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Warriors roll into another district final
By brandon judeh
austintown
After the West Branch girls basketball team defeated Ravenna, 56–31, on Tuesday night at Fitch high school, it was business as usual for the Warriors.
It’s their fourth straight trip to the Division II district final game, only this time they are looking for a different outcome.
After losing to Canfield in heartbreaking fashion the past two seasons and losing to Struthers in 2011, the Warriors (21-4) are looking for redemption.
“Our mindset is to go back to work tomorrow and prepare for Struthers,” said West Branch head coach Walt DeShields. “We can’t worry about what happened over the past three years because that is over with. There’s nothing we can do about it now. We have to look forward and prepare for this game against Struthers.”
One player, Amanda Linhart, has been a part of all four district final teams and says she is ready to advance to regionals for the first time.
“I’m really excited that I have had the opportunity to now play in four district title games, there aren’t too many people that can say that they have played in one, let alone four,” Linhart said.
But before the Warriors looked ahead to Friday’s battle with Struthers, they first had to take on the Ravens (18-7), a team that was looking for a little redemption of its own after being upset early in tournament play each of the last two seasons.
But this year was no different.
West Branch came out of the gates ready to play and the Warriors’ suffocating defense caused a slew of turnovers and led to an 18-5 first quarter advantage.
The Ravens went nearly five minutes without a point between the first and second quarter and turned the ball over 21 times.
“We came out on fire tonight and our girls prepared very well for this game against Ravenna,” DeShields said. “We did a lot of film work and did a lot of walk throughs, we knew we were going to be challenged by this very strong, quick team, but our defense did a great job of causing turnovers.”
Their lead soon blossomed to a 19-point advantage at the half.
Pavin Heath led the way for the Warriors scoring 19 points, Melinda Trimmer chipped in with 18 points and seven assists.
Deja Sanders led the Ravens with nine points and Ja’Lynn Starks added eight.
Next up for the Lady Warriors are the Wildcats. The Division II district final is at 7 p.m. Friday at Fitch High School. It’s the same scenario for West Branch, but one it hopes ends differently.
“Us seniors are blessed to get one last shot at a district title. I know that we will be working very hard and practicing very hard the rest of the week,” Linhart said. “We have learned that every possession counts. Any play at any point of the game could help you or hurt you. We just have to take advantage of every opportunity.”