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Lady Comets end season as regional runners-up
(by Tony Lange - March 14, 2012)
Lady Comets end season as regional runners-up
By TONY LANGE
When the Solon girls basketball team met Twinsburg on the hardwood for the third time this season during last Friday's Canton Regional championship game, the Comets still couldn't find the answer they were looking for.
Propelled by Malina Howard, second-chance points and big scoring runs, the Lady Tigers defeated Solon, 54-37, and advanced to the final four in pursuit of their second straight Division I state title. They play Reynoldsburg at 8 p.m. March 16 in Columbus.
Meanwhile, Solon ended its season at 22-4, losing only to Twinsburg and Manchester.
After finishing 13-9 last season, 22-4 is quite the turnaround, Solon head coach Trish Kruse said.
"After the game, I said how proud I am of these girls with the way they carried themselves all season," Kruse said. "When you're 22-4, it's an amazing season. The outcome wasn't what we wanted, but they had a great season, and there's no reason to hang their heads."
During the regional championship, Twinsburg soared to a 14-2 lead to start the game, and the Lady Comets appeared more and more desperate to score as the lead grew and grew. Once that first basket dropped, however, the Lady Comets eased their nerves, Kruse said.
"After we hit our first shot, the kids kind of relaxed a little bit," she said. "We settled down and ran some plays and did some nice things on the defensive end of the floor and were able to get some steals in transition, and that's how we got back in it."
The Lady Comets went on an 18-8 run from that point on and trailed just 22-20 at halftime. During that run, Twinsburg's 6-foot-4 All-American and University of Maryland recruit, Howard, went zero for six from the free-throw line, and the Lady Comets appeared to have found an answer -- foul Howard.
Solon also found momentum in the second quarter when senior Amanda Bevington drew a charge on Twinsburg's second go-to player, Ashley Morrissette, at the 3:20 mark. It was Morrissette's third foul.
In the third quarter, the Lady Comets continued their momentum as sophomore Kristen Confroy buried her second three-pointer of the game and Solon had its first lead of the game at 25-23.
That momentum, however, was short-lived as Solon missed a layup and senior Jaime Gluesing picked up her third foul.
From there, Twinsburg went on a 16-3 run to end the third quarter up 39-28. During that time, Howard started sinking her free throws.
"That just hurt us," Kruse said of the missed layup and Gluesing's third foul. "Jaime is a huge part of what we do defensively, and, when she picked up her third, it really hurt us. So we were about to go on a 7-0 run but didn't, and then Jaime picked up her third, and that all just really hurt our momentum."
Howard went on to finish the game with 28 points for the Lady Tigers, who won the turnover battle, 18-12, and had 14 second-chance points, compared to Solon's four. Twinsburg also was 15 of 25 for free throws, while Solon was three of eight.
Leading the scoring for the Lady Comets, Confroy had 12 points to go with three rebounds, two steals and an assist.
Junior Martha Thompson had nine points, five rebounds, four assists, two blocks and a steal.
Gluesing had seven points, three assists, three blocks, three rebounds and a steal.
Solon finished as regional runner-up.
"After the awards ceremony, we talked with the underclassmen, what the feeling was like when we lost, and, hopefully, we can get back there again next year," Kruse said. "The seniors just said you guys can do it. So we have the talent, and we just talked about doing it again next year."
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