Jaguars roll to 57-26 win over Cleveland Heights
Saint Joseph Academy jumped out to a 21-4 lead and never looked back as they cruised to a 57-26 home win over Cleveland Heights on Saturday. The Jaguars swarming defense and high pressure was too much for the Tigers to handle as SJA forced turnovers all day. With the win, the Jaguars moved to 2-0 on the young season.
It was a full team effort for the Jaguars as 8 of the 10 active players scored. Colleen Drellishak, Ellen Vichill and Colleen Neitzel led the way for SJA with 12 points each while Rachael Kean also added 10. Cleveland Heights was led by Davia Hemphill who tallied 8 points.
When asked about the team’s performance on creating turnovers and scoring off of them, Head Coach Maggie Ferrando was quick to attribute the Jags’ success to how well they ran and pushed Cleveland Heights. She said that the team focused on maintaining a good tempo, but really tried to push the ball and score as much as possible during the game. Their game plan was “push first, and set something up second,” and two factors that contributed most to their success were their running on offense and their discipline on defense.
Playing in her first home game as a Jaguar, sophomore Colleen Neitzel scored the first five points for SJA and eight of the first 11 as the Jags jumped out to an 11-2 lead, after trailing 2-0. Constant pressure by the Jaguars forced several Tiger turnovers and the gave SJA the momentum. Drellishak hit a three-pointer to give SJA an 18-4 lead and Kean closed the first quarter scoring with a three-point play to give the Jaguars a 21-4 lead after one quarter.
Colleen Neitzel didn't let up in the second quarter, bolstering the Jags’ already impressive lead with an immediate two-point basket. Back-to-back baskets from Vichill and Kean gave SJA a 31-9 lead as the Jaguars took a 31-11 lead to the locker room at halftime.
Six different Jaguars scored in the third quarter as SJA led 46-19 after three quarters. Drellishak scored the final five points of the quarter including a three-pointer with 12 seconds left to give SJA a 27-point lead.
Despite this lead, the Jags didn’t slow down, racking up 11 points during the fourth quarter. Vichill, Colleen Neitzel, and Dever all scored on layups, while Drellishak closed the quarter out with the last point for SJA during the game.
The Jaguars will return to the floor on Thursday as they travel to take on Villa-Angela St. Joseph at 7:30 p.m.
