Sectional Girls Basketball: Firelands solves zone, ousts Clearview

HENRIETTA TWP. — Firelands got beat inside the last time it saw a zone defense, and the loss had been weighing heavy for a week. This time around, no amount of defense was going to stop the Falcons down low. After being held scoreless in the regular-season finale, forward Lauren Valerius scored Firelands' first seven points and finished with 14, while freshman forward Jordyn Copely had an 11-point, 22-rebound double-double as No. 9-seeded Firelands beat No. 22 Clearview 55-37 on Wednesday in a Division II sectional semifinal. "We knew there was going to be another zone (defense), and it's an opportunity for us to improve as a program," Firelands coach Onyx Lopez said. "I think that's what's been the key for us is just figuring out ways as a program, as a first-year coach, a lot of first-year varsity players making a big impact, is how can we get better as a program. "Seeing that type of defense helps us get better as a program. I saw us do several things that we did not do (in the loss to) Keystone that we did today against Clearview, so I will take that." Though it didn't work against Keystone last week, Lopez said the game plan was still to force the ball inside to Valerius and Copley and let them go to work. Valerius at 6-foot and Copley at 5-10 pose a threat against any team, and with a clear size advantage over Clearview, there was no reason for Firelands (15-7) to stray from what has mostly worked well all year. The star of the show no doubt was Copley, who came into the game averaging 7.3 rebounds and, with 22, nearly matched Clearview's total rebounds (26). "People were pressuring us so we needed a big kick," Copley said of the second half. "I figured if we get rebounds then we can pass it out and move it around faster." It's the aggression she plays with that has her teammates and coaches so impressed. "Jordyn is amazing out there," Valerius said. "She's a very tall, lanky person (and) you would not expect her to be able to just body people the way she does, and she goes up to the basket so aggressively every time and just powers through all the defense and gets her way to the basket." Lopez agreed and said the freshman is really starting to come into her own as a varsity player the more minutes she gets, which is encouraging considering Valerius graduates this year. "She's feeling confident. She's feeling like she fits in," Lopez said. "The seniors have kind of taken her under their wing and are showing her the ropes a little bit and she's doing a really great job for us, not only on the offensive end, but the defensive end. … She just is a big presence." Clearview's Alexia Rodriguez had a standout performance of her own, finishing with a game-high 22 points, including four of her team's six 3-pointers, but the Falcons' size advantage was too much for the young Clippers. The mismatch forced Clearview (6-13) into a lot of bad shots and there wasn't much help when Rodriguez's offense cooled off in the third quarter. "It's hard when you've got one kid doing a majority of your scoring," Clearview coach Nick Dimacchia said. "We need to finish around the bucket. I think Reina Ramos did a really nice job in the fourth quarter when she started putting some buckets in, but we missed a lot of shots underneath the basket and that's what kills you. If we can have a couple more kids putting up some numbers to help Lex out, we're in better shape." Firelands advances to the sectional final Saturday, when it will host No. 20 Fairview. Contact Marissa McNees at ctsports@chroniclet.com and follow her @MarissaNM on Twitter.