Modkins’ late free throw lifts Comets to State Semifinals

Friday night the Solon High School Lady Comets basketball team (15-8) escaped the Canton Civic Center with a thrilling 41-40 victory over the Lady Pups of Canton McKinley (22-3).

The game started slowly with nerves getting the best of both teams; the first basket was not scored until about three minutes into the game. Defense was dominating early. Sophomore point guard Mariah Modkins appeared to be everywhere on defense, as she created a lot of turnovers in the first period. However, the Comets could not convert these turnovers into points as they trailed 5-7 at the end of the first quarter.

The second quarter was a slightly different story. The Comets started to push the pace of the game a little bit more. Turning sophomore Valencia Myers’ many blocks, along with the continuing hustle of Modkins, into fast break points. Myers controlled the paint all game, posting a double-double with 21 rebounds and 13 points. The Pups on the other hand couldn’t make anything.

The crowd could have been a factor, because despite the crowd being about 80% Canton fans, the Solon students were right behind the Mckinley basket. As a result of the Solon students’ chaos the Pups shot 2-8 from the free throw line in the first half, a number that would dramatically improve once they shot away from the Solon students. The second quarter was all Lady Comets as they outscored the Pups 15-4, making the halftime tally 20-11 Comets.

The stifling defense of the Comets started to be overpowered by the McKinley Pups who finally started to look like the team who only lost three games. However, although McKinley started to play well, the Comets always had an answer for almost every bucket the Pups picked up. Even though Solon only lost the quarter by one point, it seemed like Solon awoke the beast that was Canton Mckinley. After three quarters the Comets lead 28-22.

In the fourth quarter the Pups came out on fire, in just three short minutes plagued with turnovers by the Comets, the Lady Pups turned their six point deficit into a 36-30 lead. At this point, Dee Bekelja decided this was her game. Bekelja scored six of her 13 points in the final five minutes and help cut the Canton McKinley lead and tie up the game.

With ten seconds left, the score was tied 40-40 and the ball was loose on the McKinley side of the court, bodies flying everywhere. Suddenly Mariah Modkins picked up the ball she got fouled right after she did so. With 4.9 seconds left, Modkins was going to the line to shoot a one-and-one with a chance to win the region for Solon. While the Canton-heavy crowd was causing a ruckus, the sophomore guard calmly sank the first free throw giving Solon a 41-40 lead. She missed the second one and Mckinley threw up a half-court shot that narrowly missed as it back-rimmed and bounced straight up and out of the hoop.

“It was exciting that I could pull it off for my team, because we weren’t ready for the journey to be over” Modkins said.

The Solon Comets won and advanced the the State semifinals where they will play the Mason Comets in the Schottenstein Center in Columbus, Ohio on Friday night at 8 P.M.

“It was unbelievable, I didn’t think we were going to come back, Mariah made a huge free throw,” said Coach Trish Kruse after the win.