Kali Deighan Leads Mentor High Girls Basketball Team to Comeback Win over Mayfield

The girls' basketball team was on the ropes against Mayfield Thursday and needed to find itself.

Or perhaps, more importantly, it needed to find its leader.

Mentor senior guard Kali Deighan had been quiet for most of the Division I District semifinal game at Perry High School, but when her team needed her deep in the fourth quarter, she came through with the winning plays to get them one step closer to a district title.

Deighan scored seven of Mentor’s final 10 points, including a crucial game-tying 3-pointer, to lead the Cardinals to a 41-39 come-from-behind victory over Mayfield and advance to the district final. Mentor will face Brush, a 45-37 winner over the Cardinals’ Lake Erie League rival Cleveland Heights.

Mentor (10-13) trailed Mayfield (11-11) for nearly three and a half quarters, but Mentor coach Steve Thompson knew who he could count on at the end of the game if it stayed close.

“It’s Kali’s team,” Mentor coach Steve Thompson said. “Kali did exactly what we counted on her to do all year. She’s hit a couple game-winning threes for us this year that have kind of gone unnoticed. At the end of the game, she hit a three, she hit that runner on the baseline.  And you saw who we wanted shooting free throws. She’s an 88 percent free-throw shooter and a 42 percent three-point shooter.”

Almost all of Deighan’s scoring came late in the game as she finished with just 12 points, but the Cardinals are certainly glad to have had them.

“I struggled in the first half a little bit, but my teammates were giving me confidence. I just came out in the second half and tried to make some baskets,” Deighan said. “They told me to keep shooting, and I did. And with the free throws at the end, we needed to make those.”

Heading into the district semifinals, fourth-seeded Mentor (10-13) defeated Chardon, 70-57, in its sectional opener and then defeated Willoughby South, 63-22.

Second-seeded Mayfield (11-11) had a first-round bye and then knocked off East Cleveland Shaw, 72-43, to reach the semifinal. The Wildcats, a member of the Northeast Ohio Conference, were on a three-game losing streak before defeating Shaw.

For a while, it looked like the Wildcats' fortunes were going to change completely.

Mayfield held a 29-20 lead at 3:40 of the third quarter, but Mentor tied Mayfield, 31-31, with an 11-2 run as Deighan canned a 3-pointer to tie the contest at 5:40 of the fourth quarter.

Mentor’s Molly Owens drilled a 3-pointer to give Mentor the lead 34-31 at 5:11, but Mayfield’s Shannon Zajec responded immediately with a 3-pointer to tie. Alexis Anderson hit a pair of free throws to give Mayfield the lead, 37-36, at 3:58.

But Deighan came through again with a baseline drive for a score to give Mentor the lead for good at 3:15. Deighan made 3 of 4 free throws down the stretch to close out the game.

With both teams playing a deliberate slow-down style, scoring was scarce in the first quarter. Rubino emerged as the Wildcats’ catalyst, scoring eight of their 13 points. At the end of the quarter, Rubino drove to the basket and absorbed a hard foul that sent her to the line with 5.7 seconds left. Rubino sank two free throws which allowed Mayfield to build a small cushion, 13-5, at quarter’s end.

Mayfield never held more than a five-point lead in the second quarter.  The Wildcats had a perfect opportunity to finally break the spell with a minute remaining in the half and leading, 19-14. Anderson gathered in a pass under the basket for what seemed like an easy two-point layup, but her shot slammed into the bottom of the backboard. Moments later, Mentor’s Lauren Stefancin netted a 3-pointer to close the half’s scoring at 19-17.

Mentor   8  9 9 15 41

Mayfield 13 6 11 9 39

Mentor:  Kelly Dawson 4, Kali Deighan 12 , Christy Cunningham 5, Courtney Schutz 7, Lauren Stefancin 7, Molly Owens 3, Lauren Funk 3.

Mayfield: Halle Rubino 15, Jacquee Herron 12, Shannon Zajec 8, Alexis Anderson 4.

In other high school girls basketball news, beat Notre Dame-Cathedral Latin 66-33 and will play Kenston Satuday in the district final.