Tag Archive for: OHSAA Tournaments

POLAND RUNS OUT OF MAGIC IN BARBERTON

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BARBERTON OH- The journey to get to this point for Poland could be described as nothing other than magical. Poland won two straight games that literally came down to the last shot. One game, a buzzer went their way, and in another a buzzer beater didn’t go their opponents way. Their regional semifinal opponent was no stranger to magical finishes either. Perry secured a spot in this game with a wild buzzer beater from 35 feet to beat Salem. It’s no coincidence that these two teams were set to meet at Barberton, the home of the Magic. It was Perry that left the Bulldogs looking for more magic, and never finding it. The Pirates defense was too much, and they defeated Poland 43-23.

Mary Brant led the Bulldogs with 6 points. Although seven Bulldogs scored, no one else got above 4 points.

Perry had three players in double figures being led by their program’s leading scorer Madyson Hacking who scored 15. Elle Infalvi and Marcela Rodriguez both out in 10 for the Pirates.

Perry will play Laurel in the regional championship on Friday night at 7:00. Poland ends their season at 22-3.

BIG TIGER RUN PROPELS THEM TO FINALS

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NEW MIDDLETOWN OH- It was a very intriguing matchup in Tuesday’s district semifinal between Springfield and Champion. The Flashes record on paper might not measure up to Springfield, but when you break down the way they started the season, to how they finished it is easy to tell they were playing a great brand of basketball. After trailing at halftime 22-20, the Tigers used a huge 11-0 run to win the second half 34-19 on route to a 54-41 victory.

The Tigers were led by both Alex Rothwell, and Beau Brungard who finished with 14 each. Adam Wharry added 13 points to contribute to the Tiger offense.

Austin Wilforth played admirably for the Flashes scoring a game high 19 points to lead Champion.

Springfield hosts the winner of South Range vs Pymatuning Valley.  That game got moved to Wednesday to off set South Range’s girls team playing in the regional semifinals on Tuesday. The district final at Springfield will be Friday at 7:00.

RAIDERS ONE STEP CLOSER

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CUYAHOGA FALLS OH- South Range had clear goals this season to take the next step as a program and get themselves into the state tournament. On Tuesday night, the Raiders got one step closer to their goals with hard fought 51-44 win over Warrensville Heights.

The Raiders couldn’t have asked for a better start as their press defense led to a couple early east buckets. They were up 9-2 before you could blink. At the end of the first quarter they were up 19-9.

The hard fighting Tigers would not go down willingly though. They used some perimeter daggers, and fast paced offense to outscore the Raiders 16-7 in the second quarter and head into the halftime trailing by just 1. 26-25.

The Tigers took that momentum and ran with it out of the third quarter. They took their first lead scoring the first four points of the third quarter to go up 29-26. That’s the last time the Raiders would trail as they went on a 8-0 run to respond. Still though, the Tigers ran right with the Raiders and only trailed by two after 3 41-39.

The Raiders defense locked down in the fourth to hold the Tigers to just 5 points in the final frame. South Range would hit free throws down the stretch to win this one 51-44.

Izzy Lamparty has a huge night on her birthday leading the Raiders with 26 points and 7 rebounds. Lexi Giles has a big second half finishing with 14 points. Giles got two threes to help propel that important 8-0 run in the third quarter.

Warrensville Heights was led by Jada Ward who finished with 13 points. Welline Tere was also in double figures with 11 points.

South Range advances to the regional final on Saturday at 1:00 at Cuyahoga Falls. They will play the winner of Waynedale vs Garfield which will be played Wednesday night at 6:15.

PIRATES STEAL ONE FROM SALEM AT THE BUZZER

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A once in a lift-time shot sunk the Salem Lady Quakers Saturday night as the Perry Pirates defeated the Quakers  41-40 in the Division II finals match-up.

Salem’s Krista Barley drained her 3 point shot to give Salem a 40-38 lead with just over 4 seconds remaining, then Perrys Marcella Rodriguez  threw up a 40 foot prayer that found the bottom of the net to snatch the victory from the Quakers.

The Quakers started out the contest very slow as the Pirates grabbed a 14 zip 1st quarter lead and led at the midway mark 21-12, but Salem had a huge 3rd period   out scoring Perry 18-5 to take a 30-26 advantage heading into the last quarter. The final frame was a back and forth affair that set up the wild finish.

The Lady Quakers wrap up their season with a 16-6 mark and a share of the EBC title.

Nine players scored for Salem with Abbie Davidson leading the way with 11 points. Perry  now is 21-4 and will face off in a regional semi-final battle with the Poland Bulldogs on Tuesday evening.

