After a rough stretch of games to open the season, the Grand Valley girls basketball team now has a reason to smile.
The Mustangs picked up their first victory, a 35-20 Chagrin Valley Conference Valley win Friday night over Cardinal.
“It’s nice to see them smile,” GV coach Kim Triskett said. “(The win) wasn’t easy, we were down 16-11 at the half. We had a hard time finding the basket in the first half. We stuck to it and we were able to overcome it.
“It’s like when you’re at the top of the hill, but you keep sliding backward. You catch your footing and start back up. We finally got over that hump.”
The Mustangs (1-4, 1-2) held the Huskies (3-3, 0-3) to just four second-half points.
“Leeann Harrer played a great game defensively,” Triskett said. “At the top, she was pressuring the ball. That forced (the Huskies) to pick up the dribble near midcourt.
“It took (Cardinal) further away from the basket and allowed our kids to get some deflections and tips. That helped up.”
Cassie Swango tallied 14 points and Angie Ferguson and Allison Unger each scored eight to lead GV. Chelsea Hanck scored just two points, but added five assists and five steals.
Sarah Thompson scored 10 points to pace the Huskies.
n Perry 47, Aurora 28 — The Pirates scored in double figures in each of the first three quarters and held the Greenmen to single digits in all four for a Chagrin Valley Conference Chagrin Division victory. Cecilia Siegel topped Perry (5-2, 2-1) with 16 points, including a pair of 3-pointers, while Meghan Blaha added 11 points.
Boys basketball
Pymatuning Valley got back on the winning track in the Northeastern Athletic Conference as it built a 9-3 lead after the first quarter and made it stand up for a 48-42 victory over Badger. Better balance carried the Lakers (4-1, 3-1) as Andrew Smith and Jon York had 10 points each, Luke Riley had nine and Mitch Berrier and Thomas Erwin had eight points each. That offset 12 points from Marcus Heath and 11 each for Jeff Ashcraft and Matt Wilson for the Braves.
n Chardon 58, Riverside 56 — Andrew Tompkins’ 3-pointer with 15 seconds left tied the game, but Bryan Gregorich retaliated with his only basket of the night to give the Hilltoppers a Premier Athletic Conference win over the Beavers. Tompkins led Riverside (1-4, 0-2) with 15 points, while Brandon Gibson added 12 points and Dan Shafer had 11, while Chardon (2-3, 1-2) offset that with 18 from Brett Reiter, Kevin Stanicki with 14 and Sean Robertson with 10.
n Not reported — SS. John and Paul at Ledgemont.
Wrestling
Perry earned impressive victories of 47-27 over Edgewood and 54-24 over North in a non-conference triangular meet, while Edgewood defeated North, 59-19. Edgewood (3-1, 1-0 Northeastern Conference) got two wins each from Thomas Butryn (125), Kody Severino (140) and Josh Mugavero (160). Perry (4-0) got two wins each from Brian Loxterman (103), Nate Westfall (112), James Kertcher (119), Tom Shaw (130), Chris Lanese (145), Josh Mullins (152), Dustin Sarosy (171) and John Sill (189).
n Not reported — Lakeside at Chardon and Madison at the Hudson Tournament.
