Girls basketball: Black River takes control early, beats Brookside

SHEFFIELD TWP. — The Black River girls basketball team took control in the first quarter Wednesday and held on for a 61-45 Lorain County League win over Brookside. Behind surging Zoey Bungard, the Pirates (9-11, 5-8) jumped on the Cardinals (6-14, 3-10) led 20-6 after one. The senior had 11 points in the quarter and finished with a game-high 26 to pull to within 16 of the 1,000-point mark. "I am pretty nervous, but I am excited though," Bungard said. "I am excited to hit it." Bungard would join fellow senior and Pirates all-time leading scorer Riley Kubitz (1,395 points), who remains out with a knee injury. "I think that is pretty unique," Bungard said. "It's never been done at Black River with two of us in the same senior class doing it, so that is kind of cool." With Bungard and Morgan Kubitz (20 points, 8 rebounds, 3 assists, 3 steals) combining for 46 points, the duo listened to advice from Coach Greg Vogelsong to take control. "We let the game come to us," Bungard and Kubitz said in unison. When the Pirates did that, they showed they were the superior team for most of the night, but lapses allowed the Cardinals to claw slowly back into the game. Black River was outscored 27-22 in the middle quarters as Brookside got within striking distance at 42-33. Taking care of the ball was a problem for the Pirates, as they committed 19 turnovers during that span. Rebounding also seemed to make a difference, because when Brookside cut into the lead when it got second and third chances. When the Pirates cleaned up, they expanded the lead. "I think that was pretty important," Kubitz said. "You have to rebound to get the ball to score." The Pirates regained control behind Bungard and Kubitz, as they combined to score 12 fourth-quarter points to lock up the win. Kubitz did most of her damage at the charity stripe, making 11-of-16. In a rough-and-tumble second half that featured a Brookside fan tossed by the officials, Kubitz made 7-of-12. The teams combined for 34 free throw attempts in the second half, not including four attempts by Brookside that were wiped out for lane violations. Paige Kaltenbuagh added eight points, three rebounds and a pair of assists for Black River, while the Cardinals were paced by Markie Aliff's 14 points and nine boards. Contact Chad Grant at sports@medina-gazette.com. Black River 61, Brookside 45 BLACK RIVER&emsp;20 10 12 19 — 61 BROOKSIDE&emsp;6 11 16 12 — 45 Black River — Madison Jenkins 2-0-5, Zoey Bungard 10-4-26, Paige Kaltenbaugh 3-2-8, Olivia Kovacic 1-0-2, Morgan Kubitz 4-11-20, Abby Kiser 0-0-0, Sam Fralick 0-0-0, Olivia Fralick 0-0-0, Sam Cheek 0-0-0, Ariel Payten 0-0-0. TOTALS: 20-17-61. Brookside — BriAnna Slaughter 0-1-1, Mari Banjoff 0-0-0, Brianna DeLeon 4-0-8, Avery Diaz 2-0-5, Bella Diaz 4-2-10, Markie Aliff 5-3-14, Octavia Gonzales 2-1-5, Pauline Schmidt 1-0-2, Miya Menko 0-0-0, Rayna Pongtornwatchakorn 0-0-0, Megan Grayshaw 0-0-0, Gabby Tores 0-0-0. TOTALS: 18-7-45. 3-point goals — Bungard 2, Kubitz, Jenkins, Aliff, A. Diaz. Rebounds — Black River 25 (Kubitz 8), Brookside 24 (Aliff 9). Assists — Black River 6 (Kubitz 3), Brookside 6 (B. Diaz 3). Records — Black River (9-11, 5-8), Brookside (5-15, 3-10).