West Branch impressive in 65-26 win over Struthers

The West Branch Warriors were impressive on the road Saturday afternoon against the Struthers Wildcats as they cruised to a 65-26 win to improve to 15-2 on the season.

A smothering ball pressure defense led to easy bucket after easy bucket for West Branch early on, starting the game with a 10-0 run and never looked back.

“We created a lot of turnovers with our traps in the first half,” said West Branch head coach Walt DeShields, “and for the most part we cashed in.”

The lead would be 15 for the Warriors going into the locker room at halftime.

Big third quarter helped West Branch seal win

The Wildcats would come out and make the first shot of the second half, a three-pointer, but they would not score again in the third quarter.

West Branch would go on a 24-0 run in the next seven minutes to close the quarter.

The impressive Warrior defense allowed just two more points in the final quarter to seal the victory.

Warriors senior guard Sophie Gregory led all scorers with 28 points in the win, 22 coming in a dominating first half.

Gregory resorted to playmaker in the second half, getting teammates involved in the scoring in the third quarter with the game in hand.

“She’s just a dynamic player, she does everything,” said DeShields about Gregory. “Sometimes I think she’s happier passing the ball and watching a teammate score, that’s just the type of player she is.”

Struthers point guard Emma Morris led the Wildcats with 14 points in a losing effort.

What’s next for West Branch, Struthers?

Struthers will look to snap this mini two-game losing streak at Niles McKinley on Monday.

West Branch will look to extend their winning streak to seven games when they take on Salem on the road on Wednesday.