-throw line.

The differences in the game were the 14-0 run for Strongsville and free throw shooting. Strongsville got to the free-throw line 28 times and converted 17 of them. Olmsted Falls got to the free-throw line five times and converted three of them.

“We didn’t keep the ball out of the paint because Strongsville did a really good job of making sure the ball got into the paint,” said Olmsted Falls Coach Jason Eaton about the 14-0 run. “It was our whole pregame and halftime thing. I give Strongsville credit for what they did because a lot of teams have a first half where they try to pack it into the paint and we get deflections, steals, and turnovers and they abandon it. I give Jeff [Eicher] a lot of credit for not abandoning it. For the most part, I thought we played really hard, did a ton of things right but Strongsville did more things right than we did. I give them a lot of credit because they earned it tonight.”

Strongsville will take on the winner of the Genoa District Championship game which will take place Saturday between Notre Dame Academy and the winner of Anthony Wayne vs. Sylvania Southview.