Sports

Fairmont's A Mystery, But Tigers Ready to Seize Championship Tonight

Led by Junior Standout Malina Howard and Coach Julie Solis, the Twinsburg Tigers could win their first ever state championship tonight

Kettering Fairmont is a mystery to Julie Solis, the one team in the Division I Final Four the Twinsburg Coach knows the least about.

The Lady Tigers (26-0) will have ample opportunity to size up Fairmont, and the Firebirds (26-1) will return the favor.

After tonight’s state championship game, one team will return home wondering what could have been. The other will return home a champion.

Find out what's happening in Twinsburgwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Solis and her team, led by standout Malina Howard, know what side they want to be on. The “No Regrets Seven” wristbands they have worn during pregame warm-ups during the playoffs tells the story.

“All we wanted to do was go seven more games to get to the state championship,” Howard said.

Find out what's happening in Twinsburgwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

And now Twinsburg is there, on the verge of the team's first girls basketball state title. over Pickerington North in the semi-finals Friday puts the .

“Now I guess we can have one sigh of relief, a little sigh of relief, that we’re here,” Solis said. “Now we just need to go out and finish.”

Fairmont is an incredibly young team for a state finalist. The Firebirds only have one senior and the rest of the players are sophomores and freshmen.

Fairmont is led by two bigs -- Center Makayla Waterman and Power Forward Kathryn Westbeld -- and Chelsea Welch on the point. Shooting Guard Kelly Hart brings the senior leadership.

And while Solis might not know much about Fairmont, she saw enough Friday to know they are a serious threat to Twinsburg’s title hopes.

She said they have a great coach in Tim Cogan, and are a team with lots of confidence.

“I know what I saw tonight was great poise out of freshman and sophomores, and some very talented inside kids and some shooters on the outside,” Solis said. “We’ll have the kids ready but I was very impressed with their poise and their coach.”

But Twinsburg’s players aren’t to be underestimated. The second ranked team in the state all year behind Canton McKinley – who the Tigers beat to make the Final Four – has played loose all season and into the playoffs.

“Their confidence is what has taken them there,” Solis said.

Howard, a junior who is being recruited by big-time college programs, is Twinsburg’s obvious threat as a scorer, rebounder and shot blocker. Her sidekick is Ashley Morrissette, a sophomore guard scoring 12 points per game this year.

Katie Fox and Nicole Carman bring their senior leadership to the court.

But all eyes will be on Howard under the bright light’s of the state’s biggest stage.

“Malina will be ready,” Solis said. “She’s a strong young lady, she’s worked hard to get to this point. She really wants to get this for her seniors as well as herself.”

Twinsburg tips against Fairmont at 8:30 p.m. tonight at Value City Arena in Columbus.

If you can’t make it to the game, Twinsburg Patch will have full coverage of the game, including live updates as the game progresses. You can also follow us on Twitter to keep up with the action.


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

More from Twinsburg