Magnificat High School |
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Grizzlie defense dispatches Streaks from tourney
With the first eight minutes in the books, everything seemed to be going Magnificat’s way. The Blue Streaks had a 10-6 lead over powerhous Wadsworth, and the Grizzlies were struggling to find their shot.
That’s when Wadsworth’s defense took over.
The Grizzlies’ full-court press turned up the heat and held Magnificat scoreless in the second quarter. They turned that defensive effort into an 18-0 run as Wadsworth came away with a 46-27 win in Tuesday night’s Division I regional semifinal at North Royalton High School.
Wadsworth, now 25-2, will take on Toledo Notre Dame Academy in the regional championship game Saturday afternoon in Norwalk. Magnificat bows out of the tournament at 18-8 after reaching the Sweet 16 for a second consecutive season. “Wadsworth is a very talented team,” said Blue Streaks head coach Meghann Hubach...
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CHAMPIONS! Streaks defeat Elyria for district title
Throughout their tournament run, Magnificat had used long scoring runs to put away its opponents early. But there was something different about the Blue Streaks’ Saturday afternoon matchup with Elyria.
Early on, the young Streaks seemed to be facing two opponents: A determined Pioneer team and the jitters.
Fouls, missed layups and turnovers crept into Magnificat’s game, and it seemed like there was no long run to be found as Elyria took a 13-11 first quarter lead.
But as it turned out, that scoring run was there all along. It just didn’t appear until the final five minutes of the game.
With the Pioneers rallying to within three points, the Blue Streaks hit the gas. They went on a 13-4 run to close out a 51-39 win that clinched their second-straight Division I district championship...
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Blue Streaks roll past Eagles, move on to district
Heading into tournament play, Magnificat head coach Meghann Hubach had some concerns about how her young team would handle the rigors of postseason basketball.
If Saturday’s Division I sectional final game with North Olmsted was any indication, most of those concerns were put to rest...at least for one day.
The Blue Streaks began to pull away from Eagles in the second quarter, then blew the game wide open in the third in a convincing 76-36 win at the Elyria Catholic Coliseum. Magnificat ran off 21-straight points in the second half to clinch a spot in this week’s district semifinals.
The No. 1 seeded Streaks will now face Avon, a 45-41 winner over Avon Lake in Saturday’s other sectional title game. That Wednesday night matchup will be the second game of a doubleheader, with Amherst taking on Elyria in the first semifinal at 6 p.m...
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Photos: Streaks top Irish, get ready for tournament
Magnificat concluded its 2012-13 regular season with a 52-42 win over Akron St.Vincent-St. Mary Saturday afternoon at the House of Blues.
Now it’s tournament time.
The Blue Streaks held off a late rally by the Fighting Irish to finish the regular season at 15-7. Sarah Scelza led Magnificat with 22 points, while Claire Martin and Elise Keshock added nine and eight points, respectively.
The Division I Sectional/District Tournament at Elyria Catholic is next for Magnificat. The Blue Streaks, the defending district champions, are the No. 1 seed and will face North Olmsted Saturday at 2:30 p.m. in the second game of a doubleheader.
In the first game, Avon will take on Avon Lake at 1 p.m. The winners of those two Saturday games will play Wed., Feb. 27 in the district semifinals...
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Streaks pull away in second half to defeat Rangers
From the opening tipoff, Lakewood displayed a defensive intensity that kept Magnificat’s potent offense in check for the better part of three quarters.
Ironically, that intensity may have proven to be the visiting Rangers’ undoing.
The Blue Streaks, hinderd by turnovers and rushed shots for the first 20-plus minutes of play, regained their composure late in the third quarter. They found some holes in the Lakewood press and gradually pulled away for a 59-45 win Saturday afternoon at the House of Blues.
Magnificat, now 14-6 on the season, used a 14-1 run to break open a game that had been closely contested throughout. The Blue Streaks...
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Pressure defense powers Streaks past Holy Name
The Magnificat basketball team has always hung its hat on its full-court pressure defense. And even if a team beats the pressure in the back court, the Blue Streaks keep the pressure on in the front court by trapping and cutting off the passing lanes.
