Girls basketball: Vermilion sails past Clearview

VERMILION — Led by junior Abby Gawry and senior Claire Bartlome, Vermilion snapped a five-game losing streak Monday night, defeating Clearrview 60-44. Gawry led the Sailors (4-9) with 19 points while Bartlome added 17, while grabbing 10 rebounds. Clearview (2-8) was led by junior guard Annie Green, who led all scorers with 26 points. Despite playing its fifth game in 10 days, Vermilion looked anything but tired as it forced 12 of Clearview's 28 turnovers in the first quarter while racing out to a 21-11 lead. The Clippers appeared to stabilize a bit in the second quarter, trailing by 11 at intermission, 33-22. The third quarter was the backbreaker for Clearview. Vermilion outscored the visitors 17-5 in the third period. The Clippers went scoreless for the first 4:41 of the third quarter and didn't score a basket in the third until Lexi Rodriguez hit a layup with 22 seconds left. "That's what we've focused on all season long has been our defense," said Bartlome. "We've struggled with it a little bit but we're really getting the hang of it. This definitely was a good game for us to harp on our defense and perfect it." Neither team was especially sharp from the field. Vermilion was 20-of-55 for 36 percent. Clearview was 15-of-40 for 38 percent. The Sailors cashed in more opportunities from the free throw line, connecting on 16 of 28 from the foul line to 10-of-17 for the Clippers. "We knew we needed to set a new boundary for ourselves. The last few games have been rough," said Gawry. "We've been right there. We knew they had a couple good people (Green and Rodriguez) that we were going to have to stop. We struggled a little bit at first, but once we got that first quarter in, we knew we were capable of keeping the pressure on them. Hopefully, we can keep the winning column stacking." Vermilion coach Doug Mihalic was also upbeat. "I really liked our ball movement," said Mihalic. "We were cutting hard. We were snapping the ball around. We were getting our open shots, inside and outside, plus we were able to knock down our threes. This was our fifth game in 10 days so we haven't had a lot of time to practice. It's just been word of mouth as far as our changes. "I like the way we were moving. We seem to be in pretty good shape. We had a good preseason of getting in shape and it's paying off." Aside from Green's 26 points, along with 10 from Rodriguez, senior Reina Ramos (eight points) was the only other Clearview player to score. "We needed to find more second-chance opportunities," said Green. "We needed more rebounds and we needed to play better defense. Just better fundamentals." Turnovers (28 to nine for Vermilion) and coming up on the short end on rebounds (33-26) killed Clearview's comeback chances. "We had a hard time boxing out and rebounding," said Clearview coach Nick Dimacchia. "We did a good job with the initial defensive stop but then we allowed them to get rebounds. It created a hole. We had senseless turnovers. "We played better in the second quarter but then dug ourselves a hole in the third quarter. The fourth quarter we played a little better. Our problem is we lack size. It's hard to compete with kids that are much bigger than us. We got good guard play out of Lexi and Annie. Vermilion isn't the biggest team but they're bigger than us. They're getting in the paint banging and taking care of business." Contact Paul Heyse at 329-7135 or ctsports@chroniclet.com. Clearview (44): Lexi Rodriguez 3-2-10; Adrianna Comley 0-0-0; Annie Green 10-4-26; Reina Ramos 2-4-8; Laila Penny 0-0-0; A'Miley Ezell 0-0-0; Kayla Hitchens 0-0-0. Totals: 15-10-44.Vermilion (60): Jeighla Peak 1-2-5; Abby Gawry 7-5-19;Joscelyn Alvarado 1-1-4; Morgan Frenk 3-0-6; Claire Bartlome 6-4-17; Jazlyn Rayl 1-3-5; Autumn Rupel 0-1-1; Grace Neely 1-0-3. Totals: 20-16-60. Clearview 11 11 5 17 — 44Vermilion 21 12 17 10 — 60 Three-point goals: Clearview (Green 2, Rodriguez 2). Vermilion (Peak, Alvarado, Bartlome, Nelly). Field goals: Clearview: 15-40 (38 percent). Vermilion: 20-55 (36 percent). Free throws: Clearview: 10-17 (59 percent). Vermilion: 16-28 (57 percent). Rebounds: Clearview 26. Vermilion 33. Turnovers: Clearview 28. Vermilion 9. Team fouls: Clearview 14. Vermilion 19.Junior varsity: Vermilion, 40-13