CHAGRIN FALLS–Beaumont hit on 10 first half 3-pointers and went on to beat host Chagrin Falls on Wednesday, 74-60.
The Blue Streaks, who led 44-25 at halftime, finished the game with 12 3s.
“We knew that they had a lot of girls that could run the floor really well and they were looking to trap,” Chagrin falls coach Brittany Anderson said. “We didn’t want to get caught up too much in their tempo, unfortunately that happened a little bit in the second quarter, but we wanted to stop their shooters on the perimeter and then force them to drive. That game plan didn’t quite go our way in the first half. They shot 71-percent from (behind the arc), which is phenomenal. I give them credit. We definitely clawed our way back into it in the second half and we were able to execute.”
Chagrin Falls outscore Beaumont in the second half, 35-30.
“We told them to win the half,” Anderson said of what she told the Tigers at the break. “We wanted to make sure we were continuing to keep up the pressure, keep up the intensity and not hang our heads on anything and make sure we were taking care of the basketball and finding the open player on offense. They did a great job of playing some shutdown defense and taking pride in what they do.”
Bella Dalessandro scored a game-high 22 points to lead the Tigers and Carolyn Bencko added 18, including 15 in the fourth quarter. Julia Santamaria finished with eight points for Chagrin Falls, Lily Karyo added seven and Katie Kwasny scored five.
Santamaria led the Tigers with nine rebounds and Kwasny finished with eight. Dalessandro posted a team-high five steals.
Former Hawken standout Carly Perusek led Beaumont with 21 points.
The Tigers, who dropped to 1-1, hope to bounce back with a win over visiting Cuyahoga Heights on Saturday.
“Cuyahoga Heights is a very disciplined team,” Anderson said. “They take care of it on offense and run a really tough defense so we have an idea of what to expect. Coach (Al) Martin does a great job with his crew, so we have to come back into the gym tomorrow and do a better job of taking care of the ball to try to eliminate some of those turnovers because they’re a good team that can take care of that.”
