BEACHWOOD–Beachwood defeated visiting Cuyahoga Heights in a battle of unbeaten teams on Tuesday, 37-15.
With the win in the Chagrin Valley Conference Metro Division opener for both teams, the Bison improved to 4-0 for the first time since the 2012-2013 season.
“It was good (to win),” said Beachwood head coach Don Readance. “It’s a division game against Cuyahoga Heights, and we’re at home, so we had to take advantage of that. We have Fairview on Friday at home; we have to take advantage of another home game and Metro (Division) game, with a couple more next week. One at a time, I think we’re in a good place confidence-wise, and now we just have to prepare.”
Beachwood jumped out to an early 13-5 first-quarter lead, controlling the pace from start to finish.
Zoe Walters got the Bison off to a good start with a pair of 3-pointers, helping lead the Beachwood charge of an 8-0 run to end the first.
Lexi Jaffe pitched in with five points to aid the Bison run in closing out the opening frame.
The second quarter slowed in pace.
Beachwood controlled the clock and moved the ball, using patience to find a good shot.
“It’s not easy to do since one of our focuses for this year was to play with more pace,” Readance said. “Every game is going to present a different style, and I think with us getting a lead and being up 12, 15 points dictated that we wouldn’t force anything we didn’t have to. We had to be patient.”
Goldie Aschkenasy scored four of her 10 in the second quarter to send the Bison into the break leading 19-7.
The Red Wolves quickly opened the second half with a long-range 3-pointer from Brooklynn Domzalski, which was countered momentarily with a Walters three.
Beachwood’s Marley Readance scored four points in the quarter to help Beachwood extend its lead to 28-12.
Walters added another bucket and a pair of free throws and Aschkenasy scored four more points in the fourth to seal Beachwood’s win.
Controlling the pace helped the Bison to pull away from the Red Wolves.
“I think we still have to figure out what we can and can’t do,” Readance said of his offense’s different paces. “Zoe is a big part and changes our dynamic a lot. Her, Marley, Lexi, and even Goldie want to get out and run. In the first couple of games, we’ve been running the court and getting a lot of good looks; I know that there’s game film, and with coach (Al Martin) being the coach that he is, he wouldn’t let us get layups. We’ll have to figure out when we can pick our shots. It’d be foolish if we tried to run when something wasn’t there. I love that we can play multiple styles; it helps us down the road.”
The Bison pace created issues for the Cuyahoga Heights offense.
“It gave us fewer opportunities to get done what we’re trying to do,” said Brooklyn Domzalski, explaining how the pace affected the Red Wolves’ offense. “We’re down; we want to get the ball. We definitely had to be more aggressive, and I think we executed that well. A little more pressure may have been beneficial for us.”
Beachwood opened up a five-game stretch full of conference games starting with Fairview on Friday. Brooklyn and Independence are on the horizon before taking on reigning conference runners-up Trinity.
A measuring stick-type stretch is on its way.
“This was the beginning of it,” Readance said. “Friday is another one with Fairview. I would love to be able to get a few more wins before we get to Trinity and have that be another huge measuring stick game with that one.”
Walters led all scorers with 15 points, and Aschkenasy contributed 10 points, six rebounds, and two blocked shots.
Jaffe and Marley Readance finished with six points each.
Domzalski led Cuyahoga Heights with 10 points.
Beachwood hosts Fairview on December 6 while Cuyahoga Heights visits Wickliffe on December 12.
