Staff photo / Preston Byers Chaney’s JaNiyah Eiland (5) contests a shot by East’s Yelian Seda during the Cowgirls’ 55-46 win Wednesday in Youngstown.

YOUNGSTOWN — The Chaney girls basketball team rebounded from a rough start to Wednesday’s City Series matchup vs. East to defeat the Golden Bears 55-46 on East’s home floor.

“It’s bittersweet,” Chaney head coach Dwight Berry said. “I’m a 1988 graduate of East High School, so this is my alma mater, but good win for us. We still got a lot to work on. This team has to grow up, but good win for us.”

The Cowgirls fell behind 10-2 in the first few minutes of the game before a basket by JaNiyah Eiland kickstarted an 11-0 run that extended into the final minute of the opening quarter. While East scored before the end of the period, Chaney took a 14-13 lead into the second quarter.

East coach Tanisha Franklin said the proverbial tide turned against her team in the first quarter, in part, because of the officiating.

“I think that the way the game was being called [changed], to an extent,” Franklin said. “The fouls that were being called kind of helped with the transition of the game, and also, [Chaney] got going. Alyssa [Brown] got going, and of course, once your leader was going, it kind of rallies the rest of the team, and the rest of the team got going.”

East, much like it had done in the first quarter, controlled the action early in the second, scoring three of the first four field goals to reclaim a two-point lead. However, Chaney again strung together baskets and stops on the other end to finish the half on a 6-1 run and lead by three at halftime.

The second half proved to be mostly Chaney’s; the Cowgirls outscored the Bears 32-24 over the final 16 minutes and maintained a multiple-possession lead for most of the half. Eiland, Alexandria Pete and Simone Lewis each scored four points in the third quarter, while Lewis and Brown added five and six points, respectively, in the final frame. Lewis led Chaney with 14 points.

For East, effective offense was a struggle at times, in large part due to Chaney’s defensive game plan of denying Alyssa Crankfield, the Bears’ top scorer, from getting the ball.

“She’s the one that we run our offense around, so I wasn’t surprised that they put that box-and-one on her. She was still able to score for us, but it definitely slowed her down a little bit for sure,” Franklin said.

Berry confirmed that his team’s focus on defense was to prevent Crankfield from scoring, particularly from outside.

“She’s a good player. I’ve enjoyed watching her these last three years. She’s a really good player. I hope some school around this area gives her a free ride to school. She’s a good, young lady,” Berry said of Crankfield.

Despite the extra attention, Crankfield scored a game-high 24 points, which included four 3-pointers.

Both coaches indicated that they tried to calm their teams down during the course of the game, which featured numerous fouls and even more turnovers.

“The big rivalry, wanting to beat East, we get excited and then we lose ourselves. So we have to calm down, take a deep breath, get focused and then push forward,” Berry said.

Similarly, Franklin said the rivalry affects the players.

“We’re the only two schools that’s left representing the City Series conference,” Franklin said. “So whenever us two – even though we’re in the Steel Valley Conference – East and Chaney are the only two schools that are left that represent the city. So whenever we’re competing against each other, I don’t care if it’s in walking, you’re going to compete against them.”

Both teams expect to continue to knock off the holiday rust over the next few weeks. Wednesday’s game vs. East was Chaney’s first outing since beating Champion on Dec. 30 and only the second game in nearly three weeks. Likewise, East has only played three games since Dec. 20.

East (7-4) plays the first of three straight away games on Monday when the Bears visit Cardinal Mooney. Chaney (8-2) hosts Canton South on Saturday.