Twinsburg girls basketball gets education from Stow

There are moments when young basketball teams gain their most insight navigating through the course of a loss to a quality opponent.

A youthful Twinsburg girls’ squad was the student Saturday afternoon and host Stow was the mentor.

Facing the premiere defensive team in the Suburban League National Conference in Stow, Twinsburg competed, but couldn’t survive in a lopsided 52-15 loss.

The score wasn’t indicative of Twinsburg’s progress this early season.

To be sure, the one program that can stunt a young club’s progress is Stow.

Stow always features great fundamentals on defense, patience, and strong ball movement, and when you throw in experience, length, and a superb freshman in 6-0 forward Kennedy Dodds, it makes it difficult to continue that maturation process.

Going up against Stow’s defensive pressure it was almost as if the young Lady Tigers felt an internal clock winding down. As soon as Twinsburg saw a glimpse of daylight, the Tigers would shoot the ball.

It’s tough showing patience against a potent Bulldog defense. When Twinsburg got a decent look at the hoop, the shots just didn’t drop.

“We were happy with the work and some of the looks that we had early on against an always strong Stow defense, but we needed to keep playing and working at it, and to be patient,” explained first year Tiger head coach Ryan Looman.

“Stow has a great program and (head coach) Bob Podges does a great job – we knew coming that we would have to compete for 32 minutes, not just 16 minutes, or anything less,” added Looman. “This really was a good learning experience for our kids and a great test for us. We’re trying to change mindsets here in the program.”

Looman also pointed out that his club saw first-hand what success can look like through hard work.

Twinsburg saw Stow flash teamwork, fundamentals, defense and the fruits of hard work. Those are the same things that are springing up from the Tiger program, but Twinsburg simply just has a different starting point than Stow (4-0 overall, 2-0 in the league).

Veteran senior post Genesis Carthen led Twinsburg (4-2, 1-1) with six points, four rebounds, and three blocked shots. She drained one 3-pointer.

Junior forward Kar’Lynn Golphin sparked the Tigers with some energy off the bench at Stow along with senior guard Taylor Wilson, freshman guard Mackenzie Sweeney, and junior forward McKayla Hardwick.

After a 13-4 first quarter in which the Tigers were competitive, Stow expanded its lead and never looked back.

Another Stow 6-0 post, Katey Croyle had 16 points while Dodds added 14 points and eight boards as Stow’s length was too much.

“Dodds is a good young player and she can shoot too and she is surrounded by solid shooters, but we worked extra hard inside and we realize that we have to play together to compete,” pointed out Looman.

“I thought Golphin came in and did well – she is coming back from a knee injury and we’re working her back into the rotation,” said Looman.

Twinsburg has received strong play from a host of newcomers this season to Tiger varsity system.

Freshman guard Taylor Dye has hit for 12.0 points, 5.4 rebounds, 2.6 assists and 2.6 steals a contest through five games. In a recent 50-21 win over Maple Heights, Dye had 14 points, six steals and four feeds.

Another standout freshman is forward Kayla Cellura, who contributes in many different aspects of the game with 10.8 points, 7.0 boards, 2.4 thefts, 1.8 assists and has blocked five shots this winter.

In the team’s recent 44-34 win over league foe Brecksville, Cellura had a superb floor game with 15 points, nine caroms, three steals, two blocks and one assist.

Unselfish senior point guard Abby Carroll has provided some experience and strong defense with 8.2 points, 5.0 rebounds, 3.4 steals and 2.6 assists a contest. She had eight points and eight steals in the win over Maple.

More experience comes from senior frontcourt players in Alexis Cellura (4.0 points, 2.8 rebounds, 2.0 thefts, 1.0 assists), Carthen (3.6 points, 3.8 boards, 1.0 blocks), and Lauren Glessman (3.8 boards, 1.0 steals).

The bench is led by Glessman, Sweeney, freshman wings Tamia Andrews and Riley Velican, plus Hardwick. Wilson and senior guard Iyana Gramajo have also contributed while injured veteran senior Sophie Adick lends leadership from the bench.

Upcoming league play doesn’t get any easier as Twinsburg hosts Wadsworth Dec. 7 and plays at Hudson Dec. 10.

This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Powerful Stow wears down Twinsburg boys basketball