Girls basketball: Brecksville upsets Wadsworth, brings chaos to SL National race

BROADVIEW HTS. — Lexi Ganley, Caiya La, Ashley Perdion, Maya Woods and the rest of the Brecksville girls basketball players blew by Wadsworth defenders with such ease Wednesday night that Grizzlies coach Andrew Booth was perplexed afterward. Considering Booth is Medina County's winningest coach with a 408-115 record, that's saying something. In what was surreal to watch for longtime Wadsworth fans, the defensive breakdowns led to layup after layup as the Bees executed at an outstanding level to throw the Suburban League National Conference race into further chaos with a 56-47 upset. Once holding a two-game lead, the Grizzlies (14-2, 8-2) are now tied with Brecksville (11-2, 8-2), which lost the first meeting 55-30 on Dec. 10. Twinsburg (13-4, 7-3) also knocked off Hudson (12-3, 7-3), setting up the Grizzlies with a showdown with the Explorers on Friday night. "How about this?" Booth said. "Easy buckets vs. the press, easy buckets on BLOBs (baseline out of bounds) and how many times did we get carved on straight-line drives to the rim? Those three areas there, I turn around (to the assistant coaches) and say, 'I'm not sure what I am watching here.' We were just not in sync on the defensive end." Brecksville was so apt at creating driving opportunities off the dribble that the Bees rarely needed to call a play. They got balanced production, too, making life even more difficult for a Grizzlies defense that entered play allowing 38.1 points. The X-factor was clearly quick-footed forward Ganley, who had only six points but dished out nine assists. Woods scored 11 of her game-high 13 points in the fourth quarter, including a layup as time expired after Wadsworth had conceded, center Josalyn Hackney had 11 points while also impacting the game defensively, forward Perdion had 10 before fouling out and combo guard La had nine. Brecksville won the first, third and fourth quarters. In those three periods, it made 20-of-32 field goals for a sparkling 62.5%. The Bees didn't make a 3-pointer and only cashed in a couple shots outside of 10 feet. "That's very uncharacteristic of us," Booth said. "I don't know if that was a communication problem or a positioning problem, maybe, because maybe early we were too tight and they were sending people deep." Wadsworth wasn't nearly as efficient, shooting 15-for-45 from the floor, 7-for-19 from 3-point range and 10-for-12 at the foul line while committing 21 turnovers. Hackney's rim-protecting negated a large portion of the Grizzlies' drive-heavy attack, but that also opened perimeter opportunities for center Marah Minor, who starred in the first half with three 3-pointers and finished with a team-high 11 points. Robert Morris volleyball recruit Lauren Decker added eight points, five rebounds and three assists, Natalie Maddox had nine points before fouling out and point guard Natalie Moser posted eight points, six boards and three assists. Wadsworth had the ball down 46-44 with 1:35 to go after Decker made two free throws and got a steal, but a highly questionable charging call came just three seconds after the theft. Ganley then found Hackney for what essentially was a game-sealing three-point play. Had the call against Decker been called a block, she would have been at the foul line with her team trailing by two points because the Grizzlies were in the bonus. "Whatever happened on the offensive end happened on the offensive end," Booth said. "We did not deserve to win that game based on how we played on the defensive end." Contact Albert Grindle at (330) 721-4043 or agrindle@medina-gazette.com. Brecksville 56, Wadsworth 47 WADSWORTH &emsp;&emsp;13 11 14 9 — 47 BRECKSVILLE &emsp;&emsp;15 8 16 17 — 56 Wadsworth — Lauren Decker 2-4-8, Natalie Maddox 4-1-9, Marah Minor 3-2-11, Julia Maddox 1-2-5, Natalie Moser 3-1-8, Leah Blake 0-0-0, Tenley Mendel 0-0-0, Analise Lucey 2-0-6, LyndiGray Tetzel 0-0-0. TOTALS: 15-10-47. Brecksville — Lexi Ganley 3-0-6, Ashley Perdion 4-2-10, Josalyn Hackney 4-3-11, Caiya La 4-1-9, Preslee Doubler 0-2-2, Maya Woods 5-3-13, Maycie Schreiber 2-1-5, Gabby Michael 0-0-0. TOTALS: 22-12-56. 3-point goals — Minor 3, Lucey 2, J. Maddox, Moser. Rebounds — Wadsworth 21 (Moser 6), Brecksville 17 (Perdion 6). Assists — Wadsworth 9 (Decker, Moser 3), Brecksville 11 (Ganley 9). Records — Wadsworth (14-2, 8-2), Brecksville (11-2, 8-2). Junior varsity — Wadsworth 36, Brecksville 32.