Girls Basketball wins first District Title in school history
In high school basketball, nothing beats playing into the month of March. The Lady Greenmen accomplished that feat by winning the first District Title in program history Thursday night.
The Lady Greenmen took down Stow 51-48 in front of a sold out crowd at the James L. Coll Gymnasium at Ravenna High School. Aurora would hold a 20-11 lead at the end of the first quarter, however that would not last for long.
Aurora tried to take just ‘another game’ approach with the game. The coaching staff emphasized taking everything in and to enjoy the experience all week long.
“I feel like we laid off the gas a little bit following the first quarter and Stow is a talented team who took advantage of that,” said Senior Captain Shayla Sellers.
The Bulldogs would control the whole second quarter and carry a 33-27 lead into halftime. Stow’s Stow Senior guard Emily Andrassy would score 13 of her team-high 15 points.
It was clear that a change was needed to slow down the Bulldogs and that came in the third quarter. Aurora would switch from a man-to-man defense to zone defense. The reason for this change was because Stow’s guards were hurting Aurora too much on dribble penetration, resulting in too many open looks on the outside for the Bulldogs.
Following this change, Stow would manage just 16 points in the second half and a high-scoring affair quickly turned into a defensive nail-biter for everyone in attendance.
Super Sophomore Shyanne Sellers would score a game-high 40 points. The younger Sellers was clearly the best player on the floor Thursday and controlled the game from start to finish.
“I went cold in the second and third quarter,” Sellers said. “But then my mindset was, ‘I want it, I want it, we’re not going back home.’”
A major factor in the game was fouls. Stow was called for 24 fouls to Aurora’s eight. As a result, three key players from Stow fouled out in the fourth quarter causing them to rely on role players to try and help extend their season.
Despite pulling off the win, Aurora did not score a field goal in the final four minutes. Instead, all of their points came from the free throw line.
Shyanne Sellers would drain her final two free throws. Stow would then miss their last three point attempt and the rest is history.
“Thursday’s win was a huge step for our program. We had never even been to a district final and to go out and win it was an incredible experience. I think that the community support we are getting is absolutely amazing and will help grow our program. I saw a lot of young players in the stands and I have to believe that they are thinking they want to be in this same setting one day when they are in high school,” stated Greenberg.
The 24-1 Lady Greenmen will take on Canton GlenOak at 8pm on Tuesday, March 5th at the Canton Memorial Civic Center.
The Aurora Boosters Club is providing spirit buses to and from the game for all students. Sign-ups are all day Monday in the athletic office and tickets are $7. Students will be given a ‘boarding pass’ that will get them onto the bus and into the game. You must sign up Monday.
A statement from coach Erika Greenberg regarding the community’s support this season: “I can not even put into words how amazing of an environment Thursday night was. The gym was absolutely electric. There were points in the game that I told the girls to call their own offense because I knew they wouldn't be able to hear me no matter how loud I yelled. Our student section was awesome, I believe that some of our success is attributed to our student and community support. The girls were exhausted towards the end of the game but were surviving purely on the energy our crowd was giving them. It is not the norm for girls programs to get as much community support as we have throughout this season and we hope that everyone knows how grateful we are.”