It’s a fun style of basketball to watch...unless you’re the opposing team.
Visiting Holy Name got a good dose of that defense Wednesday night. When it was all said and done, the Green Wave coughed up the ball 28 times and shot 25 percent from the floor as the young Blue Streaks ran away with a 55-35 win.
“That was one of our goals, to set the tone and tempo early in the game,” admitted Magnificat head coach Meghann Hubach, whose team forced 10 turnovers in the first quarter alone in taking a quick 15-5 lead. “We were back home with four games left,” Hubach said. “We knew this was an important win to get...
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Video: Magnificat hosts gymnastics competition
The Magnificat gymnastics team hosted a seven-team meet last Thursday, including local rivals Avon and Westlake. Magnificat won the team title with 131.8 points, edging out Medina (126.7) and Olmsted Falls (115.5). Westlake Green was fourth with (113.7) points, followed by Cuyahoga Hts. (113.6), Avon (113.3) and Westlake White (82.4).
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Press ignites Magnificat's 73-30 win over Lorain
During the first five games of the season, Magnificat head coach Meghann Hubach held in the reigns on her young Blue Streaks. Their trademark game-opening, full-court pressure was nowhere to be found, though the team still got off to a solid 4-1 start.
That all changed Wednesday night when Lorain came calling at the Streak’s House of Blues.
Magnificat came out with full baseline-to-baseline pressure from the opening tip. That effort seemed to spark banner nights in the Streaks’ shooting and rebounding as well, with the home team running away with a 73-30 win over the Titans.
Lorain, also sporting a new-look roster, came into the game with a solid 5-1 record. The Titans also had Division I college recruit, 6-3 Alexandria Harris, back for her senior year. But less than three minutes into the second quarter, the Streaks had already built a 20-point lead, 26-6, and were showing no signs of slowing...
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Blue Streaks start tourney trail with win over Falls
Getting off to a good start in tournament play is a big step for any high school team, regardless of seeding, field conditions or opponent.
Magnificat, the top seed in the Rocky River Division I district field, delt with all of that Thursday night. The Blue Streaks fought off an early challenge from visiting Olmsted Falls and rolled to a 7-1 win in a sectional final at cold and windy Rocky River Stadium.
“I thought tonight the first half was a well-contested game,” said Magnificat head coach John Fenix, whose team outshot the Bulldogs 23-4 on the night.
“They came after us and had a great solo-effort goal. We obviously have the...
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Big second half powers Blue Streaks past Blazers
Magnificat head coach John Fenix was less than happy with his team’s first-half performance against visiting Hathaway Brown. But by the end of the contest, he managed to break out into a smile or two.
The state-ranked Blue Streaks, executing the corner kick to near perfection during an eight-minute span in the second half, broke open a close game and rolled to a 6-0 win over the Blazers at chilly Rocky River Stadium Monday night.
With the win, Magnificat boosted it’s record to 8-0-1 on the season, the only blemish...
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Duggan's goal helps keep Blue Streaks unbeaten
After a scoreless first half, it seemed like either Magnificat or visiting Springboro would need some sort of picture-perfect play to coax the ball into the back of the net.
On a picture-perfect weather day in Rocky River, such a goal was delivered off the foot of Blue Streak sophomore Sydney Duggan.
Duggan’s shot from the far left side sailed over Springboro keeper Emily Moreland’s outstretched arms and into the net for the only goal of the game, giving Magnificat the hard-fought 1-0 win. It also allowed the Blue Streaks to remain undefeated on the sason at 6-0.
“What a great goal,” said Magnificat...
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Blue Streaks fight off Padua for tournament title
The Magnificat volleyball team found itself in a very unusual position heading into Saturday’s annual Magnificat Showcase Tournament.
The Blue Streaks came into the tournament winless at 0-3 after losses to Notre Dame Academy, Kenston and Beaumont. But they broke their losing streak with a 25-11, 25-14 win over Brecksville in Saturday’s first round, then defeated Holy Name and Padua to claim the Showcase title and even their record at 3-3.
