Shawnee changes direction

SHAWNEE TOWNSHIP - After Tuesday's loss at Lima Senior, Shawnee junior Samantha Robison and her Indians basketball teammates knew something had to change. Robison admitted she had to step up for her team.

Robison came up large in Thursday's 72-46 win over Ottawa-Glandorf in the Western Buckeye League opener for both. She scored 23 points, including 11 in the second quarter, to lead three Shawnee players in double figures.

"We know Tuesday night that's not the team we're used to," Robison said. "That's just was not Shawnee basketball. We wanted to come out in the WBL opener and tried to prove who Shawnee was what we were made of."

Kieona Foster and Hailey Griffo each added 11 points for Shawnee.

The 6-foot Robison made 2-of-4 3-pointers while also using her size inside on the blocks. She pulled in four rebounds.

"I thought it was one of the best games I've ever seen her play," Shawnee coach Jeff Heistan said.

On the Wednesday separating the Lima Senior loss from the O-G matchup, Heistan pushed his team more than normal. He sent them up and down the floor, driving them hard. He had a point to make.

"We didn't do everything right, but we played with a desire and intensity that we didn't have in the last two basketball games," Heistan said. "This is just what the doctor ordered. We needed this game to come back from what we went through at Lima Senior."

The Indians (2-2, 1-0 WBL) feasted on 42 turnovers from the Titans. The gaffes led to 38 points.

"We knew the pressure would crack them," Robison said. "We started the pressure off quick and kept it up through the game."

The flip side of the pressure was early foul trouble. Shawnee committed 10 fouls in the first quarter and sent O-G to the line 29 times. Despite all of that, Shawnee never trailed and opened a 27-11 lead after one quarter.

Shawnee wasn't immune from the turnover bug, either, losing possession 21 times. The Indians had 14 in the first half, yet they nearly doubled up the Titans by halftime, leading 44-23.

"There's a trade off for playing that hard," Heistan said. "Our intention was to come out and go as hard as we could go and kind of play reckless, just so we could get going again."

In the later portion of the first quarter, the Indians expanded a 5-4 lead with a 22-7 run, ignited by a Brittney Croft 3-pointer from the left corner. Samantha Dervisevic had six points and Griffo had five in the run.

The good news for the Titans (0-3, 0-1 WBL) was their effort on the boards, outrebounding Shawnee 35-23. They also made 21 free throws, including 15 of 22 in the first half.

Jenna Ellerbrock led the team with 15 points and Tara Wehri added 10. Kim Bingley had eight points and 11 rebounds.

Still, all the effort couldn't match the mental lapses and mistakes.

"We continue to work on that in practice. It just hasn't shown itself in a game yet," O-G coach Lori Smith said. "We're just not at that level. Until the kids learn more basketball sense, more nights like these are going to happen."