MENTOR, OH- On Monday night Holy Name traveled to Mentor to face Lake Catholic in the season opener for both teams. The Cougars were coming off of a 12-11 2021/22 season while the Green Wave finished last season at 13-10.
The game ended in a somewhat lopsided fashion, as Lake Catholic beating Holy Name 55-39.
The game started out strong for the home squad as the Cougars scored 16 points in the first quarter while holding Holy Name to only 6.
One of the main factors in Lake Catholic's win was offensive rebounding. I asked head coach, Michael Pecjak, about his emphasis on offensive rebounding before the game.
"We did think we had a size advantage and we talked about that pregame, and we're trying to work on that and I think the girls did, especially in the first half, a good job of that."
Rachel Tallion, a senior for Lake Catholic, did especially well on the offensive side of the ball. She ended up with 19 points, while hitting four 3-pointers.
Holy Name did play solid, as well. Their leading scorer, senior Izzy Rodriguez, put in 14 points, while also going to the free-throw line 12 times in the contest. The team also had some great defensive possessions. They got steals and went coast-to-coast for a layup on a few occasions. Lake Catholic took a 30-21 lead into halftime.
What really separated this game was the 3rd quarter, where the Cougars outscored the Green Wave 20-5. The defense for both teams was impressive, as neither team really let the opponent take a lot of open shots. At the end of the third Lake Catholic led 50-26 and it seemed like the momentum was one-sided.
A big problem for Holy Name were their turnovers. Multiple times the team was called for traveling as well as a double-dribble. Some bad passes were made causing more headaches for the Green Wave.
Despite the turnovers the game was a great one to watch as there were great plays on both offense and defense for both teams. In the end the Cougars came out on top 55-36 to get their season started on the right track.
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