D-II District Girls Basketball: Late rally falls short as North Ridgeville is ousted by North Canton Hoover

BEREA — North Ridgeville trailed by 14 points with 3:15 remaining. The Rangers got within two twice in the final minute but couldn't finish the comeback. They lost 55-52 to North Canton Hoover on Saturday in a Division II district final at Berea-Midpark High School. The No. 10-seeded Rangers finished the season 16-8. The No. 9-seeded Vikings are 18-6. A basket by junior Lauryn Bohannon with 46 seconds left cut the gap to 52-50. Another basket by Bohannon with two seconds left cut it to 54-52. North Ridgeville immediately fouled Stella Somers. She converted the first of two free throws with 1.5 seconds left. The second free throw missed and bounced crazily toward the right corner. Ridgeville was unable to get a quick handle for a final shot. Bohannon led North Ridgeville with 15 points. Junior point guard Brooke Schroeder finished right behind her with 14. "We still had a fight. We could still push," said Bohannon. "It wasn't like we were down 40. We kept pushing. As you saw we got it down to two." North Ridgeville got off to a rough start. The Rangers committed six first-quarter turnovers but then settled down and had only eight the rest of the way. The final 3:14 of the third quarter is when Hoover made its big move. With the Vikings leading 32-29, they outscored North Ridgeville 20-9 to take a 52-38 lead with 3:15 left in the game. The Rangers finally got the offense revved back up. They answered with a 14-3 run to close out the game. Bohannon scored six of her points in that span. "There were ups and downs this season but at the end of the day we came through as a team. We worked together to finish the season off," said Bohannon. "We tried our hardest this game. As you can see, it was just right there. We did situational stuff in practice. That helped a lot." Schroeder tweaked her right knee in warm-ups, the same one that suffered a torn anterior cruciate ligament in the second game of her freshman year. It caused her noticeable discomfort in the second half, but the junior guard fought through the pain. "Hoover came out shooting and we had too many turnovers," said Schroeder. "They're a great team. Their defense is incredible. The bad thing was that we got down by a lot and we tried to come back way too late. If there was a minute left on that clock, it would have saved us. Turnovers killed us. The extra-chance points, the rebounds hurt. They are a very good team." Two years ago North Ridgeville knocked North Canton Hoover out of the district tournament on the strength of a big fourth-quarter run to win 58-45. "We love our seniors," said Schroeder. "Our hustle was great. You can't ask anything else other than that. A couple shots that we could have hit, a couple calls that could have gone our way it would have made a whole different game for us." Hoover was led by three seniors in double figures. Shooting guard Olivia Yocum had 14. Point guard Zoe McCort and center Aubrey Fisher had 12 each. "Shots weren't falling, things weren't going our way," said North Ridgeville coach Amy Esser. "We had some lapses defensively. But you hang your hats off to them. They played their hearts out for four quarters. They never gave up. "We got down 15 and they cut it back to two with just under a minute left. That's just all heart. That's why I love this team. This is why it's been one of my favorite teams we've ever had. They've done everything you've ever asked of them. They've earned everything they got this year and they deserve this. We just came up short. We didn't hit shots when we needed them." Contact Paul Heyse at (440) 329-7135 or ctsports@chroniclet.com. NORTH RIDGEVILLE (52): Brooke Schroeder 4-3-14, Yams Scott 2-0-4, Mary Strippy 1-0-2, Reyna Balderas 2-0-6, Lauryn Bohannon 7-1-15, Savanah Kreilach 0-0-0, Adri Spyres 3-0-8, Sara Slack 1-1-3, Maddie Kuhn 0-0-0. Totals 20-5-52. NORTH CANTON HOOVER (55): Jules Krearas 2-0-4, Olivia Yocum 5-0-14, Stella Somers 1-1-3, Zoe McCort 3-7-14, Aubrey Fisher 5-2-12, Lily Jones 1-0-2, Brooklyn Stevens 3-0-6, Sammie Greger 0-0-0, Chayse Horning 0-0-0. Totals 20-10-55. North Ridgeville&emsp;14&emsp;11&emsp;10&emsp;17&emsp;—&emsp;52North Canton Hoover&emsp;15&emsp;12&emsp;17&emsp;11&emsp;—&emsp;55 Three-point goals: North Ridgeville 7 of 15 (Schroeder 3, Balderas 2, Spyres 2). North Canton Hoover 5 of 11 (Yocum 4, McCort). Field goals: North Ridgeville 20 of 48 (42 percent). North Canton Hoover 19 of 40 (48 percent). Free throws: North Ridgeville 7-10 (70 percent). North Canton Hoover 10-16 (63 percent). Rebounds: North Ridgeville 17, North Canton Hoover 27. Turnovers: North Ridgeville 14, North Canton Hoover 13. Team fouls: North Ridgeville 12, North Canton Hoover 13.