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Tallmadge and Highland players scramble for a loose ball during the Blue Devils' win over the Hornets on Wednesday. From left: Kelsey Rice, Karissa Steffas, Anna Rose Weincek, Mary Ryan and Ann Marie Kirchner.

GRANGER TWP., Ohio – The Tallmadge Blue Devils had to overcome plenty of obstacles to defeat the Highland Hornets 49-37 Tuesday night in a girls Suburban League match-up.

For starters, the Blue Devils dressed only nine players.  The junior varsity game was canceled because Tallmadge could not field a team.  Three Tallmadge players have suffered torn ACL’s this season.  Add in two more players suffering from the flu and you end up with nine.  But, that doesn’t bother Tallmadge head coach Bill Johnson one bit.

“It is tough,” Johnson said. “We end up bringing in some baseball players to give us a look. But I wouldn’t trade the nine players for anybody.  There are some good players in the league but I enjoy our team.  One thing we do very well is that we play as a team.  We can’t win without that.”

Johnson said the players understand what’s expected when they have a short bench.

“We’ve talked about that,” he said. “We have to play smart.  If we don’t, we are going to be in trouble.  We have good senior leadership, and that helps.  We play four sophomores and they played tons of minutes last year, so we have plenty of experience.”

Tallmadge sophomore point guard Kelsey Rice agreed.

“It was a team effort all the way around,” Rice said. “Everyone contributed and everyone made shots.”

The game did not start off well for Tallmadge.  The Hornets scored 13 straight points in the first quarter and led 13-9.

Tallmadge cut the lead to one at halftime, 20-19.

Rice’s foul shot tied the game at 20 early in the third.  The score was tied four more times in the third before Rice gave the Blue Devils the lead for good at 32-29 on an old-fashioned 3- point play with 1:25 remaining in the quarter.

Highland couldn’t buy a basket for the remainder of the game.  Meanwhile, Tallmadge controlled the pace and tempo.  While the Blue Devils scored only two baskets in the final quarter, they were 11-of-13 from the free-throw line in the fourth period.

Rice said the team had this game circled on the schedule after Highland beat them on their home floor back on Dec. 21.

“We really wanted this one to get win No. 14 on the season,” she said. “We came out strong and played strong the whole game.”

Tallmadge has only one game remaining in the regular season. Highland has two.. 

Rice led Tallmadge in scoring with 15.  Junior Leah Makuch had 14.  Senior Anna Vassalotti had 10 points.

For Highland, junior AnnMarie Kirchner led the way with 10 points.

Tallmadge (14-5, 8-5) 9 – 10 – 15 – 15 = 49

Highland (12-6, 8-5) 13 – 7 – 9 – 8 = 37

INDIVIDUAL SCORING:

Tallmadge – Kelsey Rice 5 5-9 15, Leah Makuch 6 2-2 14, Anna Vassalotti 3 4-4 10, Mary Ryan 1 5-6 7, Haley Congrove 1 0-0 3 Totals:  16 16-21 49

Highland – AnnMarie Kirchner 4 0-0 10, Karissa Steffas 2 1-1 5, Olivia Petek 2 0-1 5, Mallory Adams 2 0-0 4, AnnaRose Wincek 1 2-2 4, Haley Roddy 1 2-3 4, Jessica Peterlin 1 0-0 3, Taylor MacWhade 1 0-0 2 Totals:  14 5-7 37

THREE POINTERS:  Tallmadge 1 (Congrove) Highland 4 (Kirchner 2, Petek, Peterlin).