CANTON -- With 18 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter, Twinsburg seniors Jenn Mohney and Hillary Southworth were subbed out of the game, walking off the court for the last time as Tigers.

 

It wasn't how they wanted to leave the court.
 

The fourth-ranked Tigers lost to ninth-ranked Canton McKinley 53-43 in the Division I Regional Finals at the Canton Memorial Civic Center on Friday. It was déjà vu for the Tigers as they returned to the arena where they lost to McKinley in the regional semifinals, just a year earlier.

It was the first game this season since their first game -- a  loss against Hathaway Brown -- that the Tigers (23-2) were down from the beginning and couldn’t catch up.

As the final buzzer sounded, the teammates lowered their heads as they accepted the realization that they would not be competing next week in the state tournament.

Guard Jenn Mohney, who scored four points in the game, said walking off the court for the last time she tried to focus on the good memories of her senior season.

“That will be the last time that me and Hillary will ever play together,” she said as her eyes filled with tears. “We’ve been best friends since we were 5. So that was probably the hardest thing, watching us walk off together. But at least we walked off together.”

Mohney said being a senior and leading her team to the regional finals was a good feeling.

“It brought leadership,” Mohney said. “I know me and Hillary had to step it up, but we did the best we could.”

Mohney finished out her senior season despite having two concussions earlier in the season. After her second injury, Mohney chose to not sit out the next game. She pointed to her team when asked what made her come back.

It’s loyalty like hers that brought this close-knit team so far.

Forward Hillary Southworth, who had nine points in the game, transferred to Twinsburg from Regina her junior year, a move, she says, was the best decision of her life.

“These girls are my family,” Southworth said. “They were just a blast to play with. I’m so glad I got the opportunity to do that.”

Southworth paused and lowered her head as she tried to catch her breath.

“It hurts a lot,” she said. “We were the better team. It hurts to know that we could have gone to the final four for the first year. It’s like a blow to the chest. It’s just the worst feeling.”

From the first quarter the Tigers just couldn’t seem to catch up after trailing by seven. But after a 3-point shot by freshman Ashley Morrissette brought the score up to 30-28, the Tigers’ intensity seemed to pick up. By the end of the third quarter, the game was tied.

But the Tigers couldn’t hold on.

A series of fouls and missed rebounds set the Tigers back further and further until McKinley scored enough to become unreachable with a minute to go.

Coach Julie Solis said McKinley was a double-edged sword, playing tough defense and turning around to hit almost every shot.

Sophomore center Malina Howard was the leading scorer for the Tigers with 17 points. After being subbed out of the game with 30 seconds to go, she said she knew it was over.

“I felt disappointed,” she said. “We fought hard to get back in it, but then, I don’t know, we just let it go. It's hard knowing that we were the better team and we should have been the ones there. But we just let it slip away.”

Their unexpected defeat has made the Tigers perhaps even hungrier for next season.

“We never want to feel like this again,” Howard said. “It’s been two years in a row.”

Without their returning seniors, Howard said the team will be different.

“They’re going to be big shoes to fill,” she said. “But we’re going to have to because they brought something to the team.”