Sports

West Branch girls drop 51-39 decision to Laurel in district championship game

By Mike Brown
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OHSAA logo Photo provided

MACEDONIA — West Branch, which finished as the No. 1 team in the final mahoningmatters.com poll, dropped a 51-39 decision to Shaker Heights Laurel in a Division II district championship girls’ basketball game on Saturday afternoon at Nordonia High School and was eliminated from the postseason tournament.

“We’re not going to let this game define us,” said West Branch head coach Walt DeShields who talked about the strong bond his team forged throughout a very successful season which included winning the outright Eastern Buckeye Conference championship. “I want to thank our coaching staff for all of the time they put in and the girls as well. The (team) unity is a real thing with Lady Warrior basketball,” added the ultra-successful West Branch head coach.

Sophie Gregory leads West Branch with 24 points

West Branch was led by Youngstown State signee Sophie Gregory who poured in 24 points and senior Olivia Showalter who scored nine points.

The Warriors end their season at 23-3.

Laurel moves on to the Division II regional tournament hosted by Barberton High School and will face Gates Mills Gilmour Academy (20-5) Tuesday at 6 p.m. The Gators, who play a very demanding regular-season schedule, carry a 16-10 record into that game against the Lancers who are 20-5.

“We play probably one of the toughest schedules through all the division,” said Laurel head coach Terrina Robinson whose squad has beaten teams such as Division I Jackson.

West Branch was tied with the Gators at 14-14 after one quarter but was outscored 12-6, 15-11 and 10-8 in the remaining three quarters by Laurel.

“At one point we were 10-10 (on the season) and we’ve got a young team with freshmen and sophomores but they come every day ready to learn,” added Robinson. “We don’t have a senior on this team.”

Saniyah Hall led Laurel with 29 points

The winners were led by 6-2 standout Saniyah Hall, one of the top high school players in the United States, who hit shots from everywhere on the court and finished with 29 points, including three of the Gators’ six three-pointers in the game. By comparison, West Branch had just two three-pointers in the contest.

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