Falling into an early hole was a recipe for disaster for the Aurora Greenmen girls’ basketball team. The Greenmen lost 58-45 against Suburban League American Conference rival Tallmadge, spoiling senior night last Saturday afternoon at The Greenhouse.
“We just dug ourselves too big of a hole,” said Coach Erika Greenberg. “I told them in the locker room that they did not show up ready to play. When you are playing catch-up in an entire half it makes it harder. We played hard but we just did not play our game in the first half.”
Since the calendar year changed, Aurora (11-5, 6-5) has struggled against the SLAC. The loss against Tallmadge marked the third straight game the Greenmen were defeated by a SLAC foe. The Blue Devils also have had Aurora’s number over the past two years with last Saturday’s game marking the second straight season Tallmadge swept the season series against the Greenmen.
After beginning the season with a 6-1 in their conference, the Greenmen have taken a step back, losing games to Copley, Revere and now the Blue Devils.
“This game was obviously tough because we did not get the win,” Aurora’s 15th-year coach noted. “The SLAC always battles with each other. Copley is at the top and everyone else is fighting it out for everything else.”
After scoring only 16 points in the first half and falling behind a 34-16, the Greenmen changed their defense in the third quarter and applied more pressure. Although they only forced Tallmadge into committing three turnovers in the third period, the defensive change allowed Aurora to speed up their pace.
Aurora started the second half on an 8-0 run, sparked by four different players scoring points. After surrendering 15 points from beyond the arc to the Blue Devils in the second quarter, Tallmadge went cold, only knocking down one 3-pointer in the third quarter.
In addition to outscoring Tallmadge by a 15-10 margin, Aurora did a better job at defending freshman guard Rae Pooler, who scored 13 points in the first half, but did not score in the third quarter.
Trailing 44-31 at the start of the fourth quarter, Aurora made another run and staged a 10-5 spree, trimming the Blue Devils’ advantage to 49-41, sparked a pair of 3-pointers from senior guard Samantha Stask.
Despite the Greenmen’s defense forcing six turnovers in the final period, it was too little too late to overtake their SLAC foe and suffered their third loss in the last five games.
“We felt the momentum swing but we could not get it down to manageable score,” Greenberg acknowledged. “I was proud of the girls but you cannot play a quarter of basketball and expect to win. We did not do enough to win the game.”
In the end, Aurora made too many mistakes in the first half to give itself a chance to make a comeback.
Tallmadge played “help” defense in the first half, focusing on Stask, and were ignited by their standout guard, Pooler, who tallied 10 points in the opening period, pushing the Blue Devils to a 15-8 advantage.
“She played really well,” Greenberg added. “She attacked the rim, and we had a hard time containing her and she did a really nice job for them.”
Stask only attempted three shots in the first quarter and the Greenmen only shot three-of-13 from the floor, including going zero-for-four from long distance.
“It was hard,” Greenberg said. “They keyed on Sam and when Sam does not shoot the ball well, we have a hard time winning, so they did a great job taking her away.”
After an electric first quarter, the 5-foot-4 Pooler received more attention, providing open looks for Tallmadge shooters. Although she only scored three points in the second period, Tallmadge buried five 3-point shots while the Greenmen continued to go scoreless from beyond the arc.
“They were hitting shots,” Greenberg said. “It seemed every shot they took went in and ours were not going in on Saturday. It is hard to win when you cannot make shots.”
According to Greenberg, going through a stretch of three straight losses against SLAC rivals has been tough but added that Aurora has taken something away from each game.
In addition to suffering another loss against a conference rival, it also dampened a special day in which Aurora celebrated its three seniors, guard Camryn Cohn, guard/forward Kailey Feckner and Stask.
“They have put a lot into the program,” Greenberg said. “They have given their time and their energy. It is unfortunate the way Saturday’s game went but celebrating them is an important piece of our program because they have given a lot to the team.”
Following a road game against SLAC rival Kent Roosevelt on Wednesday night, the Greenmen will stay on the road and take on league foe Barberton on Friday evening at 7:30 p.m.
