Northwest girls basketball team shuts down CVCA in second half, wins regional semifinal
BARBERTON — Northwest girls basketball coach Kevin Lower laid it out plain and simple at halftime.
His team found itself on the wrong end of a 3-point first half avalanche from CVCA in Tuesday's Division II regional semifinal. Northwest's seven-point deficit wasn't insurmountable, but how do you shut down these Royals?
"I'm like 'Girls, they haven't made a 2-pointer. They're not taking it to the hoop,'" Lower said. " ... I go 'It's all 3s. You have to quit worrying about the drive, quit worrying about the help and just guard the 3-point line.'"
Words of wisdom from a man who has his team one win away from a state tournament berth,
Northwest held CVCA to two second-half field goals, including none in the fourth quarter, in a 30-27 win at Barberton High School. Lower's team will face Canfield on Friday at 7 p.m. for a trip to Dayton. Canfield beat Marlington in Tuesday's first game.
Northwest's shutdown of CVCA came after the Royals hit six 3s in the first half, coming off a district final where they hit 10 3s. They finished with seven 3s and just one 2 on Tuesday.
"The MO is you have to keep them off the 3-point line, and we did a great job in the fourth quarter for sure," Lower said.
Northwest's defense also created turnovers. CVCA had nine in the second half. A Gwen Lower steal with seven-tenths of a second left practically sealed the game for Northwest.
In the game that mattered most, Northwest earned its first win over CVCA this season. The Royals swept the two PAC-7 regular-season games.
"Even through we lost the PAC to them, we finally got the last straw," senior post Lily Bottomley said. "It just feels so awesome."
Ashley Cudnik scored 10 points and Bottomley finished with nine points and eight rebounds for Northwest (25-2).
Bottomley's deep 3 late in the final seconds of the third quarter cut Northwest's deficit to 23-19. She fired it with about seven seconds left after CVCA's student section tried to trick her by counting down the seconds ahead of time.
Bottomley admitted that she didn't hear the countdown.
"I knew that if I missed, there was time for my teammates to get the rebound," she said.
If anything, Bottomley's shot was a momentum builder.
"I actually called a play for her to go low, and she said 'I'm going high,'" Lower said. "I let her go, and she knocked it down. It was her saying 'I'm going to step up and give us one.'"
An Ashlyn Stark basket in the fourth quarter pushed Northwest ahead. Bottomley's offensive rebound and putback made it a 28-24 lead.
CVCA (23-4) cut it to 28-27 when Joi Williams hit three throws with just over a minute left. Northwest's Delanie Carmany, who hit a big 3 earlier in the quarter, answered with an offensive rebound and basket.
A few moments later, Northwest celebrated a win a long sought-after win.
"I just can't believe that we're here," Bottomley said. "We started off so slow, but we came back. We didn't give up. I'm so proud of my teammates."
Reach Mike at mike.popovich@cantonrep.com
On Twitter: @mpopovichREP
This article originally appeared on The Repository: Northwest beats CVCA in OHSAA girls basketball regional semifinal
