High school basketball: Wadsworth girls clean the glass in win over Hudson

WADSWORTH — The Wadsworth girls basketball team wasted little time flexing its muscles on defense and the offensive glass. The Grizzlies dominated both aspects and rolled Hudson 54-34 in a Suburban League National Conference blowout Wednesday. Wadsworth (5-1, 3-0) forced 33 turnovers by the Explorers (3-3, 2-2) and held a monumental 29-7 edge in offensive boards. "We really take pride in offensive rebounding," Wadsworth senior Macie Roberts said. "We know that if we are going to miss a shot we should at least try and get a second-chance opportunity, which could really help us in the long run. It sure did in this game." Behind the defense and a ton of second-chance points, the Grizzlies jumped to a 10-1 lead after one quarter. Wadsworth had 16 offensive rebounds and forced seven takeaways while Hudson to an 0-for-9 performance from the field. The Wadsworth offense wasn't exactly burning up the nets by making 4-of-26 attempts, but it overwhelmed the Explorers with second-chance points. In the second quarter, Wadsworth got a big scoring boost from Roberts, who finished the night with a game- and season-high 16 points, six rebounds and a pair of steals. "I've been working so hard towards (scoring) in the offseason," Roberts said. "It was finally nice to see that my work had paid off because in the past it hasn't been where I wanted it to be." The 5-foot-8 Roberts scored 11 of her team's 15 points during the second quarter, including nine straight as her team built a 19-7 lead with 3:30 left before halftime. In the second half, Lauren Decker took over. The freshman reserve paced the Grizzlies with nine points as the lead continued to expand. "We used our defense to get more steals and to get up and down the floor faster," said Decker, who finished with 13 points, six rebounds and two steals. "Our shots weren't dropping in the first, so we had to play good defense to keep the lead." Jessica Crookston chipped in eight points off the bench — all in the second half — as the Wadsworth reserves matched the starters with 27 points. "It's good because it brings momentum," Decker said. "It gets momentum on the bench and that carries to the players on the court as well. Everyone has good energy and seems to play more upbeat." In the final two quarters, the only question was whether the Grizzlies would double-up the Explorers, but a cosmetic 8-0 run to close the game prevented that. The Explorers' regular rotation featured three players over 6-foot, while the Grizzlies started 6-2 Lyla Wilson at center but had no other player over 5-10. Wilson (5 points) was one of the primary offensive rebounders for Wadsworth, pulling down a game-high six, while Decker had five. A whopping 12 Wadsworth players had at least one offensive rebound, which also helped it maintain a 47-32 edge overall. Contact Chad Grant at sports@medina-gazette.com. Wadsworth 54, Hudson 34 HUDSON&emsp;&emsp;1 14 7 12 — 34 WADSWORTH&emsp;&emsp;10 15 15 14 — 54 Hudson — Grace Merrick 1-3-5, Emma Hileman 0-1-1, Aurora Rothgerber 3-0-6, Emily Henderson 0-0-0, Ella Kordos 1-0-3, Kara Lightner 1-0-2, Abby Henderson 0-0-0, Corrine Stearns 0-0-0, Madi Kordos 2-0-5, Paige Sutton 3-0-6, Erin McCormick 2-0-6. TOTALS: 13-4-34. Wadsworth — Macie Roberts 5-4-16, Brooke Baughman 2-0-5, Lyla Wilson 2-1-5, Ana Pinkerton 0-0-0, Emily Nagel 0-1-1, Pacey Schutcka 0-0-0, Lauren Decker 6-1-13, Jessica Crookston 3-2-8, Alivia Baldwin 1-0-2, Ellie Zuro 0-2-2, Brooke Manfull 0-0-0, Delaney Rains 0-0-0, Natalie McDermitt 1-0-2, Reece Simpson 0-0-0, Mariah Minor 0-0-0. TOTALS: 20-11-54. 3-point goals — McCormick 2, E. Kordos, M. Kordos, Roberts 2, Baughman. Rebounds — Hudson 32 (Hileman, Lightner, Merrick 5), Wadsworth 47 (Wilson 7). Assists — Hudson 7 (M. Kordos, Merrick 2), Wadsworth 9 (Pinkerton 4). Records — Hudson (3-3. 2-2), Wadsworth (5-1. 3-0). Junior varsity — Wadsworth 57, Hudson 20 (W: Reagan Riggenbach 26, Simpson 14).