Girls basketball: Cloverleaf snaps skid with blowout of Coventry

COVENTRY TWP. — Looking to get back on the right track, Cloverleaf's girls basketball team found itself racing down the freeway Wednesday night. The Colts snapped a four-game losing streak with a dominant defensive effort that led to plenty of chances to run in the open floor during a 57-18 Metro Athletic Conference victory over Coventry. It was Cloverleaf's largest margin of victory since beating Akron North 65-24 on Dec. 3, 2019 and their fewest points allowed since defeating the Comets 53-15 on Jan. 22, 2022. "(The win) feels good, because going on a four-game losing streak was not it," said point guard Evie Barth said, who led the Colts with 14 points, four rebounds and four assists. "I thought that we definitely came into the game confident that we were going to win." The real story was just how suffocating the Cloverleaf full-court press was. The Comets turned the ball over 34 times compared to their 18 points on just six field goals and a 5-for-10 effort from the foul line. "When our defense is really good, it uplifts our offense for us," Colts wing Emma Hibler said. "Once we get the pressure up, we're really good at reading the second pass. Once we get that, we force more turnovers and push the ball better." Hibler turned in a great all-around game with 11 points, six rebounds and two assists. Guard Saige Foky added 11 points, while center Kayla grabbed a game-high eight rebounds. While already outstanding in leading the Colts (4-5, 2-4) to a 29-15 halftime lead, the defense was nearly perfect in the second half, allowing just a field goal by Danica Baird in the third quarter and a foul shot by Madi Burkhart (team-high 6 points) in the final minute for three points. "I think they were tired (in the second half), but we also picked up our energy at halftime," Barth said. "We came out super strong and came out saying they aren't scoring any more. We took over." The victory marked the Colts' 17th straight against Coventry (1-7, 0-6), which is 9-62 since the 2020-21 season began. All 15 players listed in the varsity book got in the game for Cloverleaf, with 11 scoring. The Colts got 16 points off the bench, including four from Karoline Kreider. "We really needed this win to get us back on our feet," Hibler said. "This win gets our hopes back up and gets our energy going." Barth led an outstanding night of ball movement, and the rest of the Colts followed suit with 11 assists on 25 field goals. "We did a good job of keeping the ball moving at times, and that created open shots for our shooters," Cloverleaf coach John Carmigiano said. "I liked in the second half when we started getting the ball into the key and then finding the open player on the perimeter." Cloverleaf was also very efficient in the way it moved the ball, turning it over only 13 times for the team's best assist-to-turnover ratio (.846) of the season. "Our ball movement was definitely than it has been in the games these past few weeks," Barth said. "We also needed that. We needed to know how to swing the ball and open up shots for our teammates. When we do that, we're a great team." Contact John Urchek at jurchek@medina-gazette.com. Cloverleaf 57, Coventry 18 CLOVERLEAF 14 15 16 12 — 57 COVENTRY 6 9 2 1 — 18 Cloverleaf — Emma Hibler 4-2-11, Mackenzie Seiwerth 2-0-5, Kayla Shook 1-0-2, Saige Foky 5-0-11, Evie Barth 6-2-14, Madi Young 1-0-2, Lydia Fike 0-0-0, Makinsey Bayer 0-0-0, Brooke Gucker 1-0-2, Karoline Kreider 2-0-4, Merrin Crow 1-0-2, Addie Evans 1-0-2, Jayce Kreider 0-0-0, Alyson Croft 0-0-0, Stella Elkevizth 1-0-2. TOTALS: 25-4-57. Coventry — Gabby Dick 0-0-0, Madi Burkhart 2-2-6, Maddy Matheney 0-0-0, Danica Baird 1-0-2, Kayla Munn 1-0-2, Scarlett Dimeff 1-3-5, Lacie Matheney 0-0-0 Aubrey McCracken 1-0-3, Cami Korora 0-0-0, Ava Burkhart 0-0-0, Bella Smith 0-0-0. TOTALS: 6-5-18. 3-point goals — Hibler, Seiwerth, Foky, McCracken. Rebounds — Cloverleaf 34 (Shook 8), Coventry 33 (Matheney 5). Assists — Cloverleaf 11 (Barth 4), Coventry 3 (Munn 2). Records — Cloverleaf (4-5, 2-4), Coventry (1-7, 0-6). Junior varsity — Cloverleaf 27, Coventry 14 (Cl: Lydia Fike 9).