Inside a packed West Branch Fieldhouse, the Lady Warriors toughed out a hard fought victory over a determined Salem team 33-19 to move on to the OHSAA District Championship game. The sixth seeded Warriors will face the 9th seeded Perry Pirates at 7 PM on Saturday at Akron North High School.
The game started out exactly as planned for West Branch as
Tallie Muniz won the opening tip to
Carter Shepherd who passed it to
Mati Hawk who then found
Audrey Eaton for an easy bucket and a 2-0 Warrior lead. The Quakers answered back and held the Warriors without a point for the next seven and a half minutes taking an 8-5 lead into the second quarter. Neither team found much offense in the second quarter as West Branch held Salem to just one free throw as the Warriors battled back to take an 11-9 lead into the break.
The third quarter was more of the same as neither team scored for the first four minutes of the period. With the Warriors clinging to a 16-15 lead and time winding down, Hawk changed the game with a three pointer at the buzzer giving West Branch a 19-15 lead and all of the momentum. The fourth quarter was all Warriors as West Branch outscored Salem 14-4 in the frame to pull away for the victory.
Eaton led the team with eight points while Muniz added seven. Hawk finished her night with five points while
Hallie Vie Burton and
Ellie Tucker each had four.
Presley Egli and
Carter Shepherd each had two points while
Alli Kanagy rounded out the scoring with a point.
OHSAA Bracket