WARRIORS ROAD WIN CONTINUES STREAK
By Ty Bartell
YOUNGSTOWN OH- On a lighter day of high school basketball, the network streamed a handful of both boys and girls basketball games throughout Wednesday, starting in the afternoon and concluding in the evening. One of the intriguing matchups on the girls side was a bout between a couple green machines in The Ursuline Fighting Irish and The West Branch Warriors. After the first YSN power rankings were released, The Warriors found themselves ranked #2 and The Irish ranked #23, with the holidays around the corner, both Power 25 squads wanted a win for Christmas!
The Warriors came out of the gates red hot, with Livvie Showalter and Chloe Dennison putting up buckets for West Branch. Ursuline found a few shots from distance in an attempt to keep pace with The Warriors, but West Branch still managed a 21-12 lead after the first quarter. The Irish would battle back in the second, starting first and foremost on the defensive end with West Branch’s Sophie Gregory in foul trouble. The Irish would hold The Warriors to just 4 points in the second, with Ursuline winning the quarter 14-4 to take a halftime lead of 26-25!
The Irish started to extend the lead in the third quarter until West Branch managed a 17-0 run to flip the script once again! Livvie Showlater exploded for an 8 point burst during the run as The Warriors found themselves on top 44-35 after three. Keeping their foot on the gas, West Branch kept sprinting their way to a victory, putting the finishing touches on a win with a 13-7 fourth quarter for a final score of 57-42!
Player of the Game honors went to both Livvie Showalter and Sophie Gregory, as Showalter finished with 20 points and was the driving force in the game clinching run. WHile Gregory was active in multiple areas of the game, once again, finishing with 15 points in the win. Chloe Dennison also had a nice night for The Warriors as she had 12 points with three shots finding the mark from distance. On the other side, Ursuline was led by Both Lily Scott and Carly Casey who both finished with 15 points, followed by Kennedy Carpenter who had 7 points.
#2 West Branch (8-0) will now stay on the road, traveling to Columbiana County in a bout against #24 East Liverpool (4-4) on Saturday, December 23rd with an 11:30 a.m. tip-off. While #23 Ursuline (3-5) will be in-action next on Thursday, December 28th when they go on the road to battle South Range (1-5) as a part of The South Range Holiday Hoops Classic on YSN! Keep updated with both Warriors and Irish basketball this season with live games, scores, stats, stories and more on YSN!
