Chardon girls’ basketball puts Willoughby South away in second half

The Hilltoppers had forced 24 turnovers by Willoughby South in the first half but only led 22-9.

According to the second-year coach, Chardon’s lead should have been larger if it had converted lay-ups.

“We would have scored 100 points probably if we made the lay-ups,” noted Hoenigman. “That has been our Achilles heel this year. I do not know what the problem is. We practice it over and over at practice and I think we are just afraid of getting hit or the contact.”

Chardon overcame its lay-up struggles in the second half and ran away with the lead to defeat Western Reserve Conference rival the Rebels 64-37 to remain undefeated in league play at The Barn.

“This was a good one because we have had a lot of tough ones over the last year,” Hoenigman said. “The Berkshire game came down to the end and against Struthers, we lost by two points at the end. We went to Madison and won that in the last minute so it was nice to finally get a win like we are capable of doing.”

The first winning streak of the season for the Hilltoppers (3-2, 2-0) is coming at a good time with it about to begin a stretch of games against league opponents.

“First of all, we wanted to be first in the conference and we wanted to be tied with a couple of teams in the conference,” senior forward Emily Noerr said. “I think it is really nice having this type of lead going into the next game. I think we just have good momentum and just have to keep it up.”

For a team with only four upperclassmen, the Hilltoppers’ underclassmen are already getting more comfortable, setting the team up nicely for the present and the foreseeable future.

Hoenigman admitted he did not anticipate giving his underclassmen so many minutes at the beginning of the season, but the younger Hilltoppers are making the most of their playing opportunities.

“We talked about how we needed to get them in this season so we could grow our team for next year by losing the seniors.” he said. “We did not think they would be getting the minutes they are getting but it is great for us. They are making mistakes and learning from them, but it is going to be a good group in the next year.

Both teams got off to a slow start in the first quarter with the first points not being scored until the 5:48 mark when the 5-foot-10 Noerr buried a corner 3-pointer off an assist from freshman guard Lilliana Dillworth.

The Hilltoppers were fueled by a 10-4 run to take a double-digit lead at the end of the quarter.

Chardon was not making many baskets but its on-ball pressure stifled the Rebels and forced them into committing nine turnovers and allowed them to hit just one field goal.

Having had one of the worst defenses in the conference last season, the Hilltoppers have become a more stout defensive team by allowing an average of 16.0 fewer points in the first five games.

“It’s all about trying to communicate,” Hoenigman said. “When we communicate good things happen, and when we don’t we are going to get lost out there.”

Chardon’s defensive pressure continued bothering the Rebels in the second quarter but squandered multiple lay-up opportunities and made just three field goals to hold a 22-9 advantage at the intermission.

According to the 5-foot-10 Noerr, lay-ups were all Chardon could talk about in the locker room and they did nothing but practice layups while warming up for the second half.

“We just were not finishing like we usually do so we felt it was probably best to come out and practice it a little a bit so I think it helped,” she said.

The Rebels’ offense improved in the third quarter and staged a 16-4 run, fueled by a pair of 3-pointers to cut the lead to just one point.

“We had a huddle and our coaches said they were starting to want it more,” junior guard Nicole Krakora said. “Our upperclassmen needed to step up but we all stepped up and got it back.”

The Hilltoppers finally started making layups in transition and on cuts toward the basket and responded with a 12-2 run to push the lead back to double-digits.

Willighby South started double-teaming Noerr, who had scored 12 points in the first three quarters, and the Hilltoppers started moving the ball around until they found the 5-foot-6 Krakora open in the corner and she knocked down a pair of 3-point baskets, extending the lead to 44-27.

“It felt good because I was missing a lot in the first half so it felt good to get it back,” the Hilltoppers’ junior sharpshooter said.

After making just two 3-pointers in the first three periods, Chardon matched that total in the first few minutes of the fourth quarter and extended their lead.

Kakora stayed hot and buried another 3-pointer to pace Chardon’s offensive eruption with nine points in the final period and the Hilltoppers outscored Willoughby South by a 26-10 margin, clinching one of their most dominant wins in recent memory.

Hoenigman said the Hilltoppers showed flashes of their true potential in that final quarter-and-a-half to seal the victory.

“Last year’s team was the same,” he said. “We had a lot of injuries and had underclassmen starting and some of these sophomores were starting last year when they were freshman and it was after break and around the end of December when we finally put it together and started really coming after teams. I still feel like we are still a couple of weeks away of getting everyone together.”

Following a road contest against reigning WRC champs Eastlake North on Wednesday, the Hilltoppers will return to the court for a road game at 6 Dec. 27 p.m. against Chagrin Falls in the Ralph L. Quesinberry Gymnasium.