Lake wins first OHSAA girls basketball district title with win over Stow
MASSILLON, Ohio - There's a first time for everything. And for the Lake girls basketball team, that means winning a district title.
The Lady Blue Streaks did just that on Friday night with a 56-45 victory over Stow to capture the OHSAA Division I, Northeast 2 district crown.
"I'm so proud of our girls," Lake head coach Ashley Phipps-Komo said. "People asked how we felt about Stow and I just said it's a tall task. But leaving practice yesterday I felt like they were prepared."
It was a team effort for Lake, who also won its first Federal League title since 2012 this season.
First, there was senior Paige Marshall.
She tied for the team lead with 16 points, including a pair of 3-pointers. She also hit five free throws down the stretch to keep Stow from getting back into the game.
"Paige is our glue girl and she does so many things that don't show up in a box score," Phipps-Komo said. "She's just probably one of our most fundamental basketball IQ players. She knows the game really well. She's our leader. She keeps the girls composed, she keeps them calm, she's our voice of reason when we need it and it was a huge night for her tonight."
Then there was sophomore Serenitee Johnson, who also scored 16 points.
The senior struggled to find her shot early, but she banked in a 3-pointer at the buzzer to end the first half to give Lake a 26-22 lead going into halftime. The first half buzzer-beater wasn't her only big shot, as she knocked down a 3-pointer with 5:39 left in the game to give Lake a 42-33 lead.
"My team just said to keep shooting," Johnson said. "I just believed in my teammates and believed in myself. Thankfully my teammates just kept passing the ball and I kept on shooting. I have to give credit to my teammates and my coaches."
There was sophomore guard Hayden Croyle, who scored six of her 13 points in the first quarter to help Lake take an early lead. But it was her defense that made a big impact on the game.
Twice after Stow got a steal and looked to have an easy layup at the other end, it was Croyle who hustled down the floor and blocked the shot from behind to keep the Bulldogs from scoring and taking the momentum.
"It was really important and I was really just overall happy about it because I didn't really want them to score," Croyle said. "We wanted to keep going and we didn't want them to score, so that they couldn't catch up to us."
And then there was senior Emma Anderson.
The guard could barely walk after hurting her knee last week but she put on a knee brace that took up more than half of her leg and gutted it out.
"It was rough the first time, but I got used to it," Anderson said. "With practices, I got better with it. It's still kind of weird to play with it, but it's fine."
Anderson knocked down three 3-pointers and scored nine points, none bigger than her final one when she buried a 3-pointer with 4:44 left to make it 45-33 after Johnson had hit hers. Anderson felt the Blue Streaks had the game in hand at that point.
"I kind of I thought we closed the door right then and there," Anderson said. "I don't think they could have come back."
There was never any doubt the senior was going to play through pain in the district semifinals on Tuesday and then again on Friday, just like she will be ready to play when Lake takes on Medina in the regional semifinals on Tuesday, March 5 at Medina.
"I was not going to not play this (game)," Anderson said.
Lake players and coaches celebrate winning the district title on March 1, 2024
Ryan Isley, SBLive Sports
As for the district title? It has taken the Blue Streaks a while to get there, but the hard work, dedication and loyalty have paid off.
"It's a huge climb (from where we were)," Phipps-Komo said. "I knew what I was taking over, but it's been a lot of work. We've had a lot of struggles on the way there and I'm going to say it, we've lost a lot of kids. A lot of our kids are playing at other schools right now. But for these girls, they're Lake kids. We didn't transfer in anyone. They stayed through all the crap of kids leaving, people saying we weren't good and we were never going to be good. These are the ones that stayed and so for them to have that over these three years is probably my proudest moment for them is to see them get what they deserve."
