LHS Girls Hoops Wins Conference, Looks To OHSAA Tournament

As neighboring communities, Lakewood and Rocky River have gotten very familiar with each other over the past century. The same is true for their girls high school basketball teams, which will meet each other for the third time this season. The Rangers beat River on February 12 in an emotional Senior Night game at LHS. The teams will meet again at Lakewood High on February 20 in the Rangers’ OHSAA tournament opener.

Lakewood defeated Rocky River 34-28 on Lakewood’s Senior Night. The victory clinched a West Shore Conference title for the Rangers, their second conference title in two years. The game was hard fought, with a tied score of 14-14 at the half.  However, Lakewood used a strong defensive effort to limit River to only three points in the third quarter, opening up a 26-17 lead. The Pirates rallied to make the game close with under three minutes to play, but Lakewood held on for the victory. Tori Milicevic, a senior, led the Rangers with nine points.   

The win avenged an earlier loss to the Pirates at Rocky River. That loss, a 50-46 game on January 11, was the only conference loss for the Rangers. “It left a bad taste in our mouths” said LHS head coach Mike Harper. That loss helped to motivate Harper’s team. “We know that they are a really good team and we had to come ready - sharp and focused on the task on hand.”

As it turns out, the Rangers will need yet another dose of motivation. Due to their successful season, the team earned a first round bye to the OHSAA playoffs. In addition, they were awarded a home game for their first postseason contest.  The bracket draw gave Lakewood the winner of the February 15 game between Elyria and Rocky River. The Pirates won that game 47-36, earning a quick rematch with the Rangers. The tournament game will be played on Thursday, February 20 at Lakewood High School. 

This tournament run will be the final one for six Ranger seniors, each of whom were recognized before the game by a very enthusiastic crowd on Senior Night. These six -- Megan Barrett, Erin Hoffert, Allison Mazzeo, Tori Milicevic, Maggie Rowell, and Daleen Zakaib – were key to bringing back-to-back conference titles to the program. Megan and Maggie are 4 year varsity letter winners, Erin and Tori are 2 year varsity letter winners and Allison and Daleen received their first varsity letters.