Mayfield shot just 25-percent from the floor and 36-percent from the free throw line but pulled out a 50-47 nonconference win over visiting Shaker Heights on Saturday.
With the win, the Wildcats improved to 3-3 on the year.
“The No. 1 thing here is we will always take a win, we don’t care how they come or when,” Mayfield coach Ryan Looman said. “It was ugly and for the most part, we didn’t play well. That being said, there were still times today when where we were playing with the intensity we needed and a few times we were able to push the lead out to 18 points, but Shaker kept battling and kept themselves around at the end.”
Shaker Heights led after the first quarter 11-9 but the Wildcats used a 15-5 run in the second to take a 24-19 lead into the break.
“Our message at half was to follow through,” Looman said. “Any chance you have to score, get a stop, be a good teammate, follow through and complete the possession. I think today just reiterated that. We follow through and finish and today probably isn’t close to what it was. The E+R= O analogy came into play, so just preaching to our girls that even when shots aren’t falling we just need to work even harder in other facets of the game to make an impact.”
Mayfield extended the lead to 39-29 after three and held off the Red Raiders in the fourth, despite being outscored 18-11.
“We flat out didn’t shoot the ball well or take advantage of opportunities we had, but I was happy with how our girls kept working to manufacture shots and a really good look at the rim,” Looman said. “We took 66 shots today and were OK with all of the looks we got. Just chalk it off to an off night and move on.”
Julianna Nicolli and Catherine Rock each scored 10 points to pace the Wildcats. Lillie Edwards and Sincere Lucas each contributed with seven and Ashley Dearden added six.
Lucas also pulled down a team-high eight rebounds.
“I was proud of how our girls fought through the on-court adversity of not shooting well,” Looman said. “Every time they made a run someone responded. That not caving or backing down will benefit us in the long run.”
Mayfield travels to Kenston on Dec. 18.
