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Solon puts end to Nordonia girls cagers playoff run

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March 3, 2010

by Devan Matthews

Correspondent

Nordonia High School girls basketball coach Gary Tipton knew that his team's Division I sectional championship contest against Solon would be a close game.

And that's exactly what it was. Unfortunately, his Knights came out on the losing end.

The Comets edged Nordonia by the score of 59-57 in overtime Feb. 24, at Warrensville Heights High School. With the victory, Solon advanced to the district semifinals.

The Knights, meanwhile, ended their season with an overall record of 18-4. Nordonia was 17-3 during the regular season and then opened the playoffs with a victory over Maple Heights in the sectional semifinals.

The Knights also captured the Northeast Ohio Conference Lake Division championship with an undefeated ledger of 10-0.

The game was rather close throughout, although Nordonia was able to build a 10-point lead by the end of the third quarter. However, the Comets closed the gap within the first three minutes of the fourth frame with some superb shooting.

Down by two points, the Knights were able to score at the very end of the final stanza to send the game into overtime. Nordonia was ahead 57-56 with eight seconds remaining in the extra session when Solon nailed a three-pointer to take a two-point lead.

The Knights had one last shot, but that attempt was wide of the mark, sealing the victory for the Comets.

"It was an outstanding game," said Tipton. "It was played well and very evenly matched. You have to give credit to their kids and to our kids. It was a great high school girls basketball game."

Junior guard Courtney Cole led the Knights offensively with 19 points. According to Tipton, she was far from 100 percent healthy against Solon.

"She was basically playing with one arm," he said. "She injured her wrist a couple of weeks ago and then re-injured it in the Maple Heights game. She wasn't expected to play [against Solon], but she did, and she played lights-out."

Other offensive leaders for Nordonia were junior point guard Kelsey Shirey with 11 points and senior forward/center Danielle Zuercher with nine points.

Tipton also lauded junior guard Tierra Lewis for her performance. Lewis was fighting through a sprained knee, also suffered during the Maple Heights contest.

"She literally couldn't walk two days before the game," said Tipton. "She played a great game against Solon, taking on one of their two best players. If there are three better junior guards in Northeast Ohio on the same team than Courtney Cole, Kelsey Shirey and Tiera Lewis, I want to meet them. They played their hearts out and were outstanding."

E-mail: stowsports@recordpub.com

Phone: 330-688-0088 ext. 3113




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