Solon sweeps Wadsworth in boys, girls high school basketball doubleheader
WADSWORTH, Ohio - On Friday night, basketball teams around the Suburban League had doubleheaders with the girls playing at 6:00 pm and the boys playing at 7:30.
That included a National Conference doubleheader between Solon and Wadsworth, where Solon went on the road and swept a pair of games from the Grizzlies.
Girls: Solon 60, Wadsworth 43
For the fifth time in six games this season, the Solon girls basketball team played a game away from its home gym. And for the fifth time in those games, the Comets left the opposing gym victorious, this time with a 60-43 win over Wadsworth in Suburban League National Conference play Friday night.
Solon was led by senior guard Mackenzie Blackford, who scored 19 of her 33 points in the first half to help lead the Comets to a 33-26 lead after two quarters.
"She was a little bit more patient and she did a better job of getting her other teammates involved, which I think opened up for her," Solon head coach Trish Kruse said. "She hit some big 3s and she did a good job of attacking the basket and finishing."
With Solon leading 22-21 in the second quarter and Wadsworth having scored eight of the game's last 10 points, the Comets went on a 9-0 run as a putback by Kaylee Levenhagen and an and-1 by Sophia Lance were sandwiched around a basket and a pair of free throws by Blackford.
"I think it really helped us because before it was just like back and forth," Blackford said. "With that run, I think we just showed that we were the dominant team and that we can win this game. I think it really helped us get our confidence and just relax and know that we can win this game."
Solon (6-0, 5-0) never led by less than six in the second half, as they outscored Wadsworth 12-6 in the third quarter to take a 45-32 lead into the final eight minutes and stretched the lead to 21 early in the fourth.
"I think we were a little bit more patient on offense in the second half)," Kruse said. I thought we did a good job of turning them over and making them a little bit more uncomfortable with the ball and creating turnovers."
Creating turnovers and playing more consistent defensively was one of the things Kruse wanted to see from her team in the game's final 16 minutes.
"(One of the messages at halftime) was being more aggressive on defense," Blackford said. "We let them get a good amount of wide open shots (in the first half) and we can't let that happen. We knew we needed to lock in on defense and just get some stops and that would create our offense. So I think we do a great job of executing that."
Another point of emphasis in the second half for the Comets was on the glass, as Wadsworth did a better job of rebounding the ball than Solon in the first half.
"I think we only had like eight rebounds or nine rebounds in the first half," Kruse said. "We had double digits in the second half. I thought Erica (Olszewksi) did a great job on the boards for us in the second half just being stronger inside and just wanting that basketball."
Kaeyln Gaymon had nine points for the Comets, while Olszewski and Sophia Lance each added six.
Wadsworth was led by Natalie McDermitt with 12 points and Brooke Baughman with 11. The Grizzlies were without Lauren Decker for the game.
Solon girls basketball head coach Trish Kruse talks to Mackenzie Blackford during a game in the 2022-23 season. Photo credit: Jeff Harwell, SBLive Sports
Jeff Harwell, SBLive Sports
Boys: Solon 73, Wadsworth 62
Solon led wire-to-to-wire to take home a 73-62 road win in this Suburban League National Conference matchup.
The Comets jumped out to a 16-8 lead after the first quarter and led by five at the half, but had a problem with closing quarters in the first half.
In the first quarter, they fouled Maxx Bosley, who hit both free throws for two of his game-high 23 points and to end the second quarter, the Comets gave up a basket that cut the lead from seven to five.
"(The message at halftime) was just ending quarters," Solon head coach Rob Stircula said. "In the first quarter, we foul a guy with 1.2 seconds and then we don't rotate in the second quarter at the end on the back of an easy rotation. That is a four-point swing right there. Instead of being up five (at half), we should have been up nine at least and we're not that good right now to withstand big swings like that."
Solon (2-4, 1-2) improved on that in the third quarter by closing on a 10-5 run to lead 51-40 The Comets then scored six of the first eight points to start the fourth quarter to take a 60-42 lead.
But back-to-back 3-pointers by Grady Hughes of Wadsworth cut the lead to 12 with 5:30 left but Solon went on a 7-2 run to ice the game after a timeout. The 3-pointers came on a miscommunication on the inbounds pass after the first one that led to a turnover and the second make by Hughes.
"We had someone that takes the ball out that doesn't usually do it and I just had to make sure we got guys back into the right spot," Stircula said. "The other guy was supposed to pull it out and he didn't take it out. We had a little miscommunication. So we cleared it up and get our normal guys in there."
The Comets had four players in double figures, led by Kameron Lumpkin with 17 points, Cam Brown with 16, Amir Jones with 14 and Luke Kormuth with 13. The balanced scoring came from a switch in defense that allowed the Comets to get out in transition more often.
"When we got in transition, we actually moved around," Stircula said. "The last couple of times, we just were playing so slow and we came out in a 1-2-2 (zone defense) trying to speed it up a little bit and try to get us going. It worked out so hopefully we can continue that and get some energy and some effort."
The win for the Comets comes on the heels of three straight losses to Twinsburg, Elyria and Brecksville-Broadview Heights after a season-opening win over Riverside. Their next conference game will be the fourth in a row on the road to start the conference slate.
"We started off playing really well the first game and then the next two we kind of slid off and we had Brecksville, and they're always tough," Stircula said. "To get back on the winning record on the road down here (is big). We got to get through the first gauntlet and then get some home games."
But playing away from the home gym hasn't always a bad thing for the Comets, it seems. They won at Riverside by 10 and at Wadsworth by 11.
"We have we struggled with with just going hard and running hard, like they're afraid to play hard in front of friends, I think," Stircula joked. "The two furthest games we oplayed away from Solon were our best games, so maybe we should go on the road farther and more often."
-- Ryan Isley | ryan@scorebooklive.com | @sbliveoh
