CONNEAUT — A team that can keep up the pressure on defense, feed the hot hand and take advantage of mismatches and momentum is sure to keep momentum on its side.
At least that’s the formula the Conneaut girls followed en route to a 61-11 season-opening win over Horizon Science Academy at Garcia Gymnasium on Friday.
“They’re a different team,” Conneaut coach Tony Pasanen said. “Now they recognize without us telling them constantly who has the hot hand. They realized Marissa (Olmstead), down that one stretch, couldn’t miss.
“They did a nice job recognizing the mismatches. That’s the key to keeping the momentum. Obviously, you feed the hot hand and the person who has the mismatch.”
Olmstead finished with 22 points, four rebounds, three assists and four steals. She was backed by Nichele Johnson, who scored 15 points, had 14 rebounds, two assists, three steals and three blocks.
“Number 21, holy cow,” HSA coach Mike Sklad said of Olmstead. “She was lights out shooting the ball.
“Obviously, they force you to choose one to defend. We worked hard to close (Johnson) down and she’d kick it out to (Olmstead). They force you to pick and choose which one you want to defend. If (Olmstead) missed, (Johnson) was right there anyway for the rebound and they were crashing from the weak side.”
That inside-outside combination of Johnson and Olmstead was dangerous for the Spartans.
“She helped me get going,” Olmstead said. “Our biggest philosophy is to help each other. If she doesn’t have a shot, I do. Mostly, we want to go inside and kick it back out.”
“(Marissa helped me out) a lot,” Johnson said. “It was easier for the outside shooters to get shots. Everyone was packing the middle, so it was easier for the outside people to shoot the ball.”
The Spartans outscored the Dragons, 14-1, over the final 6:20 of the first half and led, 29-8, at the break. They carried that momentum into the third quarter where they scored all 13 points that went on the board in the period. They carried that momentum all the way to the final whistle, outscoring the Dragons 19-3 over the last eight minutes.
Over the final 22:20 of the game, Conneaut outscored HSA, 46-4.
After Olmstead and Johnson, Rachel Pryately (5 rebounds, 2 assists, 5 steals) and Tiffany Wick (3 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal) each tallied six points and Sarah Campbell (3 rebounds, 5 assists, 2 steals) added five more.
Sports
Spartan scientology
Horizon Academy no match for rugged Conneaut
- Sports
-
-
Riverside sneaks past Edgewood
Riverside wrestling coach Scott Blank learned a good deal of what he knows from Edgewood coach Greg Stolfer as a former Warrior great. Thursday, he used a bit of that knowledge to get the better of his old coach as the Beavers bested the Warriors, 31-28, at Edgewood.
-
Madison rolls past Geneva
Madison recovered from coming out on the short end of a pin in the first match of the night by taking six of the next seven matches against Geneva and capped the night with pins from their last pair of grapplers in dismantling the Eagles, 49-17.
-
Boys tourney returning to county
On Feb. 27, for the first time in 20 years, postseason boys basketball will return to Ashtabula County when the Division II sectional-district tournament comes to Lakeside high school.
-
Dragons dump Lakers in drink
Despite the fact his girls have been through a tough season, Lakeside coach Rob Livingston spoke as though he had sensed that better things might be around the corner.
-
Mustangs dominate Heralds
In their last home game of the season, the Grand Valley Mustangs rose to the occasion on Senior Night, defeating the SS. John and Paul Heralds, 59-28.
-
Clark, Francis help give Falcons Liberty
Paige Clark led an attack that saw three Jefferson players reach double figures and Rachel Francis had a triple-double as the Falcons blasted visiting Liberty, 59-17, in an All-American Conference game Thursday night in Falcon Gym.
-
Scholastic Statistics:
WRESTLING
NON-CONFERENCE
Riverside 31, Edgewood 28
at Edgewood -
Scholastic Schedule:
FRIDAY, FEB. 10
Boys Basketball
n Lakeside at Madison
n Conneaut at Edgewood
n Liberty at Jefferson (WFUN)
n South at Geneva
n PV at Bloomfield
n Grand Valley at Southington
n Riverside at North
n Harvey at Perry -
PV prevails
Cody Miller and Zach Campbell knew what they had to do in order for the Pymatuning Valley wrestling team to complete a come-from-behind victory over Jefferson on Wednesday at triangular match at PV.
The pair delivered exactly that and the Lakers pulled off the win, 37-36. -
Eagles bounce back
The Geneva girls didn’t have much time to regroup. But just one day after a heartbreaking defeat, they were able to knock off a strong Perry team on the road, 39-33.
- More Sports Headlines
-
