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Sports

Westlake Girls Fall To Midpark, 56-44

Meteors clinch SWC title; Kalpana Beach scores 25 for Demons.

Westlake had one last shot at denying Midpark from collecting its second consecutive Southwestern Conference (SWC) girls basketball crown on Wednesday's Senior Night.

But the 1-2 combination of seniors Kaila Barber and Therany Dunnigan proved too much for the Demons, who were on the short end of a 56-44 decision at Midpark. The Meteors moved to 15-2 overall and remain unbeaten in the SWC at 13-0 with rival Berea left on its league schedule.

"Our offense was just not in synch and they turned that into transition baskets," said Westlake coach Chip Weiss, whose team fell to 15-3 overall and 10-2 in the SWC. Both of Westlake's conference losses were to Midpark.

"We also didn't take care of the ball and go to our strengths on offense in that third quarter and that's our inside game of (6-foot-1) Kalpana (Beach) and (5-11) Katie (Carroll)."

Barber led the Meteors with 17 while Dunnigan added 14 to pace the hosts, who broke from a 24-23 halftime lead on the way to their title clinching win.

While the Demons got points out of their post players with Beach scoring 25 - including all 11 Westlake points in the fourth quarter - and Carroll adding 14, there was little else for the visitors, especially in the third quarter.

The Meteors moved from a 29-28 deficit out to a 45-33 lead behind eight points from Barber, who scored three times in a stretch of just 42 seconds on layups that moved Midpark out to a 38-29 edge with 3:50 left in the quarter.

After Beach scored on a jumper with 5:57 left in the third for that 29-28 Westlake lead, the Demons were only able to get a put back from Beach with 2:25 on the clock and a lay up by Carroll off an inbounds pass with just 28 seconds remaining.

"Westlake tried to take away (point guard) Rachel (Theriot) in the first half and we found ourselves in a one-point game at the half and we were not used to that," said Midpark coach Stephanie Mentz.

"But in the second half, we were able to spread the floor with Kaila and Jade (Barber), who have that twins make up to know where the other is along with our other off guards," she added.

That spreading of the floor and a tough defense allowed the Meteors to get their baskets in transition with eight field goals in the quarter on layups. Theriot scored seven of her 11 points after intermission, including what proved to be the final dagger when she hit a 3-pointer to give the Meteors a 50-35 lead with 5:40 left in the game.

While the Meteors have clinched the SWC crown, both Midpark and Westlake will enter tournament play as top seeds in their respective district tournament sites.

Midpark, the No. 1 seed at Valley Forge, will open tournament play Feb. 24 against either Parma or Berea. Westlake, the No. 1 seed at Medina, will start on the tournament trail Feb. 21 against Midview.

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