CHESTERLAND—The Emily Harriman era at Geneva began with a 61-37 win at West Geauga in the season opener for both teams on Wednesday.
Harriman, who graduated from Geneva in 2018 and played for longtime coach Nancy Barbo, was pleased with what she saw out of the Eagles as they kicked off the 2023-24 season with a win.
“The energy that we had in this gym, that’s Geneva basketball, that’s what the culture always has been, and I want to continue it,” the first-year head coach said. “Diving for loose balls, that’s just something you can’t coach. That’s just passion and heart, and I’m so proud of these girls.”
The Eagles pulled away from their hosts by outscoring the Wolverines, 21-8, in the third quarter.
Geneva built a 28-22 halftime lead and then rode the hot hand of Tahkyah Myers, who scored eight of her game-high 24 points in the frame.
Brooke Richmond and Delaney Marrison each scored 13 points in the win.
“I’m so blessed that I have the players with talent that I have,” Harriman said. “It makes my job easier as a coach. These girls are so unselfish with the ball.”
Harriman channeled her inner Barbo at halftime.
Her coaching philosophy has largely been shaped by her experience playing for Barbo, who won 341 games in 22 years as the Eagles’ head coach.
“If you play good in the third quarter, there’s a good chance you win the game,” Harriman said.
As for the Wolverines, it was a tough start for coach Brandon Stewart and his crew.
“We got rid of a lot of the nerves early,” Stewart said. “We started three freshmen, a sophomore, and a senior, but they went out and played really hard.”
Maggie Furst led the Wolverines with 13 points, despite drawing extra attention from the Eagles, and Faelynn Beckrest also scored in double figures with 10 points.
“Teams know that she’s the focal point of our offense,” Stewart said of Furst. “They had two to three girls around her, but she still found ways to score. Maggie is a really talented player, but you can only score so much with three people guarding you. She made some good passes when the opportunities were there, and it was a really good effort from her.”
Despite the loss, the Wolverines remain optimistic about the season ahead.
“We just have to process things a little bit quicker,” Stewart said. “We can continue to build off the energy that we had. We lost a little bit in that third quarter but there were a lot of good things to build on tonight.”
FINAL STATS
Geneva
- Tahkyah Myers: 24 points on 11-13 shooting (2-2 FT)
- Brooke Richmond: 13 points on 3-6 shooting (6-6 FT)
- Delaney Marrison: 13 points on 6-14 shooting
West Geauga
- Faelynn Beckrest: 10 points on 4-9 shooting
- Maggie Furst: 13 points on 3-5 shooting (7-11 FT)
- Ava Borz: 6 points on 3-3 shooting
