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Warriors, Quakers fast out of the gates

West Branch’s Brenna Rito (3) picks up a loose ball and drives downcourt around Lakeside’s MaKenna Condon (12) on Saturday at West Branch High School.

BELOIT — As a top seed, it can be easy to get distracted during the early stages of the postseason and start gazing down the road at potential future opponents.

The West Branch girls basketball team made sure, however, that it’s focus was in the right place for Saturday’s Division II section opener.

The top-seeded Warriors shot 40 percent from three-point range and dominated the rebounding and turnover battles in a drama-free 89-32 win over 13th-seeded Ashtabula Lakeside at West Branch High School.

“I thought we did a good job taking care of business today,” West Branch coach Walt DeShields said. “In tournaments you don’t ever look ahead and I think this team is ready for that. I could see from their focus at the start of the game that they weren’t looking beyond today.”

The Warriors — who ended the regular season ranked fifth in the Division II state poll — improve to 21-2 overall by winning their 19th straight game. They advance to host 12th-seeded Hubbard in a sectional final matchup at 7 p.m. Thursday.

It took a little bit for West Branch’s shooting to get fully warmed up, but the Warriors were still able to build a 22-6 first quarter lead thanks to the disruption their defensive pressure caused, as well as a 15-4 edge on the boards in the opening frame

“Defensively we did a great job especially early in the game,” DeShields said. “We forced them to be uncomfortable and they weren’t able to run much of their offense early on. A lot of girls were active in getting steals.”

West Branch took complete command with a 35-0 run which spanned most of the second quarter and half of the third.

DeShields began dipping into his bench early and often, resulting in ten different players scoring at least four points. Five different players nailed three-pointers, led by Emma Rankin with three.

Backup guard Grace Heath scored a game-high 13 points, while Sarrah Tennefoss added 12 points and Kayla Hovorka had 11 points. Shannon Wolfe led the rebounding effort with eight boards. Tennefoss and Hovorka each chipped in seven as the much bigger Warriors outrebounded the Dragons 46-12.

“We had a lot of girls get involved and they did a great job,” DeShields said. “We also shot very well especially from the perimeter. When we can get inside-outside action on our offense, that really carries us.”

The Dragons (1-22) were led by Tamara Olavarria with 11 points.

“West Branch has a quality team here,” Lakeside coach Bill Isco said. “Their pressure really got to us early. A lot of times we couldn’t even start our offense because of their athleticism.”

Before the Warriors take the court against Hubbard on Thursday, DeShields wants to keep honing the little things.

“We need to keep working on our communication at both ends of the floor,” DeShields said. “We’ve got some quiet girls that need to continue to work on their talking. Also we need to keep making sure our passing and execution on offense is nice and sharp.”

Game notes

• Twenty-four of Lakeside’s 32 points came via the three-pointer.

• The Dragons were faced with a 90-minute trip to West Branch High School.

“We got put in this district because our school is hosting the Division II district up there,” Isco said. “You’re not allowed to be in a district if you’re hosting it.”

LAKESIDE: 6- 2- 9-15–32

WEST BRANCH: 22-21-27-19–89

LAKESIDE SCORING: Tamara Olavarria 4-0-11, Carly Aponte 2-2-7, Nikki Kelly 0-0-0, Dazhee Campbell 1-0-3, Mariah Morton 1-0-2, Makenna Condon 3-0-9, Dani Melnik 0-0-0. TEAM TOTALS: 11, 2-2: 32.

WEST BRANCH SCORING: Brenna Rito 3-0-7, Grace Heath 5-1-13, Kirsten Plocher 0-0-0, Hannah Ridgway 4-0-8, Emma Rankin 3-0-9, Delaney Rito 0-0-0, Kayla Hovorka 4-3-11, Sarrah Tennefoss 4-2-12, Peyton Alazaus 4-1-10, Shannon Wolfe 2-1-5, Natalie Zuchowski 3-4-10, Jessica Bock 2-0-4, Carly Scarpitti 0-0-0. TEAM TOTALS: 34, 12-18: 89.

Three-point goals: Lakeside 8 (Olavarria 3, Condon 3, Campbell, Aponte), West Branch 9 (Rankin 3, Tennefoss 2, Heath 2, Rito, Alazuas)

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