Girls basketball: Jordyn Copley and Kendra Hardwick plus a strong defense lead Firelands past Marlington and to district final

HENRIETTA TWP. — Firelands got just seven points from the rest of its roster in a 48-39 Division IV district semifinal win over Marlington on Tuesday night, but Jordyn Copley and Kendra Hardwick combined for 41 points to outscore the Dukes by themselves. "This was an important game for both of them," Firelands coach Onyx Lopez said. "On the offensive end, they get going and everybody else just kind of follows." Copley and Hardwick complemented each other perfectly, with Hardwick's shooting and Copley's interior play combining to stretch the defense enough for Firelands to come out on top. "We just work well together," said Copley, who scored 22 points. "We know each other's strengths and weaknesses and how to work off each other." While it was Copley and Hardwick (19 points) who handled the bulk of the offensive load, it was Firelands' defensive effort that made it possible for their scoring to be enough. The 17th-seeded Falcons (18-6) allowed just four points in the first quarter and seven in the fourth, bookending the win with two strong defensive performances. "We had to come out of our typical style of a lot of pressure today," Lopez said. "I thought they did a good job sticking to the defensive game plan. Sometimes it's hard to turn your motor off when you're trying to play in a zone, but I thought they did a really good job of understanding the defensive assignments." Despite the Falcons' defensive effort, 20th-seeded Marlington (8-15) was able to keep the game close by winning the second and third quarters by identical 14-11 scores. After a strong start, it was Firelands that needed to respond in the fourth quarter, and respond it did, on both ends of the floor. On the offensive end, it was Copley, who scored almost half of her points in the fourth quarter, taking over the game as a one-point lead after three quarters quickly ballooned to double digits. "It was a lot of pressure," Copley said. "We knew this might be our last game, so we were just really trying to lock in." On the defensive end, the suffocating defense that gave the Falcons their early lead was back, with the Dukes needing more than four minutes to score their first points of the fourth quarter. "Basketball is a game of runs," Lopez said. "We knew they were going to see the ball go in the basket at some point, so that's just a testament to us having a really good start." The Falcons held onto the ball and hit their free throws down the stretch to ice the game and earn a district final matchup with third-seeded Warrensville Heights (20-4), which won its first two playoff games by a combined 131 points. Contact Will Cunningham at (440) 329-7135 or ctsports@chroniclet.com. Firelands 48, Marlington 39 MARLINGTON (39): Bailee Pietz 3-1-9, Zoe Mort 3-1-8, Roslynn McCarty 0-0-0, Allie Gill 4-1-10, Maddie Gill 1-0-3, Addy Wittensoldner 0-0-0, Baylie Young 0-0-0, Ella Wittensoldner 1-3-5, Gabby Sampson 2-0-4, Kadence Odey 0-0-0. Totals 14-6-39.FIRELANDS (48): Stella Frederick 1-0-3, Jordyn Copley 9-4-22, McKenzie Janosik 0-2-2, Dilynn Copley 0-0-0, Addie Schrader 0-0-0, Kendra Hardwick 6-4-19, Aubrynn Reichle 0-0-0, Micah Lee 0-0-0, Lexi Schrader 0-0-0, Isabell Bermudez 1-0-2. Totals 17-10-48. Marlington 4 14 14 7 — 39Firelands&emsp; 11 &emsp;11&emsp; 11&emsp; 15&emsp;—&emsp;48 Three point field goals: Firelands (Hardwick 3, Frederick), Marlington (Pietz 2, Mort, A. Gill, M. Gill). Field goals: Firelands 17-49 (34.7 percent), Marlington 14-42 (33.3 percent). Free throws: Firelands 10-18 (55.6 percent), Marlington 6-13 (46.2 percent). Rebounds: Firelands 28, Marlington 28. Turnovers: Firelands 10, Marlington 16. Team fouls: Firelands 14, Marlington 16.