Season Review
*** Information for the 1977 season comes from the TVHS yearbook and newspaper archives

The 1977 girls' basketball team entered unchartered territory as the Trojans began league play in the newly formed All-Ohio Conference. The Trojans were the smallest school in the new league as the girls would battle with Manchester, Orrville, Triway, Fairless, & West Holmes

The Trojans opened the season against another large schools as they faced off with Stark County's Perry Panthers. Despite 19 points & 15 rebounds from senior Linda Deibel the Trojans fell short as they dropped their opener 36-34. The Trojans then faced the Garaway Pirates in their final non-league game of the regular season. Once again the Trojans came up short as the Pirates defeated them 40-31 to drop the Trojans to 0-2.

Tusky Valley opened AOC play with a 41-28 victory over Manchester behind Deibel's 28 points and 10 rebounds as the Trojans improved to 1-2.

Up next for the Trojans was a trip to Orrville on February 10th. This game would be the turning point of the season. The Trojans trailed throughout the game and entered the final quarter down 36-28. Tusky Valley then exploded as they scored the first 8 points of the quarter to tie the game at 36 with six minutes remaining. The Trojans didn't let up as they would go on to score 28 points in the final quarter and pull away for a 56-40 victory. The comeback was highlighted by a record breaking performance by Linda Deibel. Deibel scored 14 points during the fourth quarter to give her 37 points on the night to go along with 16 rebounds. The 37 points was a new school and county record for girls' basketball.

The following game the Trojans hosted new league rival Triway. Once again the Trojans trailed for nearly the entire game. The Trojans trailed by as many as seven points in the third quarter but rallied back to cut the deficit to 33-32 with 14 seconds remaining. The Trojans missed a shot but Tina Kerns grabbed a key offensive rebound and then found Deibel for a layup as the buzzer sounded to give Tusky Valley a 34-33 victory. It was the only time the Trojans led the entire game.

The comeback kids were at it again the following game vs. Fairless. Trailing 12-5 after the first quarter the Trojans began to rally back and had cut the Fairless lead to 31-28 entering the final stanza. In the decisive fourth quarter the Trojans outscored Fairless 9-2 to pull out the 37-33 win for their third consecutive come from behind victory.

After convincing wins vs. Manchester and West Holmes the Trojans found themselves in a familiar spot in the rematch with Orrville. Once again the Trojans trailed nearly the entire game and were behind 28-25 entering the fourth quarter. Tusky Valley then turned on the offense as they scored 16 points in the final quarter to pull out a 44-41 victory.

The Trojans pulled out another close victory when they held off a charge from Triway and downed the Titans 37-35 behind 21 points and 16 rebounds from Deibel while freshman Pam Smith made her mark with 11 points. The victory improved Tusky Valley's record to 8-2 overall and a perfect 8-0 in the AOC.

The Trojans then faced Fairless on March 7th with a chance to wrap up the AOC crown. Once again Deibel was dominant as the senior scored 26 points and grabbed 14 rebounds. The Trojans held a slight 29-28 lead entering the fourth quarter. The lead changed throughout the final quarter and the Trojans found themselves trailing 42-41 late in the game. The Trojans, who had come through in the clutch so many times during the season, saw their chance for victory go away when they turned the ball over on the final possession and the Falcons knocked off Tusky Valley 44-41.

With the loss to Fairless the Trojans stood at 8-1 in AOC play while Fairless stood at 9-1. Tusky Valley still had one game remaining vs. West Holmes. Tusky Valley next game would be against West Holmes on March 9th but this was the first round of the OHSAA state tournament and not a league game. In that game Tusky Valley defeated 31-17 to advance to the sectional finals vs. Tri-Valley on March 11th.

The sectional finals vs. Tri-Valley did not start off well as the Trojans found themselves behind 17-5 after the opening quarter. Tusky Valley cut the lead to six at the intermission but were unable to continue their comeback in the second half as the Scotties pulled away to a 52-35 victory despite 14 points from Deibel and 11 from Smith.

With tournament play over the Trojans still had a game to play vs. West Holmes. Tusky Valley traveled to Millersburg on March 14th to face the Knights. Once again the Trojans would find themselves in a nail biter but this time they would not be able to pull it out as they were defeated 32-31. The loss cost the Trojans a share of the AOC title.

Linda Deibel scored 265 points in the 14 games in which we can account for individual point totals. Unfortunately there is no box score for the final game vs. West Holmes.

Linda Deibel and Tenia Kerns were named members of the All-Ohio Conference All Star team while Pam Smith received honorable mention.