By Matt Florjancic
MaxPreps.com
TWINSBURG – When this season’s seniors were freshmen on the Twinsburg High School girls basketball team three years ago, the Tigers struggled to win games.
Twinsburg went just 2-18 in 2005-2006 and had trouble staying with its opponents.
But a coaching change and attitude adjustment for the program prior to the 2007-2008 season revived the Twinsburg program.
“We were all guards and we didn’t have a kid over 5-9,” second-year Twinsburg coach Mike Kelley said. “We decided to change drastically what we did. In the past, they were kind of slow the ball down, work for a decent shot.
“The coaching staff came in and decided we have 11 guards that can run, so let’s run.”
On the heels of a 20-2 season, the Tigers added some tough non-conference games to the schedule and challenged themselves to become better. Earlier this season, Twinsburg lost a close game at perennial power Regina, but took the Royals to overtime.
Last weekend, the Tigers competed in the Classic in the Country VI, a basketball showcase in Berlin, Ohio, which annually features the best girls teams in and outside of Ohio.
Though they suffered a one-point loss to defending Ohio Division I girls champion, Cincinnati Mount Notre Dame, the Tigers rebounded well and beat the host Hiland Hawks 55-42. Hiland won the 2008 Division IV state title.
“We wanted to change our non-conference games,” Kelley said. “We actually moved up another division in our conference as well. The kids want to play better competition. They want to see how good they are.”
In the game against Mount Notre Dame, Twinsburg matched freshman center Malina Howard against University of Southern California recruit Kendall Hackney. Howard held Hackney to eight points on 3-of-11 shooting from the floor. Hackney had five rebounds and two turnovers to go along with eight points.
Conversely, Howard controlled the paint, going 5-of-7 from the field and corralling 12 rebounds in 26 minutes on the floor.
“It was a lot of teamwork and knowing my limits, how far I could go around her if she was going to seal,” Howard said. “The team knew when I was open for the ball and when I was sealed right.”
Senior guard Sydnee Carter played a critical role for the Tigers at the Classic. Against Mount Notre Dame, Carter finished with four points and five rebounds. She added three points and one steal against Hiland.
“Our program’s gone through a lot of changes,” Carter said. “We’ve gone through plenty of improvements and we’ve been working hard over the years. We have a goal and we’re trying to get there. Coach Kelley came in, stepped it up and showed us that we were better than our record.
Rachel Peelman is another senior who has been playing well for the Tigers. Though she has the size of a guard, Peelman finds herself out of position covering bigger opponents on defense. Even with the more physical post players trying to back Peelman down in the post, she enjoys the challenge.
“Offensively, we’re all kind of out on the perimeter anyway to play a four-out, one-in,” Peelman said. “Usually on defense I’m forced to play a bigger girl. I don’t mind pushing around the girls down low.
Kelley has been around the game of basketball long enough to know success breeds success. When younger players get a taste of victory early in their careers, they often commit to work harder during the off-season and strive to achieve greater goals.
“We would not be where we are today, if it were not for the four seniors,” Kelley said. “When we came in, they were sophomores. If the four of them didn’t buy in, it would’ve all fallen apart. The four of them wanted to win.”
Matt Florjancic currently works as a freelance reporter and sports announcer for WOBL and WDLW Radio.
