A season ago, the Copley girls basketball team had it all.
Height, experience, a championship coach and the drive to win it all.
The team was incredible, finishing 23-2 and running the table in the Suburban League American Conference.
There was just one problem.
Copley lost to eventual state runner-up Northwest in a 51-47 district final at Lake High School .
Lofty dreams, goals and expectations fell in one night.
"You can always take your experiences and learn from them," Copley coach Julie Solis said. "There was a lot of them hurt in that district final game after the way it ended. That was only their second loss of the season. It's something they'll always remember."
They're making everyone forget this season thanks to a 6-0 start. The squad is averaging 64.2 points per game and beating teams by an average of 30 points.
Starters Izzy Callaway , Evelyn McKnight and Kami Ayoup are back from last season. Angelique Lane, Zoey Van Voorhis and Emily Kerekes return as well.
What has happened as the one third of the season nears is a cohesive team is used to its second-year coach and used to each other.
"I think last year taught us that no matter what everyone thinks of you, things can always change," Callaway said. "Every single detail matters in every game. You have to do everything the right way. You have to do everything the way coach wants to do it. That's what it comes down to. That's what matters in the end. We all know what coach expects this year and that starts with defense and locking into that."
Callaway wasn't kidding when she said Solis is a defense-first coach.
It won her state titles at Twinsburg (2011 and 2012). She finished second with the Tigers in 2013 and was second with Solon in 2006.
Offensively, it starts with Callaway (15.7 points per game) and continues with Audrey Parker (8.2), McKnight (8.0), Ayoup (6.8), Van Voorhis (6.0) and Kerekes (5.5).
Add 6.0 assists per game from McKnight and 7.1 rebounds from Ayoup and there's enough buckets and boards to go around for Copley to concentrate on the other side of the ball.
"Last year, we knew we could go harder," McKnight said. "We have higher goals. It motivates us to get to the point where we want to be. We all have kind of been with (Solis), so we know how she wants us to play. We play more as a team because we know how to work with each other."
That showed in a 73-20 win over Barberton on Wednesday.
Callaway scored 21, but Van Voorhis (16), Kerekes (13) and Parker (11) also got theirs.
Copley nearly doubled up the Magics on rebounds and Ayoup, Parker, McKnight and Lane had six or more rebounds.
The squad dished out 22 assists on 28 of its field goals and finished with 10 three-pointers.
"Your first year as a coach in a program you get them to do the things you want them to do a little bit," Solis said. "But they perfect it in that second year. They get so much better the second year.
"That's what I think it truly is, just the repetition of learning the system. Everything is better because they walk in comfortable. They've done it all, so they're ready."
Contact Brad Bournival at bbournival@gannett.com and follow him on Twitter at @bbournival
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: OHSAA girls basketball: Coach Julie Solis has Copley rolling again
