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Solis seeks focus as Tiger girls ready for stretch run

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February 4, 2010

by Steve Batko

Correspondent

Some tweaking was in order for the Twinsburg girls basketball squad after the Lady Tigers had just two games in as many weeks.

No reason for alarm -- head coach Julie Solis just wants her troops focused as the stretch drive for the post season nears.

Twinsburg is 14-1 overall, ranked fourth in Ohio in Division I and moved to 6-0 in the Northeast Ohio Conference Valley Division thanks to a 62-34 home win on Jan. 30 over Elyria (6-10, 1-5).

"I don't even pay attention to things like records [or rankings], I'm just focused with our team and these girls," said Solis.

Coming in, Elyria had won three of four games after a seven-game losing streak. That streak was the longest since the 1991-92 campaign, but it was a Pioneer club that had been playing well.

The focus is on the here and now for the Lady Tigers. That means Twinsburg needs to finish strong in the NOC Valley.

Strongsville (12-2) is 5-1 in the Valley with its only loss to the Tigers.

Then comes the post season, which for Twinsburg could bear high expectations and pressure-packed games. Back to the present.

Veterans Elyria players Cyndi Woodard and Ashlee Stolarski decided to pass on hoops to concentrate on softball, but the Pioneers have also had as many as seven different injuries this year. It hasn't been easy.

Elyria played well early on and it helped that Twinsburg's 6-4 sophomore center Malina Howard was saddled with two early fouls and sat for most of the first half.

"With one game each week, we have had two long weeks of practicing and that is tough this time of the year," pointed out Solis. "The girls played very well at times. We just need to play and re-focus."

"We have had the girls concentrate on defense and changing up some things, as well as fine-tune our play. We have worked on our transition play, and we still need to get the ball in the paint to Malina more often."

Howard led the team with14 points and 11 rebounds, most of which came in the second half.

Senior guard-forward Jenn Mohney, who had been out with a concussion, returned and assisted Howard with 11 points. Mohney nailed two three pointers.

Freshman guard Ashley Morrissette popped in nine points and canned a trey along with senior forward Hilary Southworth (five points).

Junior point guard Katie Fox netted three points while sophomore wing Leah Fechko had seven for the Lady Tigers.

In limited action, Jessica Bequette shined for Twinsburg as she put in two buckets for four points as did junior forward Nicole Carman. Bequette is a 5-10 junior forward.

Nichole Mabry, a sophomore, added three points while sophomore LaShawna Gatewood also had a hoop.

Elyria was led by 5-11 junior forward Nais Williams, who put in 16 points while 6-0 post Bridget Jones, who had 13. Twinsburg held the rest of the Pioneers to just one field goal.

The Tigers have big NOC Valley games at Hudson (11-4, 4-2) Feb. 6 and at Strongsville Feb. 10. Twinsburg was scheduled to play at Parma Feb. 3, but results weren't available as of press time.

For Solis, the most important game is the next one.

Senior wing Brittani Reid is expected to return from an ankle injury by the team's final regular season game -- Feb. 17 at Solon (8-8, 2-4), which is Solis' former team.

The Tigers also have their final home game Feb. 13 against North Royalton (3-12, 0-6).

E-mail: stowsports@recordpub.com

Phone: 330-688-0088 ext. 3113




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