The Crestwood Red Devils girls’ basketball team could not have picked a better time to get hot. The Red Devils celebrated senior night by overpowering Portage County rival Ravenna 54-37 for their sixth win in the last seven games last Saturday afternoon in Mantua.
“It was good,” said Coach T.J. Henderson. “It was really cool. Not all of the time you can actually have a time when you have senior night and get all of your seniors to play but we were able to take care of it in the first half and let our seniors have a bit of fun.”
The Red Devils (11-10, 6-4) have a small senior class this year, with only senior forward Lilly O’Bryant, guard Kaitlyn Huffman and forward Lainey Kimball-Thomas graduating in 2024.
According to junior guard Hannah Ward, having a small senior class did not diminish their impact on the program.
“It’s been huge to see them step up,” the 5-foot-10 junior noted. “It is Lainey’s first year but she has really tried to step up and it is the same with the other two. They don’t play huge roles in scoring or stat wise, but they are always there to support us.”
Although postseason rankings have already been determined, there was plenty for Crestwood to play for against its Portage Country rival the Ravens (4-20, 1-11). Despite joining the Chagrin Valley Conference Valley Division in the 2020-21 season, the Red Devils and Ravenna have still faced off regularly with Crestwood winning two of the last three games.
“I think this year with the ups and downs that we have had, it was big for our girls,” the Red Devils’ second-year coach added. “It has been good to play against some Portage County teams that we have always had some success against, so it was a lot of fun this year.”
With Crestwood holding a 17-6 advantage entering the second quarter, it was tough for either team to build momentum because of the of physical play that resulted in fouls, leading to multiple stoppages.
As far as Ravenna Coach Courtney O’Donnell was concerned, the lack of continuity hindered the Ravens.
“The foul count was ridiculous,” she said. “Let my kids play. In the second half, we saw how competitively balanced it was. If we had that happen in the first half, the outcome could have been a lot different or at least a lot closer.”
With the Ravens committing so many fouls, Crestwood earned 16 free throws and knocked down 11 shots from the foul line. In addition to committing common fouls, Ravenna was also issued three technical fouls in the second period.
Two Ravenna players were charged with technical fouls and the team received its third technical when they were charged with their second bench warning of the game, automatically resulting in another technical foul.
Ward helped the Red Devils capitalize on the free throw disparity, shooting seven-of-10 from the free throw line and Crestwood outscored the Ravens by a 21-5 margin in the second period. In the first half, the Red Devils limited Ravenna to only three field goals while building an insurmountable lead.
Henderson said that with so many fouls being called against the Ravens, Crestwood had their Portage County rivals right where they wanted them.
“We thrive off of that,” he said. “If we can get teams out of their comfort zones and get some easy buckets, our kids can create some confidence in themselves. Once they start feeling confident, they start rotating correctly and it is fun to watch.”
The Red Devils increased their lead to 38-11 in the first half but Ravenna showed fight at the beginning of the third period, staging a 7-0 run to cut the lead to 18 points and Crestwood did not score a basket until sophomore guard Becca Brady keyed a quick 5-0 run, pushing the lead to 43-20.
Henderson said Crestwood struggled to keep up the energy when it decided to not heavily pressure the ball as much and the Red Devils struggled with their ball control, committing 20 turnovers in the second half.
The Ravens could not capitalize on Crestwood’s miscues, but the second-year coach was pleased with the spark her team showed despite trailing by large margin.
“Coming out of halftime we talked to the kids and said you have to fight through the adversity,” she noted. “That is what you will face in life, and we have to play a second half. We were going to come out and give our best effort.”
Following their season finale against North Olmsted on Wednesday night, the Red Devils will take on CVC rival Jefferson Area in Jefferson in the Ohio High School Athletic Association Division II Northeast 1 sectional semifinal on Feb. 21 at 7 p.m. Meanwhile, after a road game against Metro Athletic Conference foe Streetsboro on the same night, Ravenna will travel to face Warren Howland High School in Warren for the OHSAA Division II Northeast 4 sectional semifinal on Feb. 21 at 7 p.m.
