After a stretch of eight straight losses, the Crestwood Red Devils girls’ basketball team has finally reclaimed the edge in their Portage County rivalry against the Garfield G-Men. Crestwood secured its second straight victory with a defensive clinic in the second half, beating the G-Men 45-34 last Saturday afternoon at Hiram College’s Price Gymnasium.
“I think for the girls it is massive,” said Red Devils’ Coach T.J. Henderson. “Any time you have a rivalry game you are going to get the best from everyone. Credit to Garfield, they came out fired up and ready to go and did some really nice things and put us in a situation where we had to sort of struggle through those ups and downs and fight through it.”
After a quick start in the first quarter, Crestwood’s (12-4, 5-0) momentum faded in the second period, surrendering a 10-2 run in the final few minutes to see its seven-point advantage turn into a 21-20 deficit at the half as junior guard Kaelyn Tasker knocked down a jump shot off of an assist from junior guard Riley Grave at the buzzer, giving the G-Men (5-7, 4-3) their first lead of the game.
In addition to being plagued by seven turnovers in the second quarter, the Red Devils the G-Men’s junior guard/forward Mandy Cardinal, who finished the game with 21 points and 10 rebounds, scored 10 points in the second period to aid Garfield’s comeback.
“She can do that,” said G-Men Coach Aaron Gilbert. “She was carrying us, but we need somebody else to step up.”
Crestwood swung the tide in its favor in the third quarter with relentless defense, forcing their Portage County foes into committing 12 turnovers. The Red Devil were fueled by an 8-0 run at the start of the period to take a 28-23 advantage and never relinquished control.
“It was a rough first half, but we came back and pushed through,” said sophomore guard Liv Martini, who scored seven points, grabbed seven rebounds and dished out three assists. “We had to get our minds straight. It was always a mental thing for us.”
Garfield’s 18-year coach acknowledged that poor ball control, a constant theme of Garfield’s struggles, once again contributed to another game slipping away from their grasp.
“We could not make a basket and they started rebounding but it just compounded some stuff,” he added. “I am proud of our effort and how we played but we just need a little bit more.”
According to Henderson, in addition to playing more up-tempo off of turnovers, the Red Devils’ defense succeeded in stopping Garfield thanks to the defensive work of senior guard Abby Guyette, who allowed the 6-foot Cardinal to only score seven points in the second half.
“Abby has been that way,” said the Red Devils’ fourth-year coach. “Last year she only played five games but in all four years since she has been playing, it has just been ‘We need you to do this Abby’ and she does it, she is the perfect person to have.”
With the 5-foot-5 Guyette limiting Cardinal’s offensive output in the second half, the G-Men could not keep pace with Crestwood and were outscored 25-13.
After ending the third quarter holding a 34-27 advantage, Crestwood continued applying full-court pressure on the G-Men and surged ahead with a 7-3 run at the beginning of the fourth quarter to take command of the game.
Following a two-game losing streak at the start of the New Year, the Red Devils have rebounded nicely with Saturday’s victory against Garfield marking its fifth straight victory.
The 5-foot-6 Martini said that the key to Crestwood’s resurgence was through its mental approach.
“We definitely talked about in practice,” she noted. “It really is a mentality because we have a really talented team in my opinion, and we have all-around good players, and it is just really a mental thing, and we need to get rid of our mental blocks and just hustle and power through. Our losses have happened because of our own mistakes so we need to own up to that and really fight through.”
Garfield improved its record to 6-7(5-3) when it defeated Mahoning Valley Athletic Conference foe Champion 46-24 in a home game on Monday night
Following a home game against Chagrin Valley Conference Valley Division rival Cardinal on Wednesday night, the Red Devils will host Akron Springfield on Saturday afternoon in Mantua at 12:15 p.m.
Meanwhile, after a home contest against Mahoning Valley Athletic Conference Grey Tier rival Southeast on Thursday night, Garfield will hit the road and face Smithville for a non-conference clash on Saturday afternoon in Wayne County at 2:30 p.m.
