Ryan Murken

Your Prep Sports

SOLON – There are a all sorts of things that can help win a basketball game.

Timely shooting, balanced offense and stingy defense to name a few.

Toss in a lot of toughness and you’ve got the recipe Solon used to extend its season on Saturday night.

Down a pair of starters for most of the game Solon toughed out a 51-39 win over Davenport Assumption (9-13) in a Class 3A, Region 1 quarterfinal on Saturday evening in Solon.

“That’s a huge win for us, huge,” Solon coach Jamie Smith said. “I don’t care who we are playing next that’s a huge win. We haven’t been beat at home in a first-round game in five years, we’ve got a winning record now and tonight we were tough, we had some guts. That’s what our program is about.”

Laney Johnson scored 17 points and Jerzey Haluska had 13 as Solon (12-10) advanced to take on top-ranked Mount Vernon (21-1) in the Region 1 semifinals on Wednesday in Mount Vernon.

The win was the fourth straight for Solon, a stretch that comes after the Spartans lost four in a row, three to ranked teams from January 24 to February 1.

“I think individual we’ve improved but as a team we’ve really come together,” Haluska said. “We had some losses but we’ve grown from them and come back and made one last mark at the end of the season.”

Solon broke open a 30-all tie with a 13-0 run that spanned more than six minutes at the end of the third and start of the fourth quarters.

Haluska had seven of her 13 points during the 13-0 burst that gave Solon a 43-30 lead.

“I felt like we came together in the second half,” Haluska said. “We were playing together and that really helped us.”

Solon was without its second leading scorer Delainey Durr on Saturday and freshman forward Beckett Kruse left the game early in the opening quarter and didn’t return.

The Spartans got production from a everyone that stepped on the court.

Seven player scored for Solon including freshman Quinn Armentrout who had nine points and 10 rebounds and seldom-used sophomore Sophia Link who had a bucket that beat the third quarter buzzer.

“This is a good win because everyone contributed, even the players on the bench,” Haluska said. “Having Sophia come in was really big, she made a couple of big plays, and even the people that didn’t come in kept cheering us on and kept good energy all game.”

Johnson scored 12 of her 15 points in the first quarter to keep the Spartans afloat offensively.

Solon led 27-25 at the half and was locked in a 30-30 tie after a 5-0 run by Davenport Assumption early in the third quarter.

The Spartans responded by outscoring the Knights 9-0 over the final 4:12 of the quarter.

“I thought we got tougher,” Smith said. “We were pretty tough the whole game but late we made some shots and we made everything hard on them.”

Haluska made a pair of free throws and Laeni Hinkle converted a layup to give Solon a 43-30 lead nearly two minutes into the third quarter.

Davenport Assumption wouldn’t get closer than eight points the rest of the game.

Maddi Tolle had 10 points and Anna Timmons and Gabby Stoffregen each had nine points for the Knights.

“I am just so proud,” Smith said. “That’s a big basketball game and that’s a pretty good team that is fighting for their life too.”

Davenport Assumption        11  14   5    9   –  39

Solon                                             12  15  12  12  –  51   

Davenport Assumption (39) – Gabby Stoffregen 4-8 0-0 9, Ella Curoe 3-6 1-1 7, Maddi Tolle 3-13 4-6 10, Camryn Menke 0-1 2-2 2, Charlotte Nigey 1-3 -2 2, Anna Timmons 3-11 3-4 9, Totals 14-42 10-15 39.

Solon (51) – Kobi Lietz 0-5 4-8 4, Sophia Link 1-1 0-0 2, LaneyJohnson 6-13 1-1 17, Quinn Armentrout 3-13 2-2 9, Laeni Hinkle 2-6 0-0 4, Jerzey Haluska 3-4 7-10 13, Beckett Kruse 1-1 0-0 2, Totals 16-43 14-21 51.

3-point field goals – Davenport Assumption 1-5 (Stoffregen 1-2, Tolle 0-1, Timmons 0-2), Solon 5-21 (Lietz 0-2, Johnson 4-9, Armentrout 1-7, Hinkle 0-3). Rebounds – Davenport Assumption 33 (Curoe 9), Solon 30 (Armentrout 10). Total fouls – Davenport Assumption 18, Solon 16. Turnovers – Davenport Assumption 19, Solon 12. Fouled out – None. Technical fouls – None.

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