Final Home Game Successful for Twinsburg

It was a memorable night for seniors Katie Fox and Nicole Carman, along with the rest of the Twinsburg Tigers.

Senior Night was a night to reflect on what the two Lady Tigers had accomplished during their high school careers. Twinsburg's pre-game presentation featured personal letters from the parents of the two seniors and a 10-minute tribute video, along with posters and various decorations throughout the bleachers. The student section featured posters that read "Fox 4 President" and "SENIORS," and members of the boys' basketball team were in attendance to support their female counterparts.

"We wanted to make it special for them because they deserve it," said Twinsburg head coach Julie Solis.

Once the ceremony ended, it was time for the Tigers to play basketball. The Solon Comets were the only team standing in the Tigers' way of a perfect regular season.

Twinsburg jumped out to a 12-0 lead before the Comets knew what happened, thanks in part to Solon's nine first-quarter turnovers. Guard Ashley Morrissette scored seven points in the first quarter, and center Malina Howard added six to the scoring effort in the first quarter. Fox scored four of her seven points in the first quarter to give the Tigers a 19-6 lead at the end of the first.

"I was just worried about getting past the emotions," said Solis. "These two kids mean a lot to their teammates."

Morrissette and Howard kept up the scoring in the second quarter and accounted for 11 of the Tigers' 13 second-quarter points. Solon turned the ball over 16 times in the first half, and Twinsburg entered halftime with a 32-12 advantage. 

"It kind of felt like once it [emotion] was out, it was time to get back to business and  to warm up," said Fox. "I think we transitioned pretty well from being emotional to playing."

Solon started the second half with a higher level of intensity, thanks to forward Jamie Gluesing's five quick points. Twinsburg responded with an equal amount of energy and outscored the Comets 18-13 in the third. Howard scored eight points in the third quarter, and Morrissette canned two 3-pointers to push the Tigers way out in front, and by then it was official: the rout was on.

Much of the fourth quarter became garbage time, as the Tigers emptied their bench with victory in hand. Howard added another six points before exiting the game midway through the fourth, and finished with 26 total points. Both Fox and Carmen left their home court for the final time with 2:06 remaining in the game.

The two seniors shed light on what they will miss about Twinsburg basketball following the victory.

"Our team chemistry, being able to hang out with teammates whenever we felt like it, team dinners ... girls' basketball, in general," said Carman.

"I'll miss my teammates the most and my coaches ... they're my best friends," said Fox.

The two seniors also shared their favorite on-court memory, which came against Brush last season.

"Beating Brush last year in the regional finals," said Fox. "Malina [Howard] hit a bucket with 1.2 seconds left to put us up by two."

"I've never seen people get so loud," said Carman.

Twinsburg finished the regular season with a perfect record of 20-0. The top-seeded Tigers will play on February 24 versus the winner of the John Adams/Bedford sectional match-up. Both the seniors and Solis were asked about what the team must improve on in order to be successful in the tournament. 

"Efficiency on defense, hustling all the time," said Fox. "Take it one game at a time."

"I feel like I say this all the time but taking care of the basketball is huge," said Solis. "It's all about decision-making."

"They've worked really hard to get here."