Girls Basketball: Firelands clinches share of Lorain County League title

SHEFFIELD VILLAGE — While Firelands ended up beating Brookside 59-39 to clinch at least a share of the Lorain County League title Wednesday night, that final score doesn't reflect how hard Firelands had to work to win its first conference title since 2021-22. The Falcons started the game on a 15-0 run and led 17-6 at the end of the first quarter, but the Cardinals battled back and won the second quarter 14-11 to cut the deficit to eight points at the half. It took until the third quarter for the Falcons to put the game away, and they did it by starting the quarter on another extended scoring run and forcing 10 turnovers in the quarter to get the lead back up close to 20. "Things could have looked different after they went on their hot streak had we not built that confidence from before," said Firelands coach Onyx Lopez. "So that's a perfect example of how in those types of situations when it might seem like there's a doubt, we're OK." Senior Jordyn Copley led the Falcons with 16 points, eight of which came in the fourth quarter. "(Those runs) were great for us," Copley said. "It gave us motivation. When we lost the lead a little bit, we put our heads down a little, but when we got the lead back up, it really boosted us." Firelands had two other players in double figures, Addie Schrader and Micah Lee, and Lee in particular was a force inside against an undersized Brookside team, scoring eight of her 10 points in the first half. "She played really well against Keystone, as well," Lopez said. "It just didn't show up in the box score, but she's a threat down there. You've got to know where she is at all times because she's so sneaky on the put backs and she can finish around the rim." Firelands previous LC8 title in 2021-22 was its third in a row, but it hasn't been back to the mountaintop since, until this year. "It was such a culture thing when I first came," Lopez said. "It feels like all of the hard work and the things that we preach to them on a daily basis have finally come to fruition and it's paid off. All the things we've talked to them about, and trying to breed that confidence into them, it's nice to have something to show for it." Firelands has lost just one conference game this season, a 35-31 defeat on the road against Keystone on Dec. 17, and since then, its closest conference game was a 17-point win in the return game against Keystone on Jan. 24. "We took a couple of hard losses that I think we needed to," Lopez said. "But it takes being unsuccessful to learn how to fight through, and you have to build on those losses and move forward. We've gone through a lot as a program, and we've always been very close to our goal of winning the conference, and now that we're here, it's setting a standard that this is where we want to be every year." "(Winning the conference) is a big step up because last year we fell short," Copley said. "We lost a bunch from last year, so this season was just building it back up, and it feels really good." For Brookside, Wednesday's loss was a significant improvement from its first matchup against Firelands, a 54-19 loss in December, and while it made an impressive fight back from allowing a 15-0 run to start the game, it was ultimately done in by an inability to hold on to the ball. "Physicality hurt us, and the turnovers hurt us," said Brookside coach Bill Matthews. "They make it really tough to take care of the ball. When we put it out there, they took it. I'm sure we had close to 20 turnovers, but we're just doing our best. We're fighting, and all we can do is take it one game at a time." Firelands 59, Brookside 39 FIRELANDS (59): Stella Frederick 2-1-7, Jordyn Copley 7-2-16, Natalie Smith 0-0-0, Dilynn Copley 2-2-6, Addie Schrader 4-2-10, Ava Mulica 0-0-0, Kylie Sutorius 1-0-2, Emaley Burnworth 0-0-0, Micah Lee 4-2-10, Lexi Schrader 3-2-8. Totals 23-11-59. BROOKSIDE (39): Hayden Tolson 0-0-0, Hailey Mertz 0-0-0, Octavia Gonzalez 3-1-7, Hailey Rollins 2-0-5, Bella Diaz 2-0-5, Khloe Jennings 3-0-8, Miya Menko 1-0-2, Megan Grayshaw 0-0-0, Kaylin Simo 0-0-0, Bailey Brennen 4-0-11, Audrey Albaugh 0-0-0, Rayna Pongtornwatchakorn 0-1-1. Totals 15-2-39. Firelands&emsp;17&emsp;11&emsp;15&emsp;16&emsp;—&emsp;59 Brookside&emsp;6&emsp;14&emsp;7&emsp;12&emsp;—&emsp;39 Three point field goals: Firelands (Frederick 2), Brookside (Brennen 3, Jennings 2, Rollins, Diaz). Field goals: Firelands 23-61 (37.7 percent), Brookside 15-41 (36.6 percent). Free throws: Firelands 11-14 (78.6 percent), Brookside 2-4 (50 percent). Rebounds: Firelands 38, Brookside 19. Turnovers: Firelands 16, Brookside 26. Team fouls: Firelands 10, Brookside 14.