“Very energetic for sure,” said West freshman Abby Prohaska, who put up eight points and four rebounds in a balanced LWHS showing. “When we came out of the locker room, we were pumped. When we saw all the fans, we were like, ‘Oh, this is amazing.’
“It was really good to have competition all throughout the game. I think it made us better mentally because we never gave up and never let our guard down. It was an honor to be able to play in front of all these people and play in such a big game and win.”
Lexi Wasan scored 13 points for the Firebirds. Danielle Wells and Nia Staples chipped in 10 apiece as West gained sole possession of first place in the Greater Miami Conference.
The Firebirds are 13-2 overall and 9-0 in the GMC. The Comets slipped to 11-4, 8-1, with their fourth consecutive defeat.
“The defensive intensity and pressure, that does stuff to teams, even good teams,” West coach Andy Fishman said. “That’s what we have to be able to do. We have a certain way we want to play. It took us a while to get to this point. Our ability to understand reads was not there at the very beginning of the season, and that’s OK. This is a journey. We’ve just got to keep getting better.
“I’m so proud of our girls’ intensity and for 90 percent of the game doing everything that they were supposed to do and expected to do and cared to do. We have some teenagers here, and they’re going to have a little bit of a letdown, a couple mistakes, a couple breakdowns. But overall, how can you not be proud of this group of girls?”
The Firebirds shot out to a 12-0 lead in the first five minutes, displaying speed and skill that clearly frazzled the hosts.
“You could definitely sense that they were frustrated at the beginning,” Wasan said. “We really stuck to our plan and kind of did everything we’ve been practicing. That’s why it all fell together.”
Arianne Whitaker, West’s 6-foot-2 senior forward, missed two games with a knee injury. She came off the bench Thursday and had six points, nine rebounds and three blocks in just over 14 minutes of action.
Whitaker said her right knee isn’t yet 100 percent. She estimated 85 to 90 percent.
“It’s just side to side movement that gets it,” Whitaker said. “But it’s good. I felt rusty in practice yesterday, but today was my day to shine I guess.”
The Firebirds drilled Wadsworth and Solon as Whitaker watched at the Classic in the Country Challenge in Berlin. She said being a spectator was no fun.
“The only way I could get that frustration out was cheering for my team, so that’s what I did,” Whitaker said.
“It’s really tough for a girl as talented as Arianne is and such an impact player for us to sit and watch us play so well without her,” Fishman said. “That’s a hard thing to cope with. We were very excited to get her out here today.”
Lauren Cannatelli, West’s top scorer, was held to five points by Mason, yet also contributed six assists and four steals.
Fishman credited the Comets for using a variety of defenses in the game. Samari Mowbray did the bulk of the one-on-one work against Cannatelli.
“The way I saw it was, my leading scorer was being taken out of the game, and there were more gaps for other players to get open looks,” Fishman said. “So why am I going to mess around with that? Do we really care who our leading scorer is in any given game?
“To Lauren’s credit, look at how she handles it. She just plays. To everybody else’s credit, they take advantage of it. I think it was an appropriate response by the girls. Every one of those girls has enormous confidence in themselves, and that really helps with situations like this.”
Players like Wasan and Prohaska are growing in stature. Wasan was 6 of 9 from the field and snagged five rebounds. Prohaska made 4 of 8 field goals.
Wasan, a 5-10 junior, said Fishman often tells her to be “the glue and nails” of the team.
“I can always hear that out of the corner of my ear from the bench,” Wasan said. “He calls me glue sometimes, which is interesting. That’s not your typical nickname.”
The 5-10 Prohaska has started the last three games because of Whitaker’s knee problem.
“When I started starting, it was really amazing. I felt like I needed to bring all the energy,” Prohaska said. “So when I stepped on the floor in Berlin and today, I felt like I needed to be the person to pick everybody up when they didn’t feel as confident as they should.”
Whitaker will likely return to the starting lineup at some point. Prohaska will then look to provide a bolt of energy off the bench.
“I am perfectly fine with that,” she said. “I understand.”
Fishman said Prohaska hasn’t had the opportunity to feel like a freshman this season. That’s not how it works in his system.
“Here’s what we say to our freshmen when we recognize who our top freshmen are and that they’re going to be on varsity: The summer is your freshman year,” Fishman said. “We start working with our girls 30 days after (our season is) done. Once we get into the school year, you’re ready.”
Said Prohaska, “I’ve been coming in and working out with them since the eighth grade. When I came in this summer, I knew I was fighting for a position on this team, so I worked as hard as I possibly could. I’m just a varsity player. The nerves wore off in the first game against Fairfield.”
Thursday wasn’t a complete bust for Mason. The Comets definitely started poorly, but whittled 21-5 and 30-14 deficits to 42-33 late in the third quarter.
The Firebirds responded with a 12-2 burst to seal the deal.
Mason coach Rob Matula said it was important for his team to not fall behind early.
“And that’s exactly what we did,” Matula said. “Until we have players that want to step up and be ready to go and want to perform, that’s the way it’s going to be. We have to have players that are able to handle that and rip it down and be players. You’ve got to be a player.”
Lauren Van Kleunen collected 16 points and nine boards for the Comets, who start no seniors. Mowbray added 12 points.
Mason shot 32 percent from the floor, misfired on all six of its 3-point attempts and sank 9 of 20 free throws.
“Little things can be huge in a game like that,” Matula said. “If we make that first layup, the crowd’s in it right away. I’m not saying it’s going to keep us from going down 14-2, but it sure helps instead of being deflated from the first play.”
The Comets were ranked first in the Division I state poll before starting this losing streak and falling to seventh this week (LWHS is 10th). There’s no shame in losing to squads like Alter, Newark, Solon and West, but …
“Until we step up, we’ll be a scrappy, young group of players, but I’m not satisfied with that,” Matula said. “If I see Mason coming now, I’m not fearing them. It used to be when we walked in the gym, people would be like, ‘I don’t want to play them.’ I don’t think that’s the way it is right now. Until we find a couple of kids that want to step out of their box and do it the way we want it to be done, we’ll be mediocre at best.”
Asked if he was worried about his squad’s psyche on the current losing streak, Matula shook his head.
“I’ve been worrying about their psyche all season,” he said. “We tried that with a young group, and I’m kind of tired of it. I’m not going to worry about their psyche anymore. They better lace up their shoes.”
Both teams will return to GMC play Saturday. The Firebirds will host Middletown, while Mason travels to Sycamore.
West will continue to wear a bull’s-eye, but it’s been that way for years.
“Coach always says to embrace the bull’s-eye,” Wasan said. “When we were starting the season, he would have us put our noses up against the wall and say, ‘All I can see is the big target on your backs, and we welcome that.’ So we keep trying to push hard and embrace the target.”
Lakota West 23-7-14-11—55
Mason 10-7-16-8—41
LAKOTA WEST (13-2, 9-0): Danielle Wells 5 0 10; Nia Staples 4 1 10; Lauren Cannatelli 2 1 5; Lexi Wasan 6 1 13; Abby Prohaska 4 0 8; Madisyn Oxley 0 1 1; Arianne Whitaker 2 2 6; Sarah Jones 1 0 2. Totals: 24-6-55.
MASON (11-4, 8-1): Jailyn Mason 1 0 2; Samari Mowbray 4 4 12; Makenzie Dixon 1 0 2; Lauren Van Kleunen 6 4 16; Mariah Campbell 2 0 4; Anna Brinkmann 1 0 2; Allie Reichert 1 1 3. Totals: 16-9-41.
3-pters: LW 1 (Staples), M 0
About the Author