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Trimmer, West Branch back in regional final
Trimmer, Warriors back in regional final
BARBERTON
The West Branch girls basketball team has relied on point guard Melinda Trimmer on occasion throughout her historic high school career.
Perhaps never more so than in Tuesday night’s Division II regional semifinal at Barberton High School.
Trimmer, who became the school’s all-time leading scorer earlier this season, scored or assisted on all eight — yes, eight — of the Warriors’ field goals in a 36-29 comeback win over state No. 3 Chagrin Falls. The win puts state No. 5 West Branch (26-1) in the regional final for a second consecutive season. This time they’ll face Geneva at 2 p.m. on Saturday.
“Melinda really put us on her back tonight,” said Warriors head coach Walt DeShields.
Trimmer, who has committed to Youngstown State, finished with 25 points on 6-of-12 shooting and had six rebounds and two assists in what DeShields called “31-and-a-half minutes” of action.
As a team, the Warriors shot just 8-of-23 from the field, but were 19-for-25 from the free-throw line. Chagrin Falls was 0-for-2 from the foul line and didn’t attempt a free throw in the second half.
“They increased their defensive pressure and we didn’t handle the basketball very well,” said Tigers head coach Brittany Anderson. “We turned the ball over a lot and played flustered and nervous.”
Chagrin Falls (26-1) finished with 18 turnovers, including nine in a lopsided third quarter. The Warriors contributed to the Tigers’ troubles with 11 steals.
“You can always say one player can win it with a lot of points, but one player doesn’t win a game,” DeShields said. “Especially defensively.”
The Warriors faced a five-point halftime deficit and a big reason for that was Tigers’ 6-foot-5 center Hallie Thome. She had eight points, six rebounds — two offensively that led to easy second-chance points — and three blocks at the half.
“She’s tough,” Trimmer said of Thome. “She’s very tough. She’s huge and she’s got long arms.
“She’s very lanky so it’s tough to get to the rim around her, but we were trying to bring her out so we could get past her so she wouldn’t stand in the lane blocking shots.”
Thome, who has committed to Michigan, finished the game with 10 points and 10 rebounds, but was mostly ineffective in the second half.
Lea Bock and Erica Johnson had the difficult task of covering Thome with a double team nearly every possession.
“We had a game plan for those big post players and our post girls worked their butts off,” Trimmer said. “They deserve this win because they worked so hard.”
The Warriors’ answer to Thome’s shot-blocking ability was to spread the floor. With Thome out of the paint, Trimmer was free to navigate her way to the hoop. Defensively, West Branch’s pressure frustrated the Tigers and especially Thome’s sister, Hannah, who’s headed to Ohio University. She fouled out early in the fourth quarter after scoring just four points.
“I’m just extremely proud of our girls,” DeShields said. “This is a team with two Division I players on it. We’re giving up six or seven inches in the post and they finished 26 games. I think they’ll remember which team beat them their senior year.”