Granville girls basketball earns checkmate vs. Newark Catholic

On Jan 4, 2023

GRANVILLE — The Granville girls basketball team anticipated seeing a junk defense from Newark Catholic on Tuesday. The Blue Aces did not yet know the counter.

Enter senior Ava Gossman. Gossman scored twice inside and once outside before the rest of the Blue Aces went on the attack as they again ran away from visiting Newark Catholic for a 59-38 victory in Licking County League play.

Gossman’s early seven points helped the Blue Aces (10-1, 6-0) overcome a slow start while NC (9-2, 5-2) was using a triangle-and-two to face-guard juniors Harper Annarino and Aliyah Moore.

“They came out wanting it as much as we did because it’s always a big game against (NC),” Gossman said. “They tried to mix it up, and we just happened to knock down some shots. We got the momentum from there, moved the ball and was aggressive the whole game.”

Once Granville started scoring, the Blue Aces set their press, and the lead began to expand. Granville took a 19-11 lead after one quarter, and it was 29-15 at halftime as six players reached the scoring column, including senior Ella Hoover and junior Haley Strasser inside off the bench.

“You can take Aliyah and Harper out, but Ava Gossman’s a pretty good player,” Granville coach Tate Moore said. “Ella Hoover scored 11 points. Ella Schneider took it to the hoop when she usually kicks it out to shooters.”

NC dropped its game to Granville for the third consecutive season in similar fashion. The Green Wave were coming into the game off a high note after beating reigning Division IV state champion Waterford 54-48 last Friday.

Granville’s perimeter defense led by senior Schneider and junior Taylor Warehime held NC’s explosive backcourt trio of Gibson, senior Maddie Kauble and sophomore Sophie Peloquin to 15 points. Gibson scored a game-high 26 in the victory against Waterford, and Peloquin had nine assists.

“We worked well as a team, and we’re not selfish with the ball,” Gibson said of the previous victory. “We moved the ball around and looked for the open shot to get the win.”

NC still had hope of a rally on Tuesday until Granville hit the Green Wave with a 3-point barrage to start the third quarter. Annarino and Moore hit a pair apiece as the Blue Aces scored 17 points during the 4:30 of the quarter to expand their lead to nearly 30.

With 10 players dressed, a 52-26 lead at the end of the third quarter meant Tate Moore could substitute freely throughout the fourth quarter. Hoover, a defensive specialist, hit a rare 3 to excite her teammates.

“Especially if we want the girls off the bench to come in and get minutes and get shots up, we owe it to them to come out really strong and build the lead, so we can get people subbed in,” Gossman said.

Sophomore Fini Kaiser led NC with 15 points as the Green Wave did their scoring in the paint with perimeter locked down. Junior Mayci Sayre added six points, and senior Ilana O’Neill a basket in the paint off the bench.

The Green Wave must quickly rebound as it visits Heath on Friday with first place in the LCL-Cardinal Division on the line. The defensive end is where NC will get back to work.

“We have to come out stronger and come to practice tomorrow and work harder,” Gibson said. “We have to move in our defense more and know who has who to not let that happen again.”