EASTLAKE, Ohio -- It was a fitting weekend for Destiny Leo to have the best game of her career.
The junior from Eastlake North scored a career-high 44 points Saturday as the host Rangers made what was supposed to be a showdown for the Western Reserve Conference anything but, dominating play from the start to take a 68-48 girls basketball victory over Kenston.
The Rangers, ranked No. 11 in the cleveland.com Top 25 rankings, are 16-1 overall, 9-1 in WRC play. Kenston, ranked No. 20, had a five-game winning streak broken in falling to 13-6 and 9-2.
“We need to approach every game like it’s our Super Bowl,” Leo said of the Rangers attempting to repeat as conference champions. “We knew we were going to have to get this win.”
Leo outscored the Bombers by herself until there was less than a minute remaining in the game. She had seven points in the first quarter, 15 in the second, 15 in the third and 7 in the fourth.
“Destiny was special,” North coach Paul Force said. “She gave them trouble last time (28 points), so I was interested to come out and see what kind of adjustments they made. They tried some different things, but I just think our spacing and her basketball IQ was a little too much for them. It was a great game by her.”
Using a man-to-man defense, Kenston had several players attempt to stay with Leo. At first the Bombers seemed very aware of her long-range shooting so they got right up on her. The result was several driving layups. When the defenders backed off to stop the drive, she would just release her silky-smooth jumper.
“She had a great game,” Kenston coach John Misenko said. “We didn’t execute. We didn’t do what we were supposed to do. ... Ultimately that’s on me because we didn’t execute. She’s a good player, but we didn’t play her the way we were supposed to.”
Leo hit 15 of 27 shots, including four of nine 3-pointers. She also made 10 of 11 free throws and led all players with 18 rebounds.
“I felt like I was on,” Leo said. “I just kept attacking. I was getting to the rack a lot, and that definitely helps your shooting percentage. But I felt like I did good today.”
For all intents and purposes, the game was over before the second period was half-done. Rachel Apshago hit a 3-pointer for the game’s opening points to give the Bombers their only lead of the game. Soon Leo and her teammates started finding the range and the hosts jumped to leads of 9-3, 14-4 and 16-6 at the end of the quarter. The second period started with another scoring burst for North, 13-6, and the lead was 29-12.
The margin would only grow larger until the end of the game, when Kenston scored the final 10 points.
“I think it was key that we got out to an early lead,” Force said. “We held them to six in the first quarter. They had some trouble figuring out our defenses. We mixed them up a few times.”
The Rangers certainly played well on defense, especially Abby Carter, who kept freshman phenom Catara DeJarnette relatively in check. DeJarnette led the Bombers with 15 points, but seven came in the final five minutes after the outcome was determined. Apshago was the only other Kenston player with more than five points, totaling 11. Carter also backed Leo with 13 points.
But while North played well on defense, Kenston’s offensive struggles seemed to be caused by more than just the Rangers. In a word, the Bombers were just cold -- colder than the temperatures earlier in the week. At times there seemed to be a lid on the basket as open shot after open shot was missed.
“We were 5-of-28 from the 3-point line,” Misenko said. “They gave us the dribble-drive and the kick. We had kids who missed shots and we had kids that didn’t want to shoot the ball. Sometimes in a game you have to take what is given to you. That was what was given to us, and we didn’t execute at all. If we make four, five or six of those shots, it’s a different game.”
To compound the problem, Kenston struggled mightily from the free throw line, making just five of 14 attempts.
As a result, North holds a half-game lead over Kenston with WRC contests remaining against Willoughby South, Riverside, Brush and Chardon.
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