Smithville girls basketball rows the boat to regional finals

Simply showing why the Wayne County Athletic League is considered the area’s premier girls basketball league of late, Smithville made back-to-back trips to the Division VI regional finals. This year was a little special after the team graduated a pair of stellar seniors from a year ago.

This time it boiled down to a trio of seniors, led by Leah Keib, who grew into the Div. VI Northeast Inland Co-Player of the Year. Alongside her were classmates Kiersten Ross and Reagan Gherian, each playing big roles this year.

“I love them,” Smithies coach Eric Nickles said. “Man, they are gym rats. Leah, Kiersten and Reagan have all spent hours and hours in the gym. Gherian didn’t play her freshman and sophomore years, but she stuck with it and had a memorable senior year. Ross just kept grinding, and she started the last two years on two Elite Eight teams. Obviously, Keib had one of the most special years in Smithville basketball history this year, as far as points scored and what she did for us. She is our leader, and I couldn’t be more proud of the player she developed into and the leader she became. Really, though, just all three of them, I love them.”

In a low-scoring affair, the Smithies just couldn’t come up with enough offensive plays down the stretch as they fell to Canton Central Catholic 35-30 in a regional final March 7. Keib led the way with 11 points while Caylee Zimmerly had six and Ross touched home five.

“We played really hard and competed at a high level,” Nickles said. “They just made a few more plays in the fourth quarter than we did. We had chances, but kudos to them. That’s a tough, physical basketball team.”

Much like this season went, Smithville followed the motto on the back of its shirts: "Row the boat." At one point, trailing by 10, the Smithies dug deep and rallied in the third quarter to snare the lead but just simply couldn’t hold on.

“That took so much energy out of us; it wore us down,” Nickles said. “They made things really hard, but our kids responded. When we were down 10, we could have quit, but we did what we’ve done all year. We just rowed the boat.”

Just like they did when they were sitting at 6-6 on Jan. 8 after a stinging 48-35 loss to Dalton on their home floor, they came together. Figuring out a few things offensively, players found their roles and settled in, and of course, Smithville's lockdown defense was just downright nasty to go against.

The Smithies went 2-1 over the next three games before securing a monumental 37-34 win over Waynedale Jan. 29. From there they never looked back. Led by Gherian, Ross and Keib, they rowed the boat back to sunshine and to one of the most memorable runs in program history.

They finished 8-4 from that date on, with wins over Chippewa during the regular season and Rootstown and Richmond Heights in the playoffs.

“Sitting at 6-6 after a couple big losses, we had to correct some things,” Nickles said. “Our whole team took it to heart, and that win over Waynedale lifted us. It propelled us to one of the best stretches in my 13-year coaching career. For this team to do that in so many big games, that’s phenomenal.”

In the locker room after the regional setback to CCC at Lake High School, Nickles didn’t mince words.

“I told them, 'That’s one of the most special runs that I’ve been a part of,'” he said. “We played six or seven, and physically, we may not have matched up, but we sure do fight. We play really hard, the kids bought in and I am so proud of them for that. We’ll remember this for the rest of our lives.”