Lake’s Aubrina Morales (2) fires a three-point shot as Genoa’s Addisyn Moritz (15) closes in. (Lee Welch | Sentinel-Tribune)
By Yaneek Smith
Special to the Sentinel-Tribune
GENOA — Lake coach Joe Nowak said that Genoa played with great intensity on the defensive end, moved the ball on offense and did a great job of rebounding the ball.
That explains why the Comets defeated the Flyers in such convincing fashion, 62-31, Thursday.
“Genoa did what we expected of them,” said Nowak. “They played solid, physical defense, lived off turnovers and bullied us on the offensive glass. I just don’t think our effort was worthy of competing with them.
“This should motivate us.”
It’s one of the great rivalries in the Northern Buckeye Conference, as the two schools are separated by less than seven miles via State Route 795.
Genoa forward Makenna Moritz scored on a drive midway through the first quarter to give the Comets a 6-4 lead — which got her to 1,000 career points — and they never looked back, leading, 17-8, after the first eight minutes, and 32-14 at halftime.
Genoa got points from Makenna Moritz, Addisyn Moritz, Kiera Combs, Kylie Pennington and Mia Brunkhorst in the first quarter.
In the second quarter, the Comets (13-5, 7-2 NBC) put the game out of reach by going on a 16-0 run that started with Pennington hitting a 3-pointer for the last basket of the first period.
Addisyn Moritz scored the first four points of the second quarter, Makenna Moritz had a layup, Adrianna Williams hit a 3 and then scored on a drive, and Pennington finished off the spurt by scoring inside.
Lake (11-8, 6-6) got three points apiece from Brooke Wiley and Kaydence Eckenrode in the second quarter.
The Flyers outscored Genoa, which swept the season series, in the second half, 30-17.
In the third quarter, Pennington hit a 3, which started an 11-4 run, which culminated with Addisyn Moritz hitting back-to-back threes. She would add five more points later in the period.
The Flyers defeated Eastwood on Wednesday, their first time on the court since last Friday.
“It’s been unique with the snow. We hadn’t practiced since Friday,” said Nowak. “We played Eastwood last night, and we looked better than expected. This was the first back-to-back in quite a while. That’s always tough.”
Lake had won four games in a row, which included a 41-31 victory over Eastwood on Wednesday.
“We should be disappointed in the outcome,” said Nowak. “We have to compete in these next three games.”
The Flyers host Van Buren, Evergreen and Maumee to finish out the regular season on February 12. As you might expect, the Comets brought a great deal of energy after a tough loss to Oak Harbor on Saturday.
“I thought we played really hard. We were extremely unselfish. We’re at our best when we share the ball,” said Genoa coach Glenn Black. “We’re answering the call.”
Wiley had a team-high 14 points and was one of the few bright spots for Lake.
“Wiley is a great player,” said Black. “We wanted to keep her in front of us. Addi did a really nice job on Wiley.”
Makenna Moritz had a game-high 20 points and Addisyn Moritz chipped in with 17.