Twinsburg Girls Preparing for Another Showdown

When the Twinsburg girls' basketball team takes on nationally-ranked M.X. Shabazz tonight, it will be yet another huge matchup in a season filled with challenges.

Shabazz, the New Jersey Group 2 defending state champion, is ranked 15th in the nation by ESPN. Twinsburg, ranked 23rd, is coming off a palpitating 71-70 win at Detroit Country Day last week, knocking off Michigan's top-ranked team on a buzzer-beating three-pointer by Ashley Morrissette.

The Lady Tigers are the host team for the inagural Fight or Flight Invitational both Tuesday and today. Twinsburg plays Shabazz at 8:15 tonight in what should be the premier game of the two-day tournament.

"With our schedule we aren't going to be playing in a lot of blowouts," said Lady Tiger head coach Julie Solis, whose team takes a six-game winning streak into tonight's showdown. "We want to play in close games and learn from them. Our players get motivated for big games. Ultimately, it's all about the post-season."

The win over Country Day was particularly impressive as Twinsburg built a 15-point lead only to fall behind by four points with 20 seconds left to play. It took a basket by All-American and Maryland recruit Malina Howard and Morrissette's dramatic three-pointer to secure the huge road win. Morrissette, a junior point guard, scored a career-high 36 points in the victory.

"Ashley had a special game," said Solis. "I still don't think we have reached how successful we can be but I've seen individual improvement and better team play. We're getting some quality minutes off the bench and you want to see different kids stepping up on different nights."

After dropping its first two games of the season to national powers Memphis Central and Bolingbrook, Twinsburg has reeled off wins against Wadsworth, Walsh, Mentor, Stow, Solon and Detroit Country Day. Leah Fechko's free throw with two-tenths of a second was the difference in the 48-47 win over Wadsworth while Howard finished with 22 points and 12 rebounds in a 57-52 victory over Walsh. Howard had 11 points, 14 rebounds, five steals and three assists in a 51-35 win over Solon.

The Lady Tigers will be tested again tonight against a Shabazz team that went 33-1 overall last season.

The Twinsburg Fight or Flight Invitational began Tuesday with seven games and winds up with five games tomorrow. All-day passes are available for $8 each day.

Today's action has Strongsville vs. Lake Ridge at 1:15 p.m., Southview vs. Ravenna at 3 p.m., Holy Name vs. Shaker Heights at 4:45 p.m., Howland vs. Kenston at 6:30 and Twinsburg vs. Shabazz at 8:15 p.m.