CHAGRIN FALLS, Ohio — Let’s just say it’s been a while since Beaumont has had a successful basketball program.
Seeded fifth in the Nordonia District tournament, the Blue Streaks hit the road Thursday to face fourth-seeded Chagrin Falls. After a tight first half Beaumont broke open the game in the third quarter to take a 62-48 victory and improve its record to 18-6. Next up is top-seeded St. Vincent-St. Mary in a district semifinal at 6:00 Monday at Nordonia.
Asked if he knew what year Beaumont last won a sectional championship, coach Derrick Russell just laughed.
“I’m only 55,” he said. “I’m not that old.”
There is a lack of respect for the Blue Streaks that has deep roots. These two teams met back in November on the same court and Beaumont came away with a 74-60 decision. Despite that result and the fact that the teams had very similar records, the coaches in the Nordonia bracket voted to give the better seed to Chagrin Falls.
“Everyone’s doubted Beaumont for so long,” said sophomore Lydia Gattozzi, who led all players with 18 points. “We wanted to come out here and show people what we could do and what Beaumont basketball has become.”
The seeding snub could have been blackboard material for Russell's coaching staff, but he chose not to play it up.
“It was a little bit of a motivator,” he said, “but I told the girls, this time of year, if you need a motivator to play in these types of games, you probably shouldn’t be playing basketball.”
This is the third year for Russell at the helm, and the progress has been startling. The Blue Streaks went 1-22 in his first year, and last year they went 7-16 but lost seven games by a total of 15 points. This year’s starting lineup features two juniors and three sophomores, with only two seniors on the roster.
“I’m so proud of the girls,” Russell said. “They accepted the challenge. They’ve come so far with regards to where they were when I took the program over.”
The Tigers led for the game’s opening six minutes, taking a 15-11 lead after a three-point play by Julia Santamaria. However, the Blue Streaks exploded for 13 points in the final 1:49, including Mia Mlynek hitting a bomb from just inside the half court line at the buzzer, making the score 24-17.
Both teams had scoring runs in the second quarter, with Beaumont building a 31-21 lead only to see the margin cut to 33-28 by halftime.
Beaumont took off again in the third quarter, opening leads of 38-28 and 45-32. However, Chagrin Falls managed to keep the game within reach, cutting the margin to 47-41 after Carolyn Bencko hit a layup after rebounding her own missed 3-pointer early in the fourth quarter.
It’s at that point that the Blue Streaks took control. With Gattozzi scoring six points, Beaumont went on a 10-0 run that made the score 57-41 and the Tigers never got closer than 14 the rest of the way.
“It was just execution,” Chagrin Falls coach Brittany Anderson said. “Shots dropped for them, they got their second shot opportunities and they were able to finish them. I think it was a really competitive game that went back and forth. We knew they were going to make runs and it was just one run too many. We got it to six at one point and had a 3 in the corner. We missed it, and then all of a sudden the momentum started swinging their way.”
There were two main factors that helped determine the game’s outcome. First of all, Beaumont’s full court pressure forced the Tigers into 23 turnovers, including eight in the decisive third quarter. Secondly, Beaumont forward Tamya Edwards scored 14 points and approached that many rebounds despite standing just 5-foot-7.
“She’s probably our unsung hero,” Russell said. “She’s averaged double figures in rebounds. She’s our rock in the middle.”
In addition to Gattozzi and Edwards, the Blue Streaks also had Carly Perusek in double figures with 10. Chagrin Falls was led by Bencko with 12 points, Bella Dalessandro with 11 and Lily Karyo with 10. Like Beaumont, the Tigers had a starting lineup of all underclassmen.
“I think we played much better this time,” Anderson said. “It was much more competitive. Our goal was to try keep them under 60 and we got pretty darn close. They’re such a high-powered offense. We were able to hang with them longer. It never got to the point where we were down 20 points. It was much more competitive the second time around.”
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