Girls Basketball: Westerville South notches ‘ugly win’ over Teays Valley in Thrill in the Ville finale
Sunday, December 3, 2023
By Michael Rich
mrich@cbussports.com
Westerville South’s Zoe Guice drives against Teays Valley on Dec. 3 at South. Photo: John Hulkenberg
Better to win ugly. That was certainly the feeling after the Westerville South girls basketball team defeated Teays Valley 36-24 in the finale of the Thrill in the Ville showcase on Dec. 3.
The teams combined for 33 steals and 47 turnovers and neither shot above 35%. The Wildcats gave up 11 points in the first quarter and held the Vikings to 13 the rest of the way.
“It’s just learning lessons,” said senior guard Zoe Guice, who had a game-best 11 points and eight steals and added five rebounds. “We’re not the cleanest and we’re not the most disciplined team yet. We’re still young and we’re just trying to get experience. It was an ugly win, but each game is getting better and better.”
In South coach Jermaine Guice’s eyes, two things accounted for the sloppy play: the Wildcats played their third game in three days and his team is a young group. South returns just 17 points per game from last year’s squad that averaged over 60 and won a Division I district championship and an OCC-Capital Division championship.
Westerville South’s CirRye White defends Teays Valley’s Charisma Roberts on Dec. 3 at South. Photo: John Hulkenberg
“That’s our second ugly win, but you gotta take it,” said coach Guice, who is Zoe’s father. “We’re getting better defensively. That’s been a lot of our focus. Hopefully that (translates) into us being better offensively.
“Last year, we averaged 68 points (per game) and we returned 17. So, we’ve got to get better. We’ve got to understand our concepts and understand spacing. Then, it’s just staying active and staying hungry. We’ll continue to get better.”
South (2-1) fell to Hudson Western Reserve 64-39 on Dec. 2 in its first game of the showcase a day after defeating Worthington Kilbourne 40-33 in another defensive slugfest to open league play.
“We got a lot of looks that didn’t fall for us,” coach Guice said. “I’m going to attribute that to playing three days in a row. I’m sure their legs are a little tired.”
The Wildcats trailed 11-7 after one quarter and 13-9 early in the second before going on an 8-0 run to take the lead for good. They led 17-15 at the break.
CirRye White scored five points and added two rebounds and a steal to spark an 11-2 run in the second half that put the game away for South. White finished with seven points, seven steals and five rebounds.
Westerville South coach Jermaine Guice celebrates near the end of the Wildcats’ game against Teays Valley on Dec. 3 at South. Photo: John Hulkenberg
Deziah Dupree had 10 points, eight blocks, six rebounds, three steals and a pair of assists for the Wildcats.
The game served as a good test for the Vikings (1-1), who will join the Ohio Capital Conference next season. Coach Trevor Younkin has amped up the schedule in preparation.
“I think (playing this kind of game) helps a lot because of the speed and athleticism,” he said. “The Mid-State League is tough in girls basketball. But this will definitely help us prepare for the OCC. You’ve got to learn to handle it.”
Kennedy Younkin, an East Tennessee State commit and the coach’s daughter, led Teays Valley with nine points, 10 rebounds and six steals.
Tessa Horsley added six points, eight rebounds and a pair of steals and Alyssa Horsley had four rebounds, three steals and three assists.
“We let their pressure speed us up and did not play our style of basketball,” coach Younkin said. “That part is disappointing. I know they’re better than they played. Westerville South played really well tonight. I give them credit (because) they played three games in a row. That’s pretty good playing three games in a row and playing like that.”