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Do IT this week: Layering
6-4 Malina Howard returns after her All-Ohio season
By Jim Isabella
Special to the Beacon Journal
POSTED: 06:58 p.m. EST, Nov 18, 2009
Two years ago, Julie Solis was watching an eighth-grade basketball game. A very tall young girl caught the eye of the then Solon girls basketball coach.
''I was thinking I'd love to have her [on her team],'' Solis said.
She was watching R.B. Chamberlin Middle School's Malina Howard play.
Now, Solis' wish has been granted.
In her first season as Twinsburg's varsity coach, Solis has inherited Howard, a 6-foot-4 sophomore. Howard was voted to the All-Ohio first team as a freshman last year after averaging 16.1 points, 4.1 rebounds, 3.4 assists and 2.7 steals.
She was the only one of the seven-member team who was not a senior.
''Malina is a sweet, down-to-earth kid,'' Solis said. ''You would never know that she gets a lot of attention from people. She has goals and aspirations and I'm excited about helping her obtain them.''
One of those goals seems quite obvious to anyone who has seen her play.
''I want to get a Division I scholarship to play basketball,'' Howard said. ''There are things I need to work on. I need to work on cutting harder to the basket, setting screens, improving on defense and using more moves in the post.
''I look up to my teammate Katie Fox. She's always working hard and never lets anyone beat her when she is on defense.''
Solis knows Howard has the skills and talent to play big-time basketball.
''She is very calm-mannered. She is a good shooter outside from 10 to 12 feet. She takes coaching well and wants to get better. I would like her to be more aggressive in the paint and to get more vocal,'' Solis said.
That will be important this season.
The Tigers lost some superb leaders to graduation from a team that won back-to-back Northeast Ohio Conference titles in a program that had just four previous banners to hang in its gym.
One of the biggest departed leaders is guard Katie Whittington. Howard wants to ease into such a role.
''I want to be a leader, but I don't want to get anyone mad at me,'' Howard said. ''We've bonded a lot as a group this year.''
Howard's reputation started in grade school when word of her talent started to travel. Some of the best coaches in the nation, such as Tennessee's Pat Summitt, have watched her play going back to grade school and she is high on college recruiting lists.
She displays a variety of talents and a lot of raw ability.
''She is tall and you can't teach height. There are not a lot of tall girls that are especially athletic like Malina,'' Solis said.
Howard knows she must grow as a player.
''I realize that what I do in high school doesn't mean it will work in college. The game is different as you move up to that level,'' Howard said.
Howard began playing basketball in third grade while her family was living in Mantua.
''My aunt, Michelle DeLong-Carter was coaching a team in Garrettsville and got me on the team and I enjoyed it,'' she said.
Her nickname is Moe as in Moe Howard of Three Stooges fame, which came from teammate Nicole Mabry.
It fits, not because of how she treats people, but in the way she can slap an attempted basketball shot away with the same force as Moe used to slap Larry, Curly or Shemp after they did something as silly as challenging Howard in the lane.
''She can play good defense low or come outside and play on the perimeter,'' Solis said.
Howard admitted she is superstitious ''about everything,'' including her basketball success.
''If we are winning, I'll wear the same undergarments and socks. If we lose, I'll change everything,'' Howard said.
Then she adds quickly, ''When we are winning, I do wash my clothes between games.''
Read the high school blog at http://www.ohiomm.com/blogs/varsity_letters/. Also on Twitter at http://twitter.com/ABJ_Preps.
Two years ago, Julie Solis was watching an eighth-grade basketball game. A very tall young girl caught the eye of the then Solon girls basketball coach.
''I was thinking I'd love to have her [on her team],'' Solis said.
She was watching R.B. Chamberlin Middle School's Malina Howard play.
Now, Solis' wish has been granted.
In her first season as Twinsburg's varsity coach, Solis has inherited Howard, a 6-foot-4 sophomore. Howard was voted to the All-Ohio first team as a freshman last year after averaging 16.1 points, 4.1 rebounds, 3.4 assists and 2.7 steals.
She was the only one of the seven-member team who was not a senior.
''Malina is a sweet, down-to-earth kid,'' Solis said. ''You would never know that she gets a lot of attention from people. She has goals and aspirations and I'm excited about helping her obtain them.''
One of those goals seems quite obvious to anyone who has seen her play.
''I want to get a Division I scholarship to play basketball,'' Howard said. ''There are things I need to work on. I need to work on cutting harder to the basket, setting screens, improving on defense and using more moves in the post.
''I look up to my teammate Katie Fox. She's always working hard and never lets anyone beat her when she is on defense.''
Solis knows Howard has the skills and talent to play big-time basketball.
''She is very calm-mannered. She is a good shooter outside from 10 to 12 feet. She takes coaching well and wants to get better. I would like her to be more aggressive in the paint and to get more vocal,'' Solis said.
That will be important this season.
The Tigers lost some superb leaders to graduation from a team that won back-to-back Northeast Ohio Conference titles in a program that had just four previous banners to hang in its gym.
One of the biggest departed leaders is guard Katie Whittington. Howard wants to ease into such a role.
''I want to be a leader, but I don't want to get anyone mad at me,'' Howard said. ''We've bonded a lot as a group this year.''
Howard's reputation started in grade school when word of her talent started to travel. Some of the best coaches in the nation, such as Tennessee's Pat Summitt, have watched her play going back to grade school and she is high on college recruiting lists.
She displays a variety of talents and a lot of raw ability.
''She is tall and you can't teach height. There are not a lot of tall girls that are especially athletic like Malina,'' Solis said.
Howard knows she must grow as a player.
''I realize that what I do in high school doesn't mean it will work in college. The game is different as you move up to that level,'' Howard said.
Howard began playing basketball in third grade while her family was living in Mantua.
''My aunt, Michelle DeLong-Carter was coaching a team in Garrettsville and got me on the team and I enjoyed it,'' she said.
Her nickname is Moe as in Moe Howard of Three Stooges fame, which came from teammate Nicole Mabry.
It fits, not because of how she treats people, but in the way she can slap an attempted basketball shot away with the same force as Moe used to slap Larry, Curly or Shemp after they did something as silly as challenging Howard in the lane.
''She can play good defense low or come outside and play on the perimeter,'' Solis said.
Howard admitted she is superstitious ''about everything,'' including her basketball success.
''If we are winning, I'll wear the same undergarments and socks. If we lose, I'll change everything,'' Howard said.
Then she adds quickly, ''When we are winning, I do wash my clothes between games.''
Read the high school blog at http://www.ohiomm.com/blogs/varsity_letters/. Also on Twitter at http://twitter.com/ABJ_Preps.
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