“We were really focused on playing at home...
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Blue Streaks strike early, prevail 2-0 over Demons
In a battle of unbeatens, Magnificat drew first blood in Thursday night’s matchup with Westlake at Rocky River Stadium.
With both teams playing lock-down defense, it was the only goal the Blue Streaks would need.
Junior Natalie Coury took advantage of Anne Ubbing’s hustle play in the seventh minute to score to only goal of the night against the Demons’ staunch defense. The Blue Streaks added a penalty kick goal late in the second half to come away with a 2-0 decision and remain undefeated.
Magnificat, now 4-0, made it two big wins in as many nights. The Streaks earned a hard-fought 3-1 win at North Royalton Wednesday night before facing their longtime Westshore neighborhood rivals...
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Tennis: Streaks, Demons open season with wins
Magnificat and Westlake, two of the top girls tennis programs in the Westshore area, got their respective 2012 seasons off on the right foot this week.
Westlake, the three-time defending Southwestern Conference champ, opened defense of its crown with a convincing 5-0 win over Olmsted Falls. Magnificat had a tougher go of things Monday, but came away with a 3-2 win over Avon, the defending West Shore Conference champion.
Magnificat took the first and second singles matches, then came away with...
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PR Watch: Bierut, River girls get off to strong start
It has been a solid start to the 2012 track and field season for the Rocky River girls squad.
The Pirates have faced tough competition the past two weeks, running in the Miele Invitational and the Comet Relays. They finished third in the Miele behind Medina and Chardon, then took fourth at Amherst behind Brunswick, Medina and Mentor.
At Miele, River senior Elyse Beirut set a new meet record in the 3200 with her time of 10:51.57. That eclipsed the old time of 10:59.38 set by Magnificat’s Abby Fischer...
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Video: Mags vs Hawken women's lacrosse
The Magnificat Blue Streaks hosted the women from Hawken for a varsity lacrosse match at Tri-City Park.
Larry got some first half photo and video action.
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DI Girls: Fourth quarter drought dooms Magnificat
The first six minutes of the fourth quarter probably seemed like six hours of total frustration to the Magnificat basketball team.
After scoring six unanswered points to take a 36-33 lead, the Blue Streaks had a massive power outage offensively to start the final quarter. Wadsworth took advantage, going on a 15-0 run on its way to a 54-42 win in a Division I regional semifinal Tuesday night at Strongsville.
“We had worked so hard to get that lead,” said Magnificat head coach Meghann Hubach, whose team misfired on its first 12 shot attempts of the fourth quarter. “Our first half was good. They ended on a run, but we always know...
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DI Girls: Magnificat tops Westlake for district title
It had been 10 years since the Magnificat basketball program had won a district championship. The last time was back in 2002, and the Blue Streaks made it all the way to state final four that season.
In their efforts to get back to the Sweet 16, the third time proved to be the charm for the Streaks.
Magnificat broke open a close game with a 9-0 run to start the fourth quarter and defeated Westlake, 64-53, for a Division I district championship Saturday at Elyria Catholic. The Blue Streaks advanced to the Norwalk regional tournament and will take on Wadsworth Tuesday night at Strongsville High School.
The past two seasons, Magnificat had been stopped short of a Parma district title by Midpark. The move out to the new Elyria district brought a new challenge...
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DI Girls: Magnificat tops Shoregals, Demons await
In their first two games of the Division I tournament, the Avon Lake Shoregals had rallied to pull off narrow wins against Elyria and Avon.
Facing top-seeded Magnificat proved to be another story.
The Blue Streaks jumped out to an 11-0 lead and never looked back on their way to a convincing 64-30 win over the Shoregals Wednesday night in a district semifinal game at Elyria Catholic.
“Magnificat is a good team. We came out and played a little bit better in the second half, but we just didn’t handle the ball well,” said Avon Lake head coach Dave Zvara, as his team turned the ball over 29 times...
