MIDDLEFIELD—Cardinal senior Ashley Gubanyar became the school’s all-time leader in career assists when she helped the Huskies defeat visiting Richmond Heights on Wednesday, 57-43.
Gubanyar recorded five assists in the win and now has 197 in his career, surpassing the previous record held by Shannon Parnaby.
“It says a lot about her as a point guard and person to always be looking for her teammates and putting them in a position to be successful,” Cardinal coach Luke Kruse said. “She’s a heck of a player on both ends of the floor and also knocked down some big shots for us tonight.”
The Huskies needed a strong effort from Gubanyar and her teammates as Richmond Heights took a 9-6 lead in the first quarter.
Cardinal rallied for a 25-24 halftime lead then outscored the Spartans in the third quarter, 14-7, to pull away for the win.
“Unfortunately, our game plan didn’t get off to a very good start,” Kruse said. “We had a tough first quarter but thankfully they took initiative there in the second through the fourth quarters and we played pretty well, especially in the second half. I thought I saw the girls really execute the game plan well and stay under control and they made good decisions on the offensive end.”
Shots weren’t falling early for the Huskies but that all changed in the second quarter.
Led by Camille Cummins with 13 points, five different Cardinal players scored at least eight points in the win.
Haley Domen added 12, Gubanyar finished with 11, Brittni Lawrence pitched in with 10 and Annamarie Pollack contributed with eight.
“It was nice to see five players score eight or more points tonight,” Kruse said. “They did a nice job the second half moving the ball around against their zone and getting everyone a touch before we shot. This allowed us to get open looks and knock down some shots.”
Cummins and Lawrence both finished with a double-double as Cummins posted a team-high 20 rebounds and Lawrence pulled down 10.
Domen led the Huskies with four steals while Cummins and Gubanyar both recorded three.
“Annamarie Pollack and Haley Domen both had a great game for us on both ends of the floor,” Kruse said. “Brittni and Camille both had double-doubles tonight which was big for us against a scrappy and hard-nosed Richmond Heights team.”
Tamia Farris led Richmond Heights with 19 points and Larissa Williams finished with 13.
“Toward the end, we kind of fell apart on the defensive side,” Farris said. “We got kind of (lackadaisical), that’s kind of why the score went up. I think we played good, we should have just pushed it a little harder.”
Cardinal improved to 4-4 overall and 2-1 in the Chagrin Valley Conference Valley Division. Richmond Heights dropped to 1-4, 1-3.
The Huskies travel to Garrettsville Garfield on Saturday while Richmond Heights will play at Beachwood on Dec. 27.
Cardinal 57, Richmond Heights 43
Richmond Heights: Williams 13, Hendon 9, Farris 19, Smith 2
Cardinal: Soltis 2, Cummins 13, Domen 12, J. Pollack 1, Gubanyar 11, A. Pollack 8
Richmond Heights 9 15 7 12 — 43
Cardinal 6 19 14 18 — 57
Free throws: Cardinal 8 of 11, Richmond Heights 7 of 17; 3-pointers: Cardinal 5 (Domen 2, Gubanyar 2, Cummins 1), Richmond Heights 4 (Williams 3, Farris 1); Rebounds: Cardinal 44 (Cummins 20); Assists: Cardinal 16 (Gubanyar 5)
