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West Branch tops South Range in tourney tuneup
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South Range sophomore Morgan Czopur lunges for the ball held by West Branch’s Melinda Trimmer during Monday’s game in Beaver Township. The Warriors won, 61-38.
By Greg Gulas
BEAVER TOWNSHIP
Melinda Trimmer scored 26 points, Pavin Heath added 11 markers and Taryn Hahn 10 points and a game-high seven rebounds as the West Branch High girls basketball team defeated South Range, 61-38 Monday in a tournament tuneup at the Raiders’ Gymnasium.
It was the first loss in nine home outings for the Raiders (17-3), who had outscored their previous eight home opponents by an average of 28.3 points while never scoring less than 54 points.
“We led just 20-17 at halftime and you have to give South Range credit because they got their hands on the ball and played the passing lanes really well,” West Branch coach Walt DeShields said. “Our girls took the challenge at halftime to play tougher in the second half and that made a big difference. In the second half we put pressure on the ball and got stronger on the boards.”
West Branch, which is seeded second in next the Division II Austintown district, will need to play better earlier in the game if it wants to advance in the tournament, DeShields said.
“What we learned from tonight’s game is that we cannot wait until the end of the game to win,” he said. “We need to play all four quarters like we played the second half, be tough with the ball and finish our plays.”
Trimmer scored seven of her team’s nine points in the opening period as the Warriors held a 9-8 advantage.
Starla Sharp’s five markers in the second quarter then helped South Range (17-3) keep pace as it trailed just 20-17 at intermission.
The Warriors went on a 17-5 run after halftime to open a 37-22 advantage, but four points by Sara Durr helped the Raiders close to 41-28 with a quarter remaining.
Six points by Heath and five more by Trimmer in the final frame helped seal the victory for the Warriors, who finished 10-2 in road games.
“Tonight we learned that one person cannot win a game. It has to be a total team effort — much like the effort we gave in the second half,” Hahn said.
“We’re ending the regular season on a winning note and that’s important. We’ve also improved quite a bit since over the course of the season,” Trimmer added. “When we stepped up our defense it opened up more offensive opportunities for everyone in the second half.”
South Range, which is seeded second in the Division III Struthers district, should benefit from playing such a tough opponent, Raiders coach Tony Matisi said.
“I’d say they wore us down more offensively than they did defensively,” he said. “We left buckets out there that we should have made and you cannot do that if you expect to win. We were happy with our defensive effort in the first half, but they were bigger and stronger and it showed in the second half.
“We want to play games like this late in the season because it shows us what we need to do heading into tournament play. We’ll work hard and tweak a few things but we’ll be ready.”