Lake exacts revenge on Jackson with Federal League girls basketball win

Serenitee Johnson scored a game-high 19 points for the Blue Streaks in the win

UNIONTOWN, Ohio - The Lake girls basketball team had been waiting nearly six weeks for Wednesday night. And when the night finally came, the Blue Streaks delivered with a 47-37 win over Jackson to avenge an earlier loss and knot up the Federal League standings.

"This has been circled on my entire staff's calendar," Lake head coach Ashley Komo said after the win.

The reason it had been so important for the Blue Streaks is because back on Dec. 16, Jackson handed Lake its only loss of the season, a 47-40 setback at Jackson. But that game served as motivation for Lake, who moved to 14-1 overall on the season and 8-1 in the Federal League with Wednesday's victory.

"In a way, that first loss was maybe good for us," Komo said. "It gave us that extra kick in the butt that hey, we're not as good as we think. And just pushed us to really motivate us to step our game up and prepare for next time."

Lake looked prepared right from the start on Wednesday night, jumping out to a 9-3 lead after the first quarter and then leading 25-16 at the half.

Even when Jackson started to make a run in the third quarter and cut the deficit to just three points after a 3-pointer by Madison Lepley, Lake answered with a quick 7-0 run to get the lead back out to 10. 

The play that capped the run was one of the best passes of the season, as senior Serenitee Johnson got the ball on the defensive end, dribbled to just before mid-court and delivered a left-handed 25-foot bounce pass between two defenders and right to the hands of Hayden Croyle for a layup for two of Croyle's 10 points in the game.

An incredible bounce pass by @serenitee_15 for @Streaks_GBB that turns into a layup for Hayden Croyle. pic.twitter.com/Te67BoPIIh

— Ryan (@Isley23) January 25, 2024

"I saw Hayden sprinting the floor and I was like 'she's got this,'" Johnson said. "She's so much better with the left hand and she was going down the left lane so I made a bounce pass and she made it."

Jackson still wouldn't go away, scoring the final six points of the third quarter to trail by just four going into the final eight minutes. 

But Johnson scored on a putback and then a layup to stretch the lead to eight and after another 3-pointer by Lepley, the senior scored again to keep Jackson at bay. The Polar Bears got to within five twice more in the fourth, but couldn't get any closer.

Lake girls basketball players celebrate a win over Jackson on January 24, 2024. Photo credit: Ryan Isley, SBLive Sports  / Ryan Isley, SBLive Sports

The ability to fight off Jackson's runs came from the motivation Komo got after watching a video of University of Iowa superstar Caitlin Clark about forgetting the mistakes you make during the game.

"One thing we've been talking about all year but we really emphasized today was having a short memory," Komo said. "You're gonna make a mistake. And I just saw something on (social media), it was actually a Caitlin Clark video. Your mistake lasts two seconds. The game is 32 minutes. So you can't let that two second mistake affect the 32 minutes. And that's what we talked about tonight. You're going to have mistakes, they're going to make runs. They're going to do things but you've got to have that short memory and move on and I think we were able to do that."

It also helped for Lake to have a full compliment of starters for this game, as senior guard Savanna Horning missed the earlier contest between the two teams but played on Wednesday, scoring six points and running the offense. 

"What we learned last time was how important every person is, every role is and we got a little knocked off balance last time we played and it definitely showed a difference," Komo said. "And so the girls have come together as a team. It's really been amazing this year to watch. We have so many different personalities, but they've come together on the basketball court to do some really amazing things."

It was also beneficial for the Blue Streaks to have Johnson on the floor for the entire game after she was saddled with foul trouble throughout that entire December matchup. On Wednesday, she scored a game-high 19 points while also using her length and quickness on the defensive end and picked up just two fouls in the game.

"She played phenomenal defense tonight," Komo said. "Being able to keep her on the floor, it draws defenses out on her which opens up things for our other girls too. Without her on the floor, we are easier to guard."

Senior Meg Campbell led Jackson with 14 points, and she knocked down three 3-pointers. 

The game means Lake and Jackson are now tied in the loss column at the top of the Federal League with one each, with Lake having three more games to play (at Green, at Hoover and home to GlenOak) and Jackson just two (at GlenOak and home to Perry).

The game against Green for Lake comes up on Saturday, and Komo knows the Blue Streaks can't have a letdown. Thankfully for her, it's another game her girls have been waiting for so they will be ready, not only because of how the games last year went, but also because of the ties between multiple players on the two teams within the Ohio Xtreme AAU program.

"What's great is Green is probably one of those ones that the girls have had circled on their calendar," Komo said. "We've had two bitter rivalries with them last year. The motivation for Green is more just in being able to play them. We have girls that play for Xtreme and are involved with (Green head coach) Alicia (Manning). So they self-motivate for that. Hopefully we can celebrate tonight and then tomorrow, get back in the gym and get to work."

Ryan Isley | ryan@scorebooklive.com | @sbliveoh