Lily Cain's late 3-pointer lifts Hoover over Mentor 35-30 in OHSAA Division I sectional opener

MENTOR, Ohio – Hoover senior Lily Cain had knocked down four 3-pointers through three quarters in Monday night’s Division I sectional playoff game against Mentor, but she had not had a clean look for most of the fourth quarter.

That changed with the game tied 30-30 and under two minutes left to play.

Cain had the ball on the left wing and passed off to Lauren Moore, who was between the wing and the corner on the left side. Cain then ran around a screen set by Grace Craig and popped out to the top of the key wide open. Moore got her the ball and the 5-foot-5 guard wasted no time in releasing the shot before the defender could get to her. It dropped through the net with 1:41 left and gave Hoover a 33-30 lead.

“We always run that play and we always run it for me, so I just knew I had to step up and make the shot,” Cain said.

It ended up being the game-winner, as the Vikings hit two free throws in the final seconds and held on for a 35-30 victory.

“No matter how big the moment or how small the moment, (Lily) is the same,” Hoover head coach Jim Gotshall said. “That’s a great trait to have. You don’t get too high, you don’t get too low and you just play and that’s what she did.”

The Vikings were in a position to win the game because they shut down Mentor defensively and didn’t allow a single point for the final 5:55 after Christine Katava had scored to give the Cardinals a 30-26 lead. That basket was the last in a 12-2 Mentor run after Hoover had gone up by six late in the third on a pair of 3s by Cain.

Katava led the Cardinals with 10 points.

But Hoover chipped away with a basket by Moore and tied the game on a pair of free throws by Lauren Rose with 3:35 left to play.

“We played defense like crazy (in the last six minutes),” Gotshall said. “We had a six-point lead and we let it slip away by having some turnovers and missed shots and they capitalized. What I really liked is we didn’t lose our composure when we went back down. We buckled down on defense.”

Cain led all scorers with 15 points, while Craig and Rose each had eight for the Vikings.

After a bus ride that took just over an hour, Hoover was ready to play and the players on the floor fed off the energy from everyone who made the trip.

“Our bench was hype and the people on the floor were hype,” Cain said. “It just brings out the energy and makes us play well on the floor together.”

Hoover, the No. 19 seed in the Northeast super district moves on to play No. 9 Riverside on Thursday, February 16th in the sectional final with the winner moving on to play either No. 5 Walsh Jesuit or No. 25 Mayfield in the district semifinals.

Monday’s game was originally scheduled for Saturday, February 11th, but a scheduling conflict forced the move to Monday. That meant whichever team won would have a shorter time to prepare than the other teams who opened sectional play on Saturday and also that they had a longer time between their last regular season game and the start of the postseason.

“We usually play, have two days of prep and play, so we are right back in the swing of where we were,” Gotshall said. “We had a layoff from (February 4th) until today and I was a little worried about that.”