The West Geauga Wolverines have been red hot lately, and they stayed hot Jan. 25 against visiting nonconference foe Mayfield. West G used a tight, 2-3 zone defense to limit the Wildcats to single digits in two quarters, forced 14 turnovers, and knocked down big shots to emerge with a 60-42 victory. The Wolverines improved to 13-4 with their sixth consecutive victory and seventh in their last eight games. Seniors Landon Lear and Colin Whiting combined to score 42 points, matching Mayfield’s output. @WestGAthletics senior Landon Lear (18 points) talks about West Geauga’s 60-42 win over Mayfield pic.twitter.com/Zo8jZ9FEdi — Jay Kron (@TownCenter2) January 25, 2025 “Just continuing what we did yesterday,” said Lear, who finished with a double-double of 18 points and 10 rebounds. “Once we start getting stops and other people start hitting shots, we’re pretty tough to beat.” Lear was referring to the Wolverines’ 82-68 win over Harvey on Jan. 24, and sophomore teammate Cooper Paskowski draining two 3s before halftime that helped West Geauga extend its lead to 32-21 at the break. Mayfield, which is 3-2 over its last five games after a 1-8 start, cut its deficit down to 43-37 to start the fourth quarter on a 3 by Angelo Newman, whose 18 points off the bench led the Wildcats. But West Geauga responded with a 10-0 run that featured back-to-back 3s by Whiting and senior Jason Renner to take a 53-37 lead with 4:17 left to play, and the Wolverines cruised from there. @WestGAthletics senior Colin Whiting (game-high 24 points) breaks down the Wolverines’ 60-42 win over Mayfield pic.twitter.com/ED01LNZwTA — Jay Kron (@TownCenter2) January 25, 2025 “In the first half, me and Landon got whatever we wanted,” said Whiting, who tallied a game-high 24 points. “Our 2-3 was all right. We anticipated some steals and got some fast-break points, and we just played hard today.” West Geauga’s zone seemed to cause some problems for Mayfield as the game progressed, and the Wolverines made the Wildcats pay for every miscue, at either end of the floor. Mayfield scored 13 points in each of the first and third frames and eight in each of the second and fourth. The Wildcats got off to a solid start, taking a 5-0 lead and then held leads of 8-5 and 13-10 after Newman triples, but Lear and Whiting each scored around a turnover to put West G in front after one stanza, 14-13. @WestGAthletics Coach Micah Young discusses West G’s 60-42 win over Mayfield (Part 1) pic.twitter.com/R9GjQYNKGk — Jay Kron (@TownCenter2) January 25, 2025 The Wolverines never relinquished that lead. Paskowski’s consecutive 3s before halftime gave West G some breathing room, and the Wolverines answered Mayfield’s 9-0 run in the second half with a 10-0 run to put the game away. @WestGAthletics Coach Micah Young goes over the Wolverines’ successful season so far and looks ahead to some big games over the next few weeks (Part 2) pic.twitter.com/cUTuXhKRfU — Jay Kron (@TownCenter2) January 25, 2025 “Very pleased with how today went,” West Geauga coach Micah Young said. “Mayfield’s a tough team. They’ve played a lot of good teams, they’re disciplined and they’re well-coached. “Overall, we played well. We moved the ball, and got whatever (shot) we wanted. We were able to string together stops, and when you’re playing good defense you’re going to get good looks on offense, that’s just how it goes. “Everyone that played contributed really good minutes today.” In addition to moving the ball with crisp passing on offense and playing solid defense, the Wolverines seemed comfortable whether the pace was fast or slow, scoring on the break or setting up shots in the half court. “That’s always our message before games,” Young said. “We’ll take advantage of transition opportunities, but if nothing’s there we slow it down.” Mayfield had been playing well of late, including a 62-50 win over Kenston on Jan. 24, but seemed to struggle a bit more than West Geauga playing two nights in a row. @MayfieldSports Coach Will Brand reviews Mayfield’s 60-42 loss to West Geauga pic.twitter.com/3ksmVVGAfc — Jay Kron (@TownCenter2) January 25, 2025 “We came off a game last night, and maybe our emotions got a little too high,” Mayfield coach Will Brand said. “We just have to come and be more consistent. We don’t ride any type of waves. We just have to keep performing and playing hard and try to get better.” West Geauga shot 48% from the field (24 of 50), and outrebounded Mayfield, 29-26, while turning the ball over just nine times in a game where only 11 fouls were called between the two teams, just four on the Wolverines. Mayfield converted just 16 of 50 from the field (16 of 50), and 7 of 28 from outside the arc. The Wildcats will travel to North on Jan. 28. West Geauga hopes to extend its winning streak with a home matchup against Lakeside on Jan. 28, but big contests with Hawken, Crestwood, Perry, and Jefferson follow. “We’re playing good basketball,” Young said. “We were 7-4 (earlier in the season) and had some tough losses, but we learned from those losses. The playoffs are coming up, and we have some tough games with Hawken and Crestwood coming up next week. We’re playing good ball, and I’m looking forward to those games.” THE SCORE West Geauga 60, Mayfield 42