Girls basketball: Fired-up Black River hammers Springfield

LAKEMORE — With the Black River girls basketball team losing to winless Springfield at halftime Monday night, coach Erin Jackson decided it was up to her players to figure out how to play like the squad she had seen earlier in the season. The Pirates responded, playing almost a perfect third quarter to help lead a 43-24 non-league win. "I told them that I really wanted them to figure out what they needed in their own brains to figure out to be the team that we were at the beginning of the season," said Jackson, referring to a three-game winning in early December after an 0-2 start. "They mentally needed to figure out themselves. There's nothing I could have said or done to them. I told them it was probably my fault that we were doing bad, and I think they took offense to that. So they came out here and they played the game that they worked so hard this year to play." After making just three field goals in the first half and trailing 12-8, Black River (4-9) caught fire in the third quarter, shooting 50% from the field (10-of-20) and 3-point line (4-for-8). The Pirates entered play with only 10 3-pointers on the season. Sophomore Hailee Moskal (11 points) got the scoring started with a 3-pointer. After a Springfield basket, senior Savanna Mullet grabbed an offensive rebound and put it back in to get the Pirates to 16-13. That's when senior Morgan Kubitz (19 points) took the game into her own hands. The point guard knocked down a 3-pointer to tie, while another three on the next possession gave the Pirates a lead for good. Two possessions later, Kubitz made a layup that gave Black River a 24-16 lead. "I felt like we were moving the ball around better (in the third quarter)," Kubitz said. "We weren't forcing and rushing shots, and then once we got a few shots to fall, we started gaining the confidence. They were all just falling." Kubitz sparking a run to wake up the Pirates was pretty much what Jackson told her to do before they took the floor after the halftime break. "I even told Mo when we came out at halftime that if no one's moving to take the court in her hands, run her game," Jackson said. "She'll make good decisions. She's a leader on our team. The team looks up to her, so if they're not going to listen to me, they listen to her." Springfield (0-15) cut the lead to 24-18, but Black River went on a 10-0 run the end the quarter with a basket by Heidi Clark and two each from Kubitz and Mullet. The 10-0 run punctuated a 21-2 surge for the Pirates, as they moved the ball around with seven assists in the quarter, including three by Moskal. "I think we just really played our game, finally, in the third quarter," Moskal said. "I'm sure you could see our chemistry, because I could feel it. It felt a lot better than the first half." Watching the team she knew it could be in the third quarter was a relief to Jackson. "That is our team, 100%," she said. "The fast (pace), moving the ball, seeing the open girls, those shots going in, that is the team that we can be." For the players, it was about looking in the mirror and asking themselves how they wanted to play if they were to end a seven-game losing streak. "I think we all just kind of got our heart back in the game," Kubitz said. "At halftime, we realized that we weren't playing to our potential, so we wanted to come out and kind of show what we actually can do and to get out of the slump we were just in. I think the team as a whole, we all started working really well together, and everyone put in effort because everyone wanted it." Kubitz and Moskal were the only players to score in double figures. Mullet scored six points and grabbed seven rebounds, Livy Fralick had three points and seven rebounds, Clark had a team-high eight rebounds and Anya Koberna came back from injury to score two points and pull down five rebounds. When Black Rover gets back to Lorain County League play Wednesday against Clearview (1-9, 0-7), it will do so with the good feelings regained Monday night. "I think we are finally getting our confidence back," Kubitz said. "We are showing that we can go out and win some more games and then just move on from all the losses we had and just get better as a team." Contact Ryan Isley at sports@medina-gazette.com. Black River 43, Springfield 24 BLACK RIVER&emsp;4 4 26 9 — 43 SPRINGFIELD&emsp;6 6 6 6 — 24 Black River — Livy Fralick 1-0-3, Abbey Kiser 0-0-0, Savanna Mullet 3-0-6, Hailee Moskal 3-3-11, Morgan Kubitz 6-5-19, Anya Koberna 1-0-2, Heidi Clark 1-0-2, Grace Racut 0-0-0, Kadence Cassidy 0-0-0. TOTALS: 15-8-43. Springfield — Jillian Inch 2-3-7, Brianna Curry 3-0-6, Avianna Williams 0-0-0, Joelle Carter 0-2-2, Kendall Furlong 1-0-2, Riley Bittner 0-0-0, Leila Bailey 0-0-0, Alaynna Ziegler 2-1-5, Madison Edman 1-0-2. TOTALS: 9-6-24. 3-point goals — M. Kubitz 2, Moskal 2, Fralick. Rebounds — Black River 34 (Clark 8), Springfield 37 (Williams 12). Assists — Black River 7 (Moskal 3), Springfield 1 (Carter 1). Records — Springfield (0-15), Black River (4-9).