Celluras and Dye leading charge for Twinsburg girls basketball

As the schedule has become stronger, Twinsburg’s girls’ basketball team has to rely on outstanding performances like the ones recently from senior Alexis Cellura and the freshman duo of Taylor Dye and Kayla Cellura.

Twinsburg, which has lost eight of its last nine games against a rugged schedule, has made remarkable strides this season and first-year Tiger head coach Ryan Looman is seeking even more progress.

The Tigers (5-9 overall) slipped to 2-5 in the robust National Conference of the Suburban League with a 51-32 road loss at Brecksville Friday night.

Despite 14 points and two assists from Dye, Twinsburg struggled with its shooting and could not take advantage of the 19 turnovers by the Lady Bees. In all, Twinsburg had 14 steals in the loss.

Along with Twinsburg, Brecksville (7-6, 4-3) is one of the more improved teams in the area this season and it showed.

There could have been some rough stretches due to a 14-day period of no games for Twinsburg, which did follow a Dec. 21 game with a hard-fought 39-28 home league win over North Royalton a couple of days before the Brecksville clash.

“I think it’s natural to expect some rust off any type of layoff like this one,” explained Looman, of his young club.

In the loss at Brecksville, Dye was really the lone Tiger to find some rhythm on offense as the promising young guard drove to the hoop well, hit a 3-pointer, and also helped on the boards.

Kayla Cellura added six points, eight caroms and four steals while senior point guard Abby Carroll had six points and excelled on defense with four thefts. Junior Kayla Hardwick added some energy late with an offensive rebound bucket.

Pacing the Bees was wing Bridget Barber (12 points, seven boards) and guard Esther Rein, who had 10 points and dished out seven assists.

In the win over North Royalton (3-9, 0-5), Twinsburg fired back after a “rusty” first period in which the Bears stormed to a 14-3 lead and a 17-3 advantage into the second.

However, the Tigers answered with an incredible stretch of nearly 14 minutes through the halves of holding North Royalton scoreless. In fact, Twinsburg held the Bears to just one field in a 22-minute stretch!

“We were really happy with our second half effort, limiting them to nine total points and it all started with effort, we weren’t happy with our overall effort and intensity during the first quarter and we challenged them with that in between quarters,” explained Looman.

“We make it very clear to our players that a lack of effort on the defensive side of the ball simply isn’t acceptable,” said Looman. “So, while it improved in the second quarter, the adjustment at halftime was simply about recentering ourselves, playing team defense, and working to achieve our pre-game goals.”

“What I love about this group is how they respond to challenges,” Looman added. “We knew we couldn’t re-take the lead in one possession rather it would need to be a 16-minute mindset to close out the game. Get a stop, get a score. Fortunately, our efforts increased and we were able to accomplish it.”

The Cellura sisters made a huge impact.

Alexis Cellura, who leads the team in floor burns along with Carroll, buried five-of-six free throws in the fourth quarter as Twinsburg was a sizzling 10-of-12 from the stripe in the final stanza.

Confidence plays a huge role in Cellura’s offensive contributions, which have improved greatly in her career.

A soccer standout goalie who in the fall joined the top 25 all-time in Ohio for career shutouts with 36, Cellura scored nine points with three boards, one assist, a steal, and took one charge.

“That’s Alexis – she will do whatever her team needs or what we ask of her because she is such a selfless player who wants to help her team be successful,” noted Looman. “As a captain, she gives everything she has. Being her first game back from her concussion, I think it took a few trips to get back into the flow. However, she settled down. Anytime you can catch and attack in rhythm good things usually happen and for her, she was huge in the fourth quarter doing just that.”

As for the free throws, Looman was excited about the accuracy.

“I've always believed that free throw issues can be solved with reps in practice,” said Looman. “It’s a credit to our girls for focusing on those times in practice spent shooting and also to their in-game focus to make sure that our fourth quarter free throws were a strong suit.”

Kayla Cellura had to sit out most of the third stanza with foul trouble and it was a credit to the young Tigers to respond without one of their finest players. She still managed a double-double with 12 points, 10 rebounds, and six steals.

“With an aggressive nature and playing so hard, Kayla gets into foul trouble from time to time,” explained Looman. “In the second and third quarter where she needed to sit, we got big minutes from fellow freshmen Tamia Andrews and Riley Velican, along with Mackenzie Sweeney playing more in a 3-guard set.”

Sweeney sparked with six points, four boards, and sound ballhandling.

“While we were proud of those individuals, it speaks more to the maturation of our team and the confidence in each other to play with different lineups and believing that someone will step up when needed,” stressed Looman.

Looman also was pleased how his club hit the glass in the second half behind the efforts of Kayla Cellura and seniors like Lauren Glessman, Carroll, Sophie Adick, and Genesis Carthen.

This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Twinsburg girls basketball gets hustle from Celluras, Dye