LORDSTOWN — Walt DeShields and the West Branch girls basketball program had earned “a couple silvers” in the district tournament the last two years, when the Warriors, despite more than 20 wins on their resume, fell in the championship game.
Saturday’s Division IV, Northeast 2 district final vs. ninth-seeded Streetsboro, which was eyeing its third straight district title, appeared to be going that way too, as the 21-3 Warriors fell and stayed behind for most of the first half. But a white-hot start to the third quarter turned the proverbial tide for No. 4 West Branch, which quickly erased its halftime deficit and held off the Rockets in a feisty, 50-40 win in Lordstown.
“We knew Streetsboro was a physical team. … First half, I think the officials did a really good job. It was still a physical game by both teams, just fighting,” DeShields said. “I thought in the second half, when we [came] out of the locker room, our girls got more physical, especially on defense, which turned into some easy shots at the other end for us. We frustrated them early in the third quarter, got right back into the game. Didn’t think it was going to happen that quick.
“We had talked about wearing them down. They’re a really strong, physical team, but we felt like our conditioning, running up and down the floor would eventually maybe tire them out a little bit, and we’d get easier shots, because the first half, we didn’t have a lot of easy shots.”
Twenty-one seconds into Saturday’s game, West Branch took a lead with a pair of successful Madi Hoopes free throws. Eleven seconds later, the Warriors’ lead was already gone, courtesy of a Carlee Bedford 3-pointer. West Branch did not lead again in the half.
Bedford’s bucket sparked a 9-0 Streetsboro run, which lasted nearly five minutes until Tallie Muniz broke the Warriors out of its cold streak. Thanks to free throws by Sammi Beatty and a last-minute basket by Sydney Lane, West Branch pulled back within three points by the end of the first period.
After more than two minutes of scoreless basketball to start the second quarter, Audrey Eaton tied the game at 11 apiece with a triple, only for the Rockets’ Olivia Johnson-Wilson to reclaim the lead with a 3-point play immediately after. Streetsboro spent the rest of the first half building out its lead, which reached seven points by the end of the quarter as West Branch’s offense continuously faltered.
For the first 16 minutes of Saturday’s game, the lights seemed a bit too bright for the Warriors, who committed several turnovers and missed multiple free throws. Hoopes, West Branch’s freshman standout who led all scorers in West Branch’s sectional final and district semifinal wins vs. Akron East and rival Salem, respectively, appeared particularly nervous in her first championship game.
Fortunately for Hoopes and the Warriors, her teammates managed to calm her down at halftime.
“They always help me, especially when I make mistakes,” Hoopes said. “They just know how to get me to be myself again and play with confidence and believe in myself. Without them, I wouldn’t be able to do it.”
Led by Hoopes, West Branch emerged from the locker room an almost completely different team. After her team scored eight and nine points in the first two quarters, Hoopes tallied four in the first 90 seconds and six total as part of a 9-0 start to the third quarter that gave the Warriors their first advantage since 30 seconds into the game.
“It was critical,” Alli Kanagy said of the run, “because we knew coming out of halftime – usually, we’re more a second-half team this year, I’d say – coming out, hitting a couple shots, Madi Hoopes finally being able to settle in there. … Being able to erase that deficit right away kind of caught Streetsboro on their heels, I think, a little bit, and definitely helped us just add on and build on to the lead.”
The physicality of Saturday’s contest, which contributed to 41 total fouls and drew numerous complaints from both groups of supporters, arguably peaked in the third quarter, when Beatty, moments after making a 3-pointer, committed a foul that ignited the Rockets bench and fans in fury. The kerfuffle, which led to an official warning being levied against Streetsboro’s coach, did little to stop the momentum of West Branch, however.
Although the Rockets trimmed the deficit to three shortly after the foul, the Warriors, who had been on a 14-1 run beforehand, scored five straight to stretch their advantage to eight. A Bedford basket, the only one for Streetsboro in the third, and subsequent free throw with 0.5 seconds remaining made it 36-31 entering the fourth quarter.
Much of the final period was spent at the foul line, especially for West Branch, which made a field goal 24 seconds in and did not again until only 58 seconds remained. In between, the Warriors attempted more than 15 free throws and converted 10. Streetsboro, desperate for a comeback, did no better, scoring nine points on four field goals and no trips to the free-throw line. With time running out, the Rockets heaved multiple threes, to no avail.
Hoopes, despite a 3-point first half, had a game-high 19 was the only Warrior to score in double figures. Muniz and Eaton each added nine, while Kanagy, Lane and Beatty combined for another 13. On the Rockets’ side, Ava Bodovetz and Bedford scored 13 and 12, respectively, before becoming among the four Streetsboro (17-8) players to foul out.
Saturday’s title win comes after back-to-back fruitless trips to the district finals for West Branch. In 2024, the Warriors lost to Laurel 51-39 after entering the game with a 23-2 record. Last year, a 38-28 loss to Perry upended a 22-2 season.
“It’s satisfying from the standpoint that it’s a new team every year,” DeShields said. “These guys work really hard. I know last year’s team and the year before, runner-up in the district – that’s never easy. But eventually, teams and the younger girls learn how to win. I even talked to some of the freshmen and sophomores, ‘This is how you win championships, you got to play gritty, you got to play tough and you got to make plays.’ So it’s very satisfying. All championships are satisfying every year. They never get old.”
In the regional semifinals, West Branch (22-3) will face Gilmour Academy, which, as the 16th seed, beat No. 2 Norton and No. 6 Perry en route to the Northeast 1 district title. The Warriors and Lancers are set to play at approximately 8 p.m. on Wednesday after the first semifinal between Elyria Catholic and Laurel at the Canton Memorial Fieldhouse.
“Gilmour’s got a great girls basketball program,” DeShields said. “I know this year they’ve got some young girls playing for them, some really good freshmen. They basically play a really tough schedule. They play a lot of tough teams on their schedule, so they’re gonna be ready.
“I kind of expected them to give it a run, and there they are. I knew there were some good teams in Perry and Norton and stuff in their district, but I knew they were probably as good as them. You can throw the records out.”
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