EASTLAKE–The Madison Blue Streaks continued their undefeated season when they visited former Western Reserve Conference rival Eastlake North and picked up a 47-44 win on Wednesday night.
With the win, the Blue Streaks improved to 10-0 on the year.
“It gives us a lot of energy moving forward,” said Madison head coach Heather Reho of her team’s start to the season. “I tell the girls it’s one at a time. It’s a clean sheet every time we go into a game.”
It would be the Rangers who would get off to a quick start offensively thanks in large part to the three-ball. North found the bottom of the net on five of their first-quarter 3-point attempts, three of which came from Ella Powalie.
“We came out with a lot of energy,” said North head coach Paul Force. “We hit some shots early. Ella shot the ball great. It was the best shooting performance of her varsity career.”
For the Blue Streaks, it was Zoey Deligianis getting things done on both ends of the floor. She was able to cash in her pesky efforts on defense with multiple baskets off forced turnovers. When she wasn’t scoring, she was creating good looks for teammates such as finding Clair Wakim down low for a layup.
Trailing 19-12, Madison opened up the second quarter with a quick three from Sidney Sorber and a perfect trip to the line from Deligianis to cut the lead to two. However, North’s Cami Welty ballooned the lead back to seven with six second-quarter points in addition to Alex Hamilton’s second corner three of the night.
“I thought we did a good job of getting outside looks,” Force said. “We were also able to get some shots from the free-throw line and get the ball inside to Cami.”
Facing a 28-21 deficit at the half, the Blue Streaks answered with an explosive third quarter that saw them spreading the wealth offensively. Offensive rebounds led to multiple second-chance scores, including a put-back layup from Allyssa Snider. Snider also recorded a block in the quarter.
“I tell them if they’re in the paint, they should always go for an offensive board, especially our bigs,” Reho said of the team’s second-half rebounding success. “It took a little bit of motivation. We were down and that’s an easy two points when we’re in the paint to put it back.”
The two teams entered the fourth quarter knotted at 34.
Deligianis notched six of her 20 points on the night in the fourth, including a mid-range jumper that put Madison up by four late. The Rangers battled to the buzzer, but the Blue Streak’s defense would come up with multiple stops to secure the win.
“We go by the word relentless. I told them at the beginning of the season they had to earn it,” Reho said of her team’s second-half comeback. “We’ve had more than a couple of games where we’ve been down and had to dig ourselves out of it. We’re more of a second-half team.”
Madison puts its undefeated mark on the line when they travel to Edgewood on Friday for a battle of undefeated teams that will be broadcast on CVC TV.
“We have a target on our back,” Reho said. “People want to beat us, so we have to take our opponents day by day. We have a CVC rival on Friday in Edgewood. They’re a very good team, so it’ll be a good battle.”
North travels to Riverside on Saturday.