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DI Girls: 3-point barrage helps Streaks top Eagles
For at least one day, Magnificat’s nickname should have been changed from Blue Streaks to Blue Bombers.
No team would agree more than North Olmsted.
The top-seeded Blue Streaks hit the Eagles with a barrage of 3-pointers to build an early lead and cruise to a 59-26 win Saturday afternoon in a Division I sectional tournament final at the Elyria Catholic Coliseum. Magnificat hit nine treys in the game, with four of them coming in the first quarter.
Magnificat, now 17-4, advances to this week’s district semifinals. The Blue Streaks will take on Avon Lake, a 51-49 winner over fourth-seeded Avon...
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Blue Streaks weather the storm, top River 60-43
Well into the third quarter, Saturday night’s game between Magnificat and Rocky River was living up to expectations. The two teams, each loaded with talent and championship pedigree, were matching each other basket for basket, rebound for rebound.
Something had to give. It did.
A nasty collision between the Blue Streaks’ Stephanie Haas and Pirate point guard Allyson Helleis knocked both players temporarily out of the game. Shortly thereafter...
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Turnovers prove costly as Streaks fall to Comets
With the score 29-29 at halftime, Tuesday night’s basketball game between Magnificat and Solon looked like it was destined to go down to the wire.
The first 1:27 of the third quarter changed that theory.
The visiting Comets scored eight unanswered points, then extended their lead from there. The end result was a 59-54 win over the Blue Streaks in an action-packed contest at the House of Blues...
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Streaks shake off slow start, tame Cougars 65-54
After a 10-day layoff, the Magnificat basketball team looked a little sluggish in the first quarter Wednesday night against Lake Catholic.
As it turns out, the Blue Streaks were just warming up.
Magnificat, behind a 10-point second quarter from Stephanie Haas, took an early 15-5 deficit and turned it into a 65-54 win over the Cougars to move to 3-2 on the season.
Wednesday night marked the Blue Streaks\' first game since a hard-fought win at Norton. It was also the their first home game...
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Video: Magnificat hosts gymnastics competition
The Magnificat gymnastics team hosted a seven-team meet last Thursday, including local rivals Rocky River and Westlake. Hudson won the team title with 126.65 points, edging out Medina (1220 and Brunswick (121.25). Magnificat was fourth with 119.8 points, followed by Westlake (102.3), Midpark (92.45) and Rocky River (33.3).
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Maryo's shooting helps Meteors top Blue Streaks
In three of the last four post seasons, Magnificat and Midpark have squared off in Division I district tournament play.
There was no need to wait for tournament play this time around.
The two area basketball powers opened the season last Friday night in the opening round of the Great Lakes Classic at Midpark High School. With a packed house watching on, the host Meteors got a third-quarter spark from Korie Maryo...
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Young Blue Streak harriers finish sixth at state
For three years in a row, the Magnificat cross country team was Ohio’s best. The three Division I championship trophies in the school’s trophy case serve as a constant reminder of that accomplishment.
With many of program’s top runners gone via graduation, the chance for a fourth title seemed slim. Only senior Abbie Marquard and junior Katie Kerr remained from last year’s squad...
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Top-ranked Arrows end Blue Streaks' state hopes
Throughout the 2011 season, Toledo St. Ursula Academy breezed through its regular season at 22-0 and was the top-ranked Division I team in the Ohio Volleyball Coaches Asociation poll.
In those 22 wins, only five teams were able to push the Arrows to a fourth game. One of those was the fifth-ranked Magnificat Blue Streaks.
The Blue Streaks had a chance to do it again Saturday in the Norwalk Division I Regional championship match. But SUA erased a five-point deficit late in the second set...
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Streaks top Bears for 25th straight district crown
Thursday night at Strongsville, North Royalton came into the Division I district title match determined to stop Magnificat\'s streak of 24-straight championships.
Behind the 6-3 Sara Schwarzwalder, the Bears looked ready to achieve their goal. But the Blue Streaks would not be denied and came away with a 25-16, 23-25, 25-23, 25-16 win to make it 25 district crowns in a row.
