The word has been spreading across the state for most of the 2010-2011 basketball season. Center Malina Howard and the Twinsburg Tigers are a force to be reckoned with.
The highly-touted and undefeated Tigers hosted Strongsville Wednesday night at Twinsburg High School. The Mustangs' 11-5 overall record proved that they too weren't slouches.
From the opening tip, the game was extremely physical. Both teams featured plenty of size in their frontcourt, and it was evident early on in the contest. Physical play and swarming defense propelled Strongsville to a 10-6 lead after one quarter of action.
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The second quarter followed suit, and although Twinsburg began to exploit Strongsville's defensive weaknesses, they entered halftime still trailing by one point, 20-19.
"I felt good at halftime," said Strongsville head coach Jeff Eicher. "I felt like what we wanted to do in that first half, we did."
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The Tigers came out of halftime with a fresh defensive strategy, and it jumpstarted their offensive production. Twinsburg scored five quick points off of turnovers caused by their full-court press.
"We had a few turnovers there, and they were on a roll," said Eicher.
Howard dominated the low post and scored eight of the Tigers' 19 third quarter points. Twinsburg kept the pressure on for most of the final two quarters, and managed to outscore the Mustangs 35-22 in the second half. Howard finished with 18 points.
"Obviously she [Howard] makes you adjust," Eicher said "...They're awful good...but I feel we're pretty good too."
Twinsburg's offensive attack was too much for the Mustangs to handle, and the Tigers walked away with a 55-41 victory.
"A team like Twinsburg is going to bring out all of your weaknesses," said Eicher.
Twinsburg improved their record to 18-0 on the season, while Strongsville fell to 11-6 and 4-4 in the Northeast Ohio Conference.
The Tigers will travel to North Royalton to take on the Bears on Saturday. Strongsville will host Solon also on Saturday.
1st 2nd 3rd 4th Final Strongsville 14 6 11 10 41 Twinsburg 9 10 19 17 55
Scoring Breakdown:
Twinsburg:
#1 Ashley Morissette: 8 pts
#5 Malina Howard: 18 pts
#11 Chardell Dunnigan: 6 pts
#12 Leah Fechko: 7 pts
#14 Lashawna Gatewood: 4 pts
#21 Katie Fox: 6 pts
#30 Nicole Carman: 5 pts
Strongsville:
#12 Nina Vinci: 1 pt
#21 Erica Schultz: 10 pts
#23 Lauren Vagt: 5 pts
#24 Audrey Smolik: 11 pts
#25 Kelsey Worcen: 2 pts
#44 Carly Thomas: 12 pts