Girls basketball: Seniors get last chance to shine in high school at All-Star Game

NORTH RIDGEVILLE — Once Janiah Bowen-Pride got going, there was no stopping her team. The Oberlin senior scored six unanswered points late in the first half to give the Away Team a lead it didn't relinquish in winning the girls Lorain County All-Star Game, 36-28, at North Ridgeville High School on Monday night. "I just wanted to come out and have fun for my last game," said Bowen-Pride, the only player to reach double figures at 10 points. "It's really fun because you don't play everyone in non-conference during the season. So getting to play with them during these games is fun. It gives me an opportunity to show my talent in my last year, and now just continuing and going to the next level." Bowen-Pride was one of five players to score on her team as Elyria Catholic's Gabby Rodriguez, Brookside's Isabella Diaz and Abrielle Gawry and Jocelyn Alvarado of Vermilion each had their signature moments. Rodriguez's came early as she scored the first four points. The Panthers' only representative finished with seven. "It was pretty cool," Rodriguez said. "I got to play with a lot of my friends and a lot of new people. It's like street ball, it's really fun. It's nice to make those connections, work with each other and collaborate off each other. Every time I've been here, I usually have a friend with me, so it was a different experience, but it was still fun. I'm glad we were able to pull off the win. I don't think I played against any of them in the season so it was nice to see some new faces." Gawry and Alvarado's came in the opening of the second half as they combined for six unanswered points to give the Away Team a 25-13 lead. Gawry finished with seven while Alvarado added four. Coach Paul Appel might have been having some fun during the first rotation of the game when Gawry and Alvarado subbed in with the three Firelands representatives, putting the five Stillman Cup rivals on the floor at the same time. "Me and Jocelyn looked at each other and were like 'well,' but then I said we've just got to go out and play basketball," Gawry said of playing with the Falcons. "It's for sure fun. You get to meet a lot of people." Diaz put the game out of reach for good with back-to-back threes minutes later, stretching the lead to 31-18. She finished with eight points. The Home Team, however, responded with an 8-2 run with Columbia's Lexi Miller contributing four of her team-high eight points, but that was as close as it got, as the Away Team connected on three of four free throws in the final minute. "It's been memorable," Gawry said. "It's the last time I'm ever going to put on a high school uniform again, so that's sad. But I had to come out here and give it my all. I did pretty well I'd say, better than I expected to do." Contact Chris Sweeney at 329-7135 or ctsports@chroniclet.com. Follow him @CSweeney1686 on X. Away Team 36, Home Team 28 AWAY TEAM (36): Janiah Bowen-Pride 3-4-10, Isabella Diaz 3-0-8, Abrielle Gawry 3-0-7, Gabby Rodriguez 3-1-7, Jocelyn Alvarado 2-0-4. Totals 14-5-36. HOME TEAM (28): Lexi Miller 4-0-8, Yamila Scot 2-0-4, Audrey Lammers 2-0-4, Marisa Slack 1-0-3, Reyna Balderas 1-0-3, Janaeshia Washington 1-0-2, Alyssa Goebel 1-0-2, Christian Raven 0-2-2. Totals 12-2-28. Away Team 19 17 — 36 Home Team 13 15 — 28 Three-point goals: Diaz 2, Gawry, Balderas, Slack.