Warriors girls basketball team’s rally falls short against Tri-County
By Lenny Semeti
Tuscola’s girls basketball team won the final two frames of their home opener against Tri-County but it was not enough as a second half comeback fell a few points short. Make no mistake no matter what anyone says there is no such thing as a good loss to a Coach but sometimes it’s a launching point you can learn from. That is exactly what this young Lady Warriors squad can take from the eight-point 61-53 loss to the Lady Titans.
The maturation of head coach Tim Kohlbecker’s team started happening right before the eyes of those attending the game at historic Tuscola Gymnasium. Tri-County took full advantage of unforced errors and quick shots by host Warriors jumping out to an early 12-4 hitting a three to open the contest while holding Kohlbecker’s crew scoreless for the first three minutes of the game. Hope Dietrich broke the ice draining a long ball from just inside the arc. Marissa Russo followed her lead and banged one in down low, Brynn Tabeling then found the bottom of the net from outside the three point line but late five point run by the Titans equaled to a double-digit lead 20-8 at the first buzzer.
Sophie Kremitzki hit an early three in the second stanza for the Warriors and Tabeling followed with bucket on a spin move. The backcourt duo both hit the double-digit plateau in the game as did Russo who led all in scoring and boards with thirteen points and nine rebounds. Tabeling was next up with twelve points including a pair of threes, followed by Kremitzki who ended the night with eleven points. Tri-County answered with a pair of six point runs to end the period entering the break on top by twenty-one points 38-17.
Coach K stoked the fires at halftime and challenged his squad to compete and that they did scoring six-points in the first minute of the third quarter. Dietrich hit a runner fifteen seconds into the second half, Abbey Jacob followed with a buck off a steal 8-seconds later, Kremitzki then hit a jumper on the next possession and before you know it Tuscola was back in the game. Tabeling followed a Titan basket with an offensive put back and then followed a Kremetizki three with a long ball of her own helping the Warriors cut the lead to thirteen entering the final eight-minutes of the action.
Kremitzki stepped outside for her second trey of the evening early in the fourth and Lainey Cummings and Jacob both hit fifteen-footers forcing the Titans to expand their defense opening up the middle for Russo. The Warriors post responded with six points from the field and two of three from the line down the stretch pulling the black and gold to within six points of the lead. The late surge was not enough as Titans made their free throws late dropping Tuscola to 1-1 on the year.
A loss is a loss no other way to put it but the Lady Warriors definitely ended the game with a lot more confidence than they started it with cutting their turnovers down significantly in the last sixteen minutes of the game. They learned the value of every possession and that alone is a battle won even if in the end it took a defeat to learn the lesson.