RICH KELLY
JEFFERSON — The Jefferson Falcons girls basketball teams over the years have had some solid performers on offense, but most of the time, to get that offense moving, it was the defense that turned on the switches.
So it is again this season, and when the visiting Edgewood Warriors scored to cut into an early 5-0 Falcon lead with their first hoop of the night, by Chelsey Miller, a Falcon fan could almost sense the defense was going to crank it up a notch or three.
That is just what happened as the Falcons closed out the first period with a 14-0 run for a huge lead that eventually developed into a 56-24 Jefferson win on a snowy night at Falcon Gym.
“We played really well tonight,” Falcon coach Rod Holmes said. “We had real good ball movement all night, got the ball inside when it was open and kicked it back out and knocked down some shots.
“I was glad to see everybody played and made a major contribution to the team. It was a great team effort all the way down the line tonight. It gave us a chance to get everybody good time on the court, and the girls responded all the way. Building depth will help us at the end of the season, and it takes teamwork at all times. Tonight, it was very good.”
Only a pair of Falcons hit double digits in scoring. Star Beacon Ashtabula County Player of the Year Lizzy Ziemski put home nine points in the first period on her way to a game-high 16, while Courtney Stowe came off the bench with a major spark ignited in scoring 10 points.
Of the 12 Falcons who played, all but two scored. It takes points to win games, but maybe more importantly for Jefferson, six players had assists and eight recorded steals, fueling a defense that stole the ball 17 times on the night, effectively keeping the Warriors (3-3) from getting into any offensive flow during the game.
The Falcon defense shifted more quickly than the Warriors had time to shift the ball on offense into scoring position much of the night. With turnovers plaguing Edgewood, scoring chances were not something it had a lot of. They were not far off the mark when they did get shots, but that first-period run and another to start the third period, an 11-0 Falcon burst, closed the door on any Warrior comeback ideas.
“We played fairly well defensively tonight,” Edgewood coach Chris Juncker said. “We didn’t move the ball very well on offense. We’re just challenged offensively as a team, but the girls are working very hard to get better, and I’m pleased with the effort they’re giving all the time. They do not quit, they hustle, but we just struggle to score.
“We tried to take a few chances on defense early in the third period to get back into the game and Jefferson made us pay for it, but we had to do it. Our defense was good tonight. It’s been good all season, but we just have trouble scoring. I think we will have a lot more winnable games this season, and that’s just because of the hard work the girls are putting in.”
With this being the last game before Christmas for the Falcons, Ziemski had a warm and fuzzy feeling about her team’s effort both in this game and on the season. Jefferson (4-3) has now won three straight games, despite playing through injuries to Ziemski (right knee) and point guard Joslin Landis (left wrist) and playing without their best outside shooter — Kaylee Cellitti (knee).
“This is my senior season, and most teams we play know how I play the game, and they know I like to drive the lane to the basket,” the senior, who also 13 rebounds despite sitting out the entire fourth quarter, said. “Tonight, Edgewood played some tough defense and took that away, but we passed the ball well, found open teammates either inside or outside for good shot and we shot the ball well. We just had great teamwork tonight all the way down the bench. We got big contributions from everybody, and getting used to this beautiful new floor will give us an advantage.
“It’s bigger than the old floor, so we need to work on conditioning more, but it’s coming and will pay off at the end of the season. This new building is my best Christmas present. My sister helped work to get the levy passed so we could build this building, but she wasn’t sure I would get to play here.
“This is just so special for me, and I want to make sure I put forth my best efforts all the time to make it worthwhile,” Ziemski said.
Kelly is a freelance writer from Jefferson.
