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Sports

Twinsburg Girls' Basketball Team Rolls to District Title 61-33

Tigers look forward to challenges at regional level

The net-cutting, the medals, the cheers – all are signs of victory, something Twinsburg experienced in a district title setting last season.

While it was great the Tigers successfully defended their Division I district crown with a 61-33 thumping of Shaker Heights at Warrensville Heights High School on Saturday, they know the real road to their ultimate goal is just beginning.

The regionals are next. And if all goes well for the undefeated Tigers (23-0), state. Top scorer Ashley Morrissette, who finished with 20 points, can’t wait.

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“It feels good to be a champion, but we’re not done yet,” Morrissette said. “We still have four more games to go. And this isn’t the only stop on our way to victory.”

Leah Fechko had 13 points and Malina Howard had 12 for the Tigers.

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There’s one potentially big snag, however. While Twinsburg finished second in the Associated Press year-end girls’ basketball poll, Canton McKinley, also undefeated, took the top spot in Division I.

Should Twinsburg advance past Wadsworth, a 75-68 winner over Hudson in Akron District final, they’ll likely face the Bulldogs in the regional final at Canton Memorial Community College on Friday. The Tigers defeated Wadsworth, 61-41, in December.

Twinsburg coach Julie Solis welcomes the challenge should it come the Tigers’ way.

“We have to play a good team in the first round. If we get to that point, we’ll be as well prepared as we possibly can. We believe we are pretty evenly matched with them and we can play with them. We have to get past that first round, first.”

For right now, though, she’s happy to simply celebrate what her kids have accomplished.

“The girls deserve this. They’re a special bunch of kids. … They really deserve this with the hard work they’ve put in, the blood, sweat and the tears. They wanted this and now we can move on and hopefully take it a little further,” Solis said.

Twinsburg lived up to its lofty status, especially in the second quarter where the Tigers took control of the game as they held Shaker Heights (17-5) without a field goal. Shaker Heights gained all of its three points at the free-throw line.

Morrissette, who scored 10 points in the first half, got the Tigers on track with two straight buckets to push their lead to 19-11 at the beginning of the second quarter. Nicole Carman canned a three-pointer and had another bucket to prompt a Shaker Heights’ timeout at 4:49 with the Tigers leading, 24-11.

Shaker Heights coach Mike Coreno’s timeout was of no use as the Tigers continued to pour it on after the brief respite. The Tigers ran off a 9-1 run to end the quarter and effectively the game with a 33-12 halftime lead.

Twinsburg nearly repeated their field-goal shutout in the third quarter as they held the Raiders to one bucket. The Tigers gained their largest lead of the quarter after Morrissette fed Char-dell Dunnigan for a score and a 45-16 lead at 3:26.

Twinsburg’s largest lead of the fourth quarter was at 61-27.

1 2 3 4 Final Twinsburg 15 18 15 13 61 Shaker Heights 9 3 8 13 33

 

Twinsburg

Ashley Morrissette 20

Malina Howard 12

Char-dell Dunnigan 5

Leah Fechko 13

LaShawna Gatewood 2

Katie Fox 2

Nicole Carman 7

Shaker Heights

Shelby Stokes 2

Brianna Gibbs 7

Jordan Peck 11

Danae Rock 1

Chyress Lockhart 12

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