\"It doesn\'t get old, but it gets harder,\" said Magnificat head coach Mike Cannon...
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Streaks ready for Bears after win over Mustangs
At tournament time, playing a volleyball team on its home court is always a concern. Magnificat head coach Mike Cannon had such concerns heading into his team’s Division I district semifinal match with Strongsville.
But on Tuesday night, the Blue Steaks put those concerns to rest in convincing fashion.
Magnificat, with its offense clicking on all cylinders, put the host Mustangs back on their collective heels from the start...
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Nageotte third, Streaks sixth at state tournament
After a productive first day on the course, the Magnificat golf team found itself within nine strokes of leader Dublin Jerome at the 2011 OHSAA State Girls Golf Championship.
But despite a second-day round of 75 from sophomore Ali Nageotte, the Blue Streaks couldn’t keep up with Jerome’s 307 and Highland’s 309. They settled for sixth place in Division I, carding a 332 on the day and a 661 overall on the Gray Course at Ohio State University.
Nageotte finished with the third-best score overall with a 149 behind freshman Danielle Nicholson of Geneva...
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Shoregals start fast, eliminate Westlake in three
During the regular season, the Westlake volleyball team had been able to give state-ranked Avon Lake all it could handle during its two Southwestern Conference matches.
Thursday night was a different story.
The Shoregals, after getting pushed to the brink by North Olmsted on Monday, came out determined and took care of the Demons 25-17, 25-17, 25-20 in a Division I sectional championship match...
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Blue Streaks fall to Cougars to end regular season
Year after year, the Magnificat volleyball program puts together the toughest regular season schedule possible. The Blue Streaks annually run the gauntlet of perennial state powerhouses in preparation for the state tournament.
Magnificat’s grueling regular season came to an end Thursday night in a four-set loss to Lake Catholic. The defending Division II state champions left the House on Hilliard with a 25-23, 27-25, 13-25, 25-18 decision.
That match came just two days after the Blue Streaks’...
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Volleyball: Streaks fall in Toledo; Bay tops Sailors
The Magnificat Road Warriors, better known as the Blue Streaks, haven’t seen much of Cuyahoga County the past few days.
Last weekend, the team traveled to Cincinnati to take part in the two-day Mother of Mercy Fall Classic. The Streaks went 3-1, then had a short stay at home before hitting the road to Toledo to take on St. Ursula Academy Tuesday night.
St. Ursula just happened to be the No. 1 ranked Division I team in Ohio, unbeaten at 13-0...
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Depth, versatility power state ranked Blue Streaks
At the beginning of the season, Magnificat tennis head coach Chris Johnson felt his team’s overall depth would go a long way in determining its success.
Has it ever.
Coming into Thursday’s big home match with Westlake, the Blue Streaks are 12-2 and ranked fifth in Division I in the Ohio Tennis Coaches Association poll. Last week, the Blue Streaks rolled...
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Demon defense helps turn away Magnificat, 3-0
As it turned out, the tone was set in the early moments of Westlake’s battle with arch rival Magnificat.
Late in the first minute of Saturday’s girls soccer matchup, Blue Streak forward Shannon Fulton ripped a shot that was headed for the upper part of the goal. Westlake keeper Alexis Carpenter, however, made a leaping save, deflecting the ball off the crossbar.
That was one of the few scoring opportunities Magnificat would have the entire game...
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Expectations remain high for Blue Streak golfers
Heading into the 2011 season, the Magnificat golf team had some high expectations despite having just one senior on the squad.
So far, so good, according to first year head coach Katie Kahler.
“I’d say we’re living up to those expectations to this point,” said Kahler after her team defeated Strongsville, 164-171 Tuesday afternoon at Sweetbriar.
“We’ve got one senior, three sophomores and two freshmen on the squad right now...
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Defense to bolster Blue Streaks' 2011 season
Year after year, the Magnificat volleyball program has been known for its talent along the net.
And while that probably won’t change during the upcoming 2011 season, it’s the Blue Streaks’ defense that has head coach Mike Cannon excited.
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