WHHS girls hoops responds to adversity during CitC

Regardless of whether the West Holmes girls basketball team won both, one or none of its games during the three-day Classic in the Country, it was going to come out of the experience a better team than beforehand.

After suffering a tough 35-26 setback to Division III state-ranked Margaretta on Jan. 13, the Lady Knights bounced back with a 53-32 win over Strasburg-Franklin on Jan. 15 at the Perry Reese Jr. Community Center at Hiland High School.

“I was proud of how (my players) reacted (to losing to Margaretta),” West Holmes coach Lindsy Belden said. “It was a tough one on (Jan. 13). To come back and not go through the motions (was a positive). We came out really aggressive (against Strasburg) and ready to get better. We said you have to come back and play better than we did on (Jan. 13) with a little more intensity and play a little bit more harder. And I thought they did that and came back with a little bit of fight and a little bit of toughness that we were looking for.”

Playing two teams they weren’t familiar with in a three-day window was good preparation for the upcoming Div. II postseason tournament, Belden said.

“You’re preparing for somebody Saturday, and then you’re turning around and doing another scouting report playing somebody completely different on Monday,” she said. “All of the teams in our league we obviously do scouting reports for and talk about, but (my players) all know those kids. When you play teams like this that you don’t know anything about, it’s good to have to think and make adjustments.”

One of the benefits of playing in the CitC is how each game feels bigger than a normal regular-season matchup. The pressure is higher. The stakes are a bit bigger. Little mistakes are magnified.

All those things help prepare the teams that play in the CitC for what they’re going to experience during their postseason tournament runs.

“I think (playing in the CitC) comes back to the tournament thing of you have to come out here and perform,” Belden said. “You don’t get two chances (against the teams you play during the CitC) like you do in league play. It just puts the pressure on that we have to perform.”

Briar Cline paced West Holmes in the loss to Margaretta with 14 points. Aveona Yoder added six points and 13 rebounds while Allie McMillen chipped in five rebounds and four steals.

Yoder led the way against Strasburg with 19 points. Cline scored 14 points and grabbed four rebounds; Keegan Uhl scored 12 points, recorded five steals and snagged four rebounds; Zalina Proper scored six points; and McMillen dished out eight assists, collected seven steals and pulled down seven boards.