New London girls defend home court in Firelands clash with Mapleton

Key Highlights

• "I think I was just so determined to win that I gave all my effort on the floor.
• The whole team gave all their effort today and we couldn’t have asked for more."New London's Raeann Mitchell passes inside to a teammate under the hoop. She scored just twice in the game for five points, but no bucket was bigger than her corner 3 late in the fourth to effectively seal the win for the Wildcats. AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisement"I was relieved after hitting that shot, it gave us the boost that we needed to finish the game," Mitchell said. And it led to her dad, coach Eric Mitchell, giving classmate Pailee Wilson — whose 3-point attempt on the previous possession was off the mark — a hard time in the locker room."I joked with Pailee afterwards because I want my girls to shoot it, and she's not afraid to shoot," coach Mithcell said.
• "But when she shot hers I was like — I don't know if we wanted that one — but she said I tell them to shoot, which I do.
• But Raeann's 3 there at the end was so big for us, and Pailee to knock down free throws late to seal it put a stamp on it."These girls have been in these situations before and to step up in these moments, they live for this.
• It's fun to be the guy on the sideline that tried to put them in a position to go out there and get it done."AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementAnd having played teams like Huron, Colonel Crawford, Norwalk, Wynford, and Margaretta to open the season helped prepare New London for games just like this."We knew it was gonna be a slugfest, that's one hell of a team and Matt (Hess) does a great job with a good group of girls," coach Mitchell said.