Behind 20 a career-high 20 points from Hanna Traggiai and a strong individual effort from Camille Cummins at point guard the Cardinal Huskies cruised to a 55-28 Chagrin Valley Conference Valley Division win at Fairport Harding on Wednesday.
Defensively, the Huskies forced 26 turnovers in the win.
“I challenged them from the beginning to set the tone early and not give them any room to feel like they could have any chance against us playing at their place,” said Cardinal coach Luke Kruse. “It's hard to lose a game when you're that far ahead in the turnover differential.”
Traggiai picked apart the Skippers’ zone defense.
She scored nine points in the first quarter as the Huskies jumped out to a 19-5 lead and finished with four 3-pointers.
“Tonight, our passing was stellar,” Traggiai said. “As a unit, we were passing the ball from corner to corner, feeding cutters down low and finding the open, outside shots. Everyone shot a lot tonight, my shot just kept falling. When I was covered on the perimeter, I took a couple dribbles around my zone defenders and was able to convert midrange jumpers. I've worked hard for a moment like this all season and I'm proud to say that I was able to share my moment with my teammates in a solid CVC victory.”
Traggiai, who had 11 points on Saturday, also contributed on defense.
“She did everything I asked her to do defensively as well with some pressure and keeping her head in the game and knowing what her job was,” Kruse said. “I was really impressed with her performance. She's really stepped up her game in the second half of the season.”
Cummins scored just four points but she distributed the ball to the open shooters and worked hard in the paint to pull down six rebounds.
“Moving to point guard was definitely a lot more pressure, but being able to distribute the ball to all my teammates and get good looks is better than scoring a ton of points,” Cummins said. “Defensively, we were on tonight. Our press was aggressive and everyone worked together. We were able to convert our steals into points and we came out with a nice win.”
Ashley Gubanyar pitched in with 11 points, Dawn Scribben finished with six and Delaney Leichtman contributed with four.
Cardinal improved to 7-12 overall and 5-7 in the CVC.
Cardinal 55, Fairport 28
Cardinal: Scribben 6, Leichtman 4, Traggiai 20, Cummins 4, Naples 2, Nevison 4, Gubanyar 11, Avalon 2, Travers 2
Fairport: Lorek 16, Hagedorn 2, Burrier 4, Hucks 6, Carmago 2
Cardinal 19 7 22 7 — 55
Fairport 5 6 8 9 — 28
Field goals: Fairport 10 of 39; Free throws: Cardinal 3 of 4, Fairport 6 of 13; 3-pointers: Cardinal 6 (Traggiai 4, Gubanyar, Leichtman), Fairport 2 (Lorek 2); Rebounds: Fairport 35 (Hucks 10); Assists: Fairport 5 (Carmargo 2; JV: Cardinal 36, Fairport 22