*Contributed by YSN’s Gary Leininger

POLAND THROWS LAST PUNCH TO WIN DISTRICT CROWN

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POLAND OH- It was expected to be a thriller on Saturday between two seeded Poland and three seeded Marlington. The game lived up to the hype as it went back and forth all night. Poland was able to throw the final punch to come away with the 40-38 win.

Poland led most of a very close and competitive first half. With two tenth of a second left in the half though, Marlington hit two free throws to take a one point 24-23 lead into the locker room. The second half is when the game got very wild, as the two teams seem to trade leads through out the final two quarters. Neither team could pull away.

Min the final moments both teams had a handful of one point leads. It was Marlington that had a 38-37 lead late in the game. Poland got a huge shot to make it 39-38, but then an all important free throw to put them up 40-38. A three from the Dukes at the buzzer bounced off that back iron and that would be the final score of the game.

Poland had three players reach double figures on the day. Jackie Grisdale led the way with 14 points. Mary Brant continued her impressive first dose of tournament play scoring 11 points. Morgan Kluchar battled for 10 points.

Poland advances to the regional semifinals against Perry, who won on a buzzer beater against Salem in their district championship. That game will take place at Barberton High School on Tuesday night at 8:15.

RESERVE RUNS AWAY WITH DISTRICT TITLE

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BERLIN CENTER OH- Western Reserve didn’t have any struggles on Saturday subduing East Canton in the Division IV Northeast 2 District Championship game. Reserve ran away with the game 50-26 to get the district trophy.

Both teams started fairly slow on offense, but Reserve was still able to put a little distance from them and the Wizards. It was a 9-3 Blue Devil lead after the first quarter, and a 29-10 lead by the halftime break. Reserve came out in the third and scored the first six points to really seal the deal.

Dani Vuletich led the Devils with a strong 24 point performance. She came one rebound shy of a double double gathering 9 boards. Olivia Pater was also in double figures scoring 12.

Western Reserve advances to regional semifinals on Thursday as they’ll matchup with McDonald for the third time this season. That game will take place at Massillon Perry and tip is set for 8:00.

RAIDERS REPEAT AS DISTRICT CHAMPS

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CANFIELD OH- South Range made it to their sixth district championship game in eight seasons on Saturday. A familiar foe lined up on the other side. Brookfield and South Range were meeting in the district title game for the third time in eight seasons. Brookfield gave South Range everything they could, but in the end the Raiders would do enough to finish off the Warriors 41-30 and win their second straight district championship.

The game got off to a slow offensive start. Both teams were playing incredible defense. The Raiders led by just one point after a quarter 7-6.

Second year starter Mallory Vidman came up big for the Raiders in the first half while their leading scorer was struggling to score. Vidman put in an important six points in the first half to give the Raiders a boost. They led 16-11 at the break.

Brookfield was not going away without a fight though. Their defense consistently forced the Raiders in to tough shots, causing a poor field goal percentage. The Warriors has their best quarter out of the locker room scoring 11 points in the frame.

The Raiders broke free in the final stanza though as they finally got a little rhythm on offense and scored 13 points in the fourth. The Raiders forced three turnovers in Brookfield final three possessions and scored on each to pull away for the 41-30 win.

Izzy Lamparty led the Raiders with 16 points. Ten of those points came in the third quarter. Vidman finished with an important 9 points for the Raiders while Lexi Giles contributed 7.

Katie Logan took the charge for Brookfield scoring 9 points. Seven of her nine points came from the free throw line. Audrey Reardon finished with 8 points for the Warriors.

The Raiders continue their tournament run Tuesday night as they take on Warrensville Heights in the regional semifinals. That game will be held at Cuyahoga Falls High School.

LEOPARDS END SALEM’S RUN

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SALEM OH- The Salem Quakers went up against a buzz-saw as the visiting Louisville Leopards cut down the Quakers 75-61 in Friday nights tournament action.

The Leopards came to play as they led by 17 points in the 1st half and   Louisville pounded the boards bringing down 38 boards while the Quakers had 22. Salem closed the gap in the final frame getting to within 8 points but the Leopards put the finishing touches from the free throw line, canning  9 of them in the final minutes.

Junior Jon Null paced the Quakers with 19 points with Drew Weir netting 15 points and Hunter Griffith scoring 11 points.

Leading the way for Louisville was a 20 points effort from  sophomore guard Will Aljancic and  freshman Hayden Nigro added 17 points. Salem wraps up their season with a 16-8 record and a share of the EBC.

Louisville moves on as they will travel to Poland to take on the Bulldogs Thursday night in a Division II semi-final contest.

