MANTUA, OH- The Crestwood Lady Red Devils welcomed in the Kent Roosevelt Lady Rough Riders on Saturday afternoon at Crestwood High School. The Red Devils were looking to snap a two game losing streak while the Rough Riders were riding a two game winning streak.
After Zariyah Taylor (Kent) and Hannah Ward (Crestwood) scored the first baskets of the game, Roosevelt went on a 7-2 run to take a 9-4 lead with around three minutes left in the opening quarter. After a Crestwood bucket by Becca Brady, the Rough Riders would close out the opening quarter scoring six of the last eight points to take a 13-6 lead after one. Taylor had a big first quarter scoring 8 points while grabbing 5 rebounds.
Zariyah Taylor goes up for a shot over Crestwood's Maddie Dustman
Roosevelt started the second quarter on a 9-0 run to take a 22-6 lead halfway through. Crestwood outscored Kent 5-3 going into halftime capped off by a Becca Brady three ball. Kent took a 25-11 lead into halftime. After Taylor dominated the first quarter offensively for the Rough Riders, the second quarter was a balanced scoring attack as five different players contributed.
Claire VanDamme goes up for a shot in traffic for the Rough Riders
Crestwood made a run in the third quarter as they opened up scoring the first six points with the last four coming from Maddie Dustman cutting the deficit under double digits to 25-17.
Maddie Dustman takes a corner jump shot for the Red Devils
Kent's Zariyah Taylor answered right back with a 6-0 run of her own to push the Roosevelt lead back out to 31-17. A Hannah Ward three ball would cut the Kent lead to 11 at 31-20.
Crestwood's Hannah Ward attempts a three point shot in the 3rd quarter vs Kent
Ward would hit another three ball late in the quarter, but the Rough Riders scored six points around that three point shot taking a 38-23 lead into the final quarter. Zariyah Taylor had another big quarter for Kent scoring 9 points putting her at 19 points for the game.
After Crestwood opened the fourth quarter scoring the first three points, Roosevelt went on a 10-0 run that put the game away extending the lead to 48-26. After a Taylor three point play put the Rough Riders up 51-28, Crestwood would score eight of the final ten points but it was too little too late for the Red Devils. Kent Roosevelt came out on top 53-36.
It was a monster game for Rough Riders center Zariyah Taylor who had 22 points and pulled down 22 rebounds. I asked Roosevelt coach Craig Foreman about Taylor's performance.
Unbelievelable...she has grown so much and she's on fire right now," said Foreman. "The 22 points I knew, but the rebounds I had no idea. She had 12 offensive and 10 defensive. Just a monster out there."
Hannah Ward had a nice game for the Red Devils in a losing effort as she dropped in 18 points and hit a trio of three point shots.
Roosevelt (5-5) begins league play on Tuesday at Revere while Crestwood (5-6) travels to Painesville Harvey.
Unofficial stat leaders:
Kent Roosevelt:
Zariyah Taylor: 22 pts, 22 reb
Claire VanDamme: 12 pts, 6 reb
Maddie VanDamme: 6 pts, 3 reb
Julie Nash: 5 pts, 3 reb
Crestwood:
Hannah Ward: 18 pts, 5 reb, three 3 pointers
Maddie Dustman: 8 pts, 3 reb
Becca Brady: 5 pts, 3 reb