Sectional girls basketball: Mental toughness leads Highland over Berea-Midpark

GRANGER TWP. — Nearly all the necessary ingredients for a monumental upset were at the 30th-seeded Berea-Midpark girls basketball team's disposal Thursday night against No. 5 Highland. The key word: nearly. Per usual, the defending regional qualifying Hornets stayed mentally tough. Smarter defense, attacking offense and fighting through the pain of an extra-physical tournament game were what they needed to survive 56-51 in a Division I, Northeast 4 Sectional final that could have gone either way for the first 28 minutes. Highland (18-5) now gets a shot at revenge against third-seeded Brunswick (18-5) in a district semifinal at Valley Forge on Tuesday — the Hornets blew an early lead during a 44-36 loss at the Blue Devils on Dec. 24 — while the Titans ended an incredibly misleading season 5-19 after starting 1-16 without University of Chicago recruit Kendall Braaten (ACL surgery). "There were a ton of ups and downs throughout the game, but we pulled through and we won," said Highland center Aleena VanKirk, who smiled nearly every time when getting back to her feet after crumbling to the floor. "We're just moving on and making the season longer, which is what we intended to do." Trailing 20-12 in the second quarter and 25-24 at recess, the Hornets took control with a 16-8 third quarter that featured much better defense on Braaten (22 points, 15 in first half) and timely 3-pointers from Grace Madison, Grace Shondel and Kennedy Morgan. Highland then protected what were mostly two-possession leads for most of the fourth, when it made 10-of-12 free throws and finally iced the game when Morgan cashed in 2-of-2 with 2.0 seconds to play. Offensive balance was superb. Morgan fought through 5-for-18 shooting to score 10 of her team-high 18 points in the fourth quarter, VanKirk added 14 points and seven rebounds and almost certainly led all players in floor burns, Shondel was brilliant at point guard with 10 points, five rebounds, six assists and one turnover and Madison made 3-of-7 3-pointers for nine points. Berea-Midpark received the aforementioned 22 points from Braaten and an eventful 11 points on 3-for-15 shooting from extremely twitchy guard Lauren Yee, who consistently blew by defenders despite showing zero desire to shoot outside of 8 feet. Previously scoreless forward Talyssa Moody then swished back-to-back-to-back 3-pointers out of nowhere to give the Titans a mathematical chance down 54-51 with 2.9 seconds remaining before Morgan slammed the door. "This team has battled through injuries and sickness the last couple weeks," said Hornets coach James Madison, who lost starting center Alayna Tessena to a torn ACL last month. "I'm really proud of the way they played tonight, especially after falling into a hole early in the game." Playing hard but not particularly well defensively against Braaten and Lee, Highland couldn't buy an early bucket and missed 12 of its first 14 shots. That allowed Braaten to catch fire from 3-point land, and her consecutive 3-pointers made the score 20-12 and led to a James Madison timeout with 5:34 left in the half. The Hornets slowly but surely regrouped and cut the deficit to 25-24 at halftime. A banked 3-pointer by Grace Madison maintained Highland's momentum in the third, and the fearless Morgan added another three that pushed the Highland lead to 40-33 late in the period. Berea-Midpark was showing signs of cracking by then, as offensive production from anyone not named Braaten or Yee was limited. That changed when Moody made her three consecutive threes in desperation time, but all they amounted to in the end were cosmetic buckets. "They were intense, but even when we were having lull moments and people were getting frustrated, we all worked together and helped pick each other up, which helped a lot," Shondel said. "Keeping the intensity up, staying positive and giving everything we had (was key)." Contact Albert Grindle at (330) 721-4043 or agrindle@medina-gazette.com. Highland 56, Berea-Midpark 51 Division I, Northeast 4 Sectional Final BEREA-MIDPARK &emsp;&emsp;11 14 8 18 — 51 HIGHLAND &emsp;&emsp;10 14 16 16 — 56 Berea-Midpark — Courtney Simon 2-0-5, Talyssa Moody 3-0-9, Rylee Szojka 1-0-2, Lauren Yee 3-5-11, Kendall Braaten 9-0-22, Lauren Lantow 1-0-2, Taylor Kowalewski 0-0-0, Meeah Nichols-Price 0-0-0. TOTALS: 19-5-51. Highland — Kennedy Morgan 5-7-19, Emily Miller 0-2-2, Aleena VanKirk 3-8-14, Grace Madison 3-0-9, Grace Shondel 4-1-10, Grace Weber 0-2-2, Lily Vojtko 0-0-0. TOTALS: 15-20-56. 3-point goals — Braaten 4, Moody 3, Simon, Madison 3, Morgan 2, Shondel. Rebounds — Berea-Midpark 27 (Simon, Braaten 8), Highland 31 (Miller 8). Assists — Berea-Midpark 7 (Yee 5), Highland 11 (Shondel 6). Records — Berea-Midpark (5-19), Highland (18-5).