Auroraadvocate.com - Girls record first 2 CVC wins of year

by Brent Hovey

Correspondent

Aurora -- The wins haven't come easy this season for the Aurora High School girls basketball team.

Inconsistent play led them to a 4-10 record going into last weekend's action. Even when things appeared to be the toughest, coach Erika Schultz said the team is continuously working hard and improving.

While a coach always may want to believe that, Schultz knew it was only a matter of time before her team showed it.

Last weekend, the Greenmen did just that in two upbeat victories over Chagrin Valley Conference opponents.

They beat Orange 53-45 at home Jan. 29, 53-45, then followed that up with another home triumph, 39-35, over Perry.

Both wins were extra sweet for Aurora. The first was senior night, so sending the seniors off with a win in their final home game is always a bonus.

And the next night it was a revenge win over the Pirates, who had beaten Aurora by 16 earlier in the season.

"It was a great week," said Schultz. "Both wins were total team efforts."

It was a battle against Orange. The Greenmen jumped out to a one-point lead after the first-quarter (13-12). The Lions briefly took the lead in the second quarter, but good defense led to easy points for AHS and it had a 24-17 halftime advantage.

In the second half, it was pretty much dead even. Aurora outscored Perry 19-17 in the fourth quarter to preserve the win.

"They played us tough, but in the end we pulled it out," said Schultz. "We did a nice job of taking care of the ball and looking to run in transition."

ALLISON Howard played a great game for the locals as she posted a double-double with 12 points and 12 rebounds.

Allison Blackley, a sophomore who was just called up to the varsity, saw her second game with the varsity and continued to impress. She led all scorers with 13 points.

Heather Schroeder and Jackie Taylor each chipped in 8 points.

Perry was a very similar game. It was a hard-fought, back-and-forth affair, which ended with Aurora doing just enough to pull out the win.

"The girls really played well defensively and looked to attack on offense," said Schultz. "I was so proud of them. They really played hard. It was an overall team effort."

No doubt it was a total team effort as six girls scored, but none getting more than 9.

Blackley and Taylor led the way with that number, while Howard helped out with 8. Schroeder had 7, Brooke Hradisky 6 and Allison McGhee 2.

The two wins put an end to a four-game losing streak and left the Greenmen with a 6-10 record. With the way the girls have been working and starting to play, Schultz is confident the two-game streak can be extended.

It still has not been decided whether a suspended game against Streetsboro, when the power failed, will be finished. If not, the Greenmen will get another win since they were leading.

Tonight (Feb. 3), AHS plays at Orange, and two games against division-leading Kenston winds up the regular season Feb. 6 and 10.

Seedings for the Class AA sectional-district tournament at Uniontown Lake will take place Feb. 7.