*Contributed By YSN’s Gary Leininger

CANFIELD EARNS RIGHT TO HOST IN DISTRICT SEMIS

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YOUNGSTOWN OH- Both teams came into the game with 12 wins in the regular season.  However, as they say, once the tournament starts, throw the records out and instead, it’s either you are one and 0 and get another opportunity, but if you lose, no second chances as the fifth seeded Ursuline Irish who had a bye hosted the 10th seeded Canfield Cardinals who were coming off of a big win against 23rd seeded Ravenna 

 

First Half

The first half saw the Irish get up to a seven nothing run really early with buckets from Terrance Pankey who was in concussion protocol just a week ago, Will Burney and Brady Shannon.  However, Canfield would come with their own power in the first from Jake Grdic who scored 10 points as it was 20-19 at the end of the first.  

 

In the second, the Cardinals would find that momentum as Ursuline struggled with the turnovers.  Canfield was led by Trey Dye who looked like another Trey in Trae Young shooting dimes and making good fundamental moves.  Dye last week did not play in the second half due to his back, but played through this game even with a sore back.  Meanwhile for the Irish, they would only have a high of two points from Jakylan Irving along with Pankey and Geno Lucente.  At the half, the Cardinals were pulling away up 40-26.  

 

Second half 

The second half would not get any better for Ursuline.  Irving once again led the Irish and got some assistance from DeMarcus McElroy who had a two point field goal along with two made free throws.  Nick Pantelakis and Dye once again led the pack of cardinals who kept on flying away with the lead, stealing Ursuline’s lucky charms.  Ursuline would get some seniors in Tyler Beck who hit that same corner three against East and Zack Pipala as they would get some last minutes in with their career at Ursuline ticking away.  

 

In the end, even with the Irish cutting the lead thanks to eight points in the fourth from Shannon, it was Canfield, the tenth seeded Cardinals doing the unthinkable and getting the 80-68 victory eliminating the Irish from the OHSAA Division II NorthEast district one Tournament.  Keith Gunther’s team is already looking towards 2021-22. 

 

Ursuline Stats 

DeMarcus McElory 10pts 

 

Will Burney 3pts 

 

Tyler Beck 4pts

 

Jakylan Irving 13pts 

 

Geno Lucente 2pts 

 

Vince Flauto 3pts 

 

Jaden Payne 5pts 

 

Terrance Pankey 10pts 

 

Brady Shannon 18pts 

Canfield Stats 

Ryan Petro 6pts 

 

Nick Pantelakis 12pts 

 

Trey Dye 33pts 

 

Chase Lowry 5pts 

 

Jake Grudic 16pts 

 

Martine Escobar 4pts 

 

Jake Schneider 4pts 

Up Next 

10th seeded Canfield (12-9, 2-0 in playoffs) will face off against 14th seeded Chardon (10-9, 2-0 in playoffs) who just shocked the basketball world in Ohio upsetting Perry 79-66.  Game will be on March 4th at 7pm from Canfield.   

 

*Contributed by YSN’s Ian O’Brien*

 

 

TAYLOR’S 1000TH POINT COMES WITH CHANEY’S SECTIONAL WIN

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YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio –

Another playoff game, another victory by 30 plus points for the Chaney Cowboys (10-6). Although Chaney headed into the half up by 18 points, the consensus was the Cowboys played a sloppy first half.

Sharrod Taylor’s eclipsing of the 1000-point mark and becoming just the 2nd player in Chaney history to reach 1000 points highlighted the half, while Clive Wilson’s two second quarter dunks played second fiddle.

If Chaney’s first half play was considered sloppy, their second half play was the complete opposite, sharp. Picking up their defensive pressure, the Cowboys held the visiting Edgewood Warriors (5-10) to just 14 points in the half.

To match their defensive prowess, the Showtime Cowboys brought it on the offensive side as well. Five different players scored for the Cowboys in their 30–point 3rd quarter. Sharrod Taylor led the way with 10, while Josiah Gonzalez and Cam Lawrence added 7 and 6 of their own, respectively.

The only thing that could stop the Showtime Cowboys was the running clock. Instituted in the 4th quarter, the running clock held Chaney to just 14 points in the final quarter, leaving the Cowboys shy of the century mark, but still victorious, 91-43.

LEADING SCORERS:

Chaney

Sharrod Taylor – 30 points

Josiah Gonzalez – 15 points

Cam Lawrence – 12 points

Edgewood

Isaiah Harris – 12 points

Ben Welthy – 11 points

UP NEXT:

Chaney – Looking to make their third straight district final appearance, the Chaney Cowboys will host the West Branch Warriors (17-6) Thursday, March 4th at 7:00 pm. The #6 seed Warriors defeated Marlington, 58-50, in the previous round.

*Contributed By YSN’s Jamie Thomson