Cline, Proper lead West Holmes girls basketball to regionals

For four years, West Holmes seniors Briar Cline and Zalina Proper have been waiting for this one moment, the moment when the Lady Knights surged past their district final hoops foe and cruised into regional play.

As youngsters, they would have watched star players like Laina Snyder, Emily Molnar, Hannah Clark and others blaze their way to the state tournament, making appearances at regionals seem routine.

However, over the past decade, those regional appearances have disappeared, and for this group of seniors, playing in the district final was a 0-for-3 proposition heading into a Division IV district showdown with top-ranked Carrollton Feb. 28 at Dover High School.

Now make that 1-for-4.

With West Holmes’ scintillating 49-45 victory that went right down to the final seconds, the two four-year varsity players both played critical roles in the victory. Cline poured in a game-high 23 points, while Proper scored 13 and played with the ball in her hands much of the game.

For two four-year varsity players, this was something that proved to be well worth the wait.

“We’ve lost in district finals my first three years, so this is pretty exciting for all of us,” Cline said. “It feels awesome to finally get over this hump, especially with Zalina. We’ve been fighting for this for years.”

It didn’t come easily, and it was harrowing throughout as Carrollton continued to make life difficult for the Lady Knights, but each time the Warriors pushed, the Lady Knights pushed back, and it was often these two doing the heavy pushing.

“This is a surreal feeling," Proper said. “We’ve made it to district finals every year I’ve been in high school, and it feels amazing to finally break through and get a win.”

Proper went on to say that they really didn’t want the district finals losses to define this senior group’s careers. Their refuse-to-lose mentality was very real and pushed them to stay hyper-focused on the task at hand — taking down the district’s top seed.

For these two players, the trek to regionals has come courtesy of plenty of hard work, much of it together.

“(Proper) was the first person I ever threw a ball to,” Cline said. “She was my rebounder. We’ve been through a lot together waiting for this moment, and it is super special to be a part of making this happen. It seems like Zalina and I have been fighting for this one for all our lives.”

Cline seemed to step up in every possible big moment when it seemed like Carrollton was putting the clamps on West Holmes.

She said it was simply a mindset.

“I can’t tell you how many times coaches, players and all of us said the phrase ‘refuse to lose’ getting ready for this game,” Cline said. “We said it before the game. We said it at every timeout, during halftime and even after the game. We just weren’t going to let this one get away. It was super fun, and I feel beyond blessed for all of us.”

She said this game ranks high on her list of memorable performances and games, and for good reason. While she did a lot of the work, she was quick to pass along accolades to her coaching staff and teammates, whom she said were all instrumental in making this dream of playing at regionals come true.

Proper had the task of handling the ball against a frantic Carrollton defense most of the game. She said the coaches implementing a six-on-five style in practice and having one extra defender helped create a sense of calmness to her game.

“It helped us recognize their pressure and have a better feel for the game,” Proper said.

As for her running mate Cline, Proper said she was incredible in stepping up and leading the way.

“She’s just something else,” Proper said. “Tonight, it felt like she couldn’t miss. I think we all shared the mindset that we wanted to prove to everyone that we are good enough to go out and win this game.”

She said adding their team to the long list of regional qualifiers at West Holmes is something to be proud of and something that they have worked hard to capture.

Which was why, at the end of the night, nobody on the Lady Knights' side of the gym wanted to leave Dover High School.