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North vs. Kenston girls basketball: Rangers…

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North vs. Kenston girls basketball: Rangers earn key WRC victory

North's Kailey Minch tries to drive past Kenston's Catara DeJarnette and Hanna Busby on Jan. 5. (Brian Fisher - For The News-Herald)
North’s Kailey Minch tries to drive past Kenston’s Catara DeJarnette and Hanna Busby on Jan. 5. (Brian Fisher – For The News-Herald)
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By | jkampf@news-herald.com | The News-Herald
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No one player is bigger than the program.

There are a handful of core values that are at the roots of the North girls basketball team, but that one came to fruition in a 38-37 win over visiting Kenston in a key Western Reserve Conference showdown on Jan. 5.

The Rangers graduated two Division I college basketball players in the past two seasons, and a possible third — leading scorer Kailey Minch — was on the bench nursing a calf injury late in the game against the Bombers.

But Cece Hamilton hit a clutch 3-pointer, Sidney Helm hit a runner in the lane, and then Minch returned to provide two clinching free throws to lift the Rangers to the one-point victory to keep North (7-1, 3-0 WRC) ahead of Kenston (6-4, 2-2) in the league race.

PHOTOS: North vs. Kenston girls basketball, Jan. 5, 2022

"We preach playing for each other and preach next man up," Force said. "When somebody goes out the door, that opens it up for the next sophomore or freshman to come up. The program and basketball family we have here is bigger than any one person."

North's collective heart stopped — or least skipped a few beats — when Minch buried up on the far side of the court after attempting a backdoor cut. Kenston was holding a 31-30 lead at the time when Minch was helped from the court at the 3:26 mark.

Kenston's lead grew to 33-30 a few seconds later when Emily Kratzert made a pair of free throws.

But North wasn't done.

The next time down the court, Hamilton swished a 3 to knot the score. And even though Kenston retook the lead six seconds later when Catara DeJarnette split two free throws, Helm cut through the lane for a bucket and a 34-33 lead.

All with Minch on the bench trying to work out a charley horse in her calf.

"I wasn't really afraid," the South transfer said. "I knew my teammates would step up. I wasn't expecting to come back in, but (the injury) wasn't that bad. My teammates stepped up and made some big shots."

After that point, it was a free-throw shooting contest.

DeJarnette made two charity shots to give her team a 36-35 lead with 1:38 left. But Hamilton tied it at 36 with 1:21 left by splitting a pair.

DeJarnette split two free throws with 42.4 left for a 37-36 lead. But Minch came back in and hit two free throws 24.8 ticks on the clock.

Kenston had the ball with 12.2 seconds left, but could only get off a desperation shot just short of the buzzer.

"We didn't make the plays we needed to make and we lost," a dejected Kenston coach John Misenko said.

He lamented his team's shooting woes, pointing to an eight-percent performance from the 3-point line (2-for-21) and a 65-percent clip from the line (13 of 20).

"We only had five turnovers, but we couldn't throw the ball in the ocean," Misenko said.

Kenston had a 9-8 lead after one on a trio of late free throws by DeJarnette, who had a team-high 14 points.

North took a 10-9 lead in the second on two free throws by Dori Siekaniec and held the lead for a long time. The lead grew to a game-high seven points at 17-10 on a Minch 3-pointer.

Kenston didn't get the lead back until the fourth on a DeJarnette bucket for a 29-27 lead. That led up to the clutch finish by the Rangers.

"We pride ourselves on defense," Misenko said. "It was a low-scoring game. We thought it'd be in the 50s. Paul did a nice job. He packed it in (defensively) and we didn't make the shots today."

Aside from DeJarnette's 14, the Bombers got eight from Riley Smith and five from Kratzert.

North got 14 from Minch, nine from Hamilton and eight from Siekaniec. The Rangers also had a commanding lead on the boards, with a 39-22 edge.

"I'm certainly proud of the way we responded down the stretch," Force said. "They took the lead in the fourth and we lost Kailey for a couple minutes there. But we made a couple shots and overcame that. I thought that showed a lot of character on our end."

The big win against Kenston provided a little cushion in the WRC standings, but Force warned not to be complacent.

"There's probably not a team in the WRC that doesn't think they can't be another team in the WRC," he said of the well-balanced league. "But it feels good to come out on the right end of this one."

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