Alliance girls basketball shocks West Branch on home floor for EBC victory
BELOIT ― The Alliance girls basketball team has been close to turning the corner this season. After close early season losses to Fairless and Carrollton, the Aviators put together a solid game on Wednesday night to defeat West Branch 41-27 in an Eastern Buckeye Conference game.
It was the first Alliance win over the Warriors since the 2008-09 season.
"These girls have worked so hard," said Alliance coach Rod Smith. "They have completely bought into what we are doing with this program. We have a strong core of girls that are now third-year starters and they are learning how to win."
Mar'Zae Gantz led Alliance (2-3, 1-2) with 11 points.
"Sometimes you learn more from losing than you do winning and we have been doing a lot of learning the last two years," said Smith. "But I am so proud of these girls. They never give up. Last year it was our first league win in several years and now to get a win over a team like West Branch in their gym is great for our program and our community."
X'Zaryia Fanin added seven points for the Aviators, who led 24-4 at halftime, and Jayla Callock scored six.
Mikalyn Fitts paced the Warriors (2-3, 1-2) with 10 points and Livvie Showalter and Cami Campbell added six points each.
"It is really great to get the win. We have been close a couple of times," said Gantz. "We felt that coming in here that we could take advantage of our speed. We did a good job of running to the ball and trapping. We made it hard for them to run their offense."
The Aviators held a slim 6-4 lead after one quarter but outscored West Branch 18-0 in the second period.
"Alliance out-hustled us in every facet of the game; offensively, defensively, rebounding, and they got most of the 50-50 balls," said West Branch coach Walt DeShields. "Basically, they out-hustled us all night long.
"The first half we struggled to score," he added. "It's a credit to them. They pressured us and we didn't handle it very well. We can't continue to dig ourselves a big hole, then try to figure it out."
The West Branch offense showed some signs of life in the second half, but it was too little, too late. The Warriors put 23 points on the board in the second half, but could not gain ground until the final minutes.
"Words cannot describe how we are feeling right now, to come in and beat that team, with their history of success, in this building it makes it sweeter," said Rod Smith. "These girls have worked so hard in the off-season, setting goals and pulling together as a team. They have taken their lumps and pushed forward.
"This is a great win for us, another conference win, and something that we can build on," he added. "We are slowly checking off the goals. We are bringing that pride back to Alliance where we are not that easy win any more. I am so proud and happy for our girls and our program."
This article originally appeared on The Alliance Review: Alliance Aviators defeat West Branch Warriors in EBC basketball
