MIDDLEFIELD—In winning their first 10 games, the Kirtland Hornets have used a different recipe for success in nearly every game. One night they start fast and hold off the opponent’s surge in the second half while on the next they might play well in the second half to overcome a first first-half.
In Friday’s 72-40 win at Cardinal, the Hornets started strong and never let up.
“Our identity is really coming into focus and that’s our defense and our depth,” Kirtland coach Shawn McGregor said. “Playing three games in three days, we wanted to get off to a quick start. It was important that we got our momentum going quickly and we did a nice job of shooting the basketball early and scoring baskets and handling their pressure.”
The Hornets led 15-5 after the first quarter and 39-13 at halftime.
“We got some easy looks early and it kind of snowballed from there,” McGregor said. “It was confidence with our shooters coming through and we got out to a nice lead and kept it.”
Much of Kirtland’s success came from attacking the glass on both ends of the court.
“It’s a scrappy bunch,” McGregor said. “They’re a bunch of guys that work hard and we’re getting better every day that we come out. The kids are starting to buy into what we’re trying to get accomplished on the defensive end and realizing that with good defense it leads to a lot of offensive opportunities in transition.”
Luke Camino and Connor Gron came off the bench to lead the Hornets with 12 and 10 points, respectively and 13 of the players who saw action scored in the game.
Dominic Capretta contributed with eight points and Tommy Powers and Seann McGill both finished with six. Adam Mueller, Dawson Cosgrove and Jonathan Ridgeway each added five points in the win and Zach Samsa and Jack Bailey both finished with four. Joey Grazia, Mason Sullivan and Mike Bottesch pitched in with two points each.
As balanced as Kirtland’s offense was, the Hornets really thrived on defense where they held Cardinal sharpshooters Robbie Bruncak and Matt Carney to just 12 and 6 points, respectively.
“They’re doing a great job,” McGregor said of the Kirtland defense. “We rebound the ball extremely well and play great defense. That’s an outstanding effort against a team that has good shooters such as Carney and Bruncak, two really good offensive players.”
Brice Hogue added 13 points for the Huskies.
“We didn’t make too many good decisions in that first half due to their pressure,” Cardinal coach Jon Cummins said. “It was just an off night. We had a lack of focus. They came out in the second half with a little bit better energy but it was too late.”
Kirtland improved to 10-0 overall and 7-0 in the Chagrin Valley Conference Valley Division. Cardinal dropped to 5-8, 3-7.
Kirtland 72, Cardinal 40
Kirtland: Capretta 8, Mueller 5, Cosgrove 5, Powers 6, Samsa 4, Ridgeway 5, Grazia 2, Sullivan 2, Bottesch 2, Gron 10, Camino 13, McGill 6, Bailey 4
Cardinal: Bruncak 12, Carney 6, Hogue 13, Horner 3, Miller 2, D. Heredos 4
Kirtland 15 24 21 12 — 72
Cardinal 5 8 19 8 — 40
Free throws: Kirtland 8 of 11, Cardinal 11 of 18; 3-pointers: Kirtland 10 (Capretta 2, Cosgrove, Powers, Ridgeway, Gron 2, Camino 3), Cardinal 1 (Bruncak)
