West girls eager for spotlight at Classic in the Country Challenge

Andy Fishman tries to give his Lakota West High School girls basketball team three opportunities to play in back-to-back tournament games with hopes a fourth will come at the end of the season.

This weekend, the Firebirds play in their third tournament, and it just happens to be one of their favorites.

West, ranked No. 2 in the Associated Press state poll, travels to Berlin for the nationally-recognized Classic in the Country Challenge, where it tips off against Canton GlenOak on Sunday at 3:20 p.m. and perennial power Wadsworth on Monday at 3 p.m.

“They love it,” Fishman said of how his players feel about the tournament, which has become a regular trip. “They play with the knowledge everyone is watching them. I think more so than our typical regular-season games, unless we’re playing one of the top teams in our league, you have more than just your small circle of people watching you play. The audience has expanded beyond the comfort of your friends and family and community. It’s something they relish and thrive on.”

The Firebirds (11-1) opened the season against one of the nation’s top teams in their own Journey to the Tourney event and took their only loss to date, falling to No. 7 Hamilton Heights (Tenn.).

Although disappointed to lose, West learned from the experience and has dominated ever since, rattling off 11 straight wins with just two decided by less than 10 points. Among those wins were notable ones against Mason, McAuley and Wayne.

“It showed us where we were at that first point,” Fishman said of the loss to Hamilton Heights. “They were in their fifth game, and it was our first game so it was a great indicator for us that we played with the No. (7) team in the country and competed and had a chance. Yeah we faltered a little at the end, but it was a great experience. Sometimes a loss can really inspire and move you in the right direction more than a win.”

The challenge as of late has been playing the way Fishman has instructed his team, despite the opponent. The Firebirds outscored Colerain and Middletown 172-39 in their last two games.

Fishman finds ways to create challenges with little goals to accomplish in each game. Against Colerain, for example, he wanted his players to “play a very clean game, defend within their own space, not making silly fouls, and demonstrate great ball movement.” Fishman said West accomplished those things, especially in sharing the ball, as 16 of 22 first-half field goals were assisted.

“Whether it’s a close game or not, we have to find ways to create challenges and to get better with every game,” Fishman said. “We played a good structure regardless of who we were playing in that game. Previous games we could get sloppy and perhaps try to do too much too quick and I enjoyed our patience, ball movement, togetherness, positioning on defense as opposed to just playing with aggression.”

The Firebirds know they will be challenged this weekend. GlenOak was a late replacement for Urbana (Ill.) because of weather issues, and Wadsworth is ranked just outside the Top 10 in Division I.

“Wadsworth is a perennial top 10 team in the state, most recently winning a state title in 2016,” Fishman said. “They play run and jump, two of their top players are going to Toledo, their point guard and athletic big. They are athletic in structure, they run a press like us so it’s kind of like playing a version of ourselves, and it should be a very good challenge.

“Both of our opponents will be ready to play, as will we, and hopefully this is not the last time we are playing back-to-back.”

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