CUYAHOGA FALLS — What a difference a year makes.
At the conclusion of the 2009 regional tournament, the Smithville girls basketball team found itself on the wrong end of a 62-41 decision against the Regina Royals, the eventual Ohio High School Athletic Association Division III state champion.
Two days before a rematch in the regional finals, the OHSAA disqualified Regina, which closes its doors at the end of the school year, for the use of an ineligible player. Because of the change, Smithville drew Elyria Catholic, the last team Regina beat before the infraction was made public.
Not one to waste their chance at a state tournament appearance, the Smithies (25-1) posted a 58-30 win over Elyria Catholic and now head to the state Final Four in Columbus on Thursday.
"We were really looking forward to the rematch, seeing what we could’ve done, but obviously a huge opportunity was thrown at us," said Smithville senior forward Jenna Pew. "We really executed and it’s a great feeling to know that we’re going to go back to the state Final Four. Our team went in 2004 and I wasn’t a part of that. Our volleyball team was there and it shows our great leadership."
"It never gets old, does it?" joked Smithville coach Mike Miller. "Anytime you win a league championship, sectional, district, regional and you’re fortunate enough to go to state, it always feels good. That’s what you play for, to go one step further each game and that’s what we try to do; prepare for one game and keep working. Hopefully, you get to Columbus and see what you can do down there."
Though Smithville defeated Elyria Catholic, when news broke of Regina’s disqualification, Miller and his staff got a little nervous about the prospect of playing the Panthers. Elyria Catholic had three post players who could match Smithville’s size on the blocks and solid shooters in the backcourt.
"We were definitely scrambling at 3:30 on Thursday, acquiring game tape of Elyria Catholic," Miller said. "I made a stupid move. I threw the scouting report away from Wednesday night’s game. We chucked it. We said, ‘Okay, we’re playing Regina.’ Then, we find out we’re playing Elyria Catholic. In our heads, we knew a lot that they were going to do.
"We had the girls go home on Thursday and come back for practice at 5 p.m.," he added. "That allowed us to set up a practice plan for Elyria Catholic. We knew they played some 1-3-1 zone; we knew they played some 2-3; we knew (Ashley) Shuster was tough; we knew what (Emily) Taylor liked to do. We just did work and had a very productive practice. Then, it took us 'til about 9 o’clock to get the game tapes that we wanted and Friday at school, they gave us a professional day to break those down, find tendencies and set up a game plan for Friday’s practice."
The game plan early against Elyria Catholic was to establish Pew on the low block and let her attract most of the attention. Pew was able to give the Smithies a three-point lead at the end of the first quarter, but the inside-outside game really came together over the next eight minutes.
Senior point guard Alex Leister began the second quarter with a 3-pointer from the top of the arc, followed three minutes later by back-to-back triples from freshman guard Kylie Frizell. The Smithies started the period on a 10-0 run and pushed that to a 17-6 scoring advantage over the second quarter. Pew stepped out of the low post and hit a 3-pointer from the right wing less than 40 seconds into the third quarter. The Smithies outscored Elyria Catholic 18-6 in the third.
"They’ve done a great job of that their whole careers," said Miller. "Jenna’s not the tallest post in this state, she’s not the strongest post in this state, but I really believe she might have some of the best footwork in the state. You didn’t see all of it today because they doubled so much, but she does a tremendous job. Leister has always done a great job of delivering the basketball. She can shoot the 3-point shot. She can shoot the pull-up jumper off the dribble."
"Miller always wants us to make it wide so we can make cuts and make short passes and it worked out pretty good with Jenna being in the post," Leister said. "We can do inside-outside. When our posts get doubled, they can just kick it to our outsides for a 3 or something."
More Ohio preps stories
2. According to a release on its Web site, the Ohio High School Athletic Association has begun accepting proposals from around the state for those who would like to host the finals of the football playoffs. The current contract with the Canton/Stark County Convention and Visitor’s Bureau expires after the 2011 championships, which will be the 22nd consecutive year the championships are held in Stark County.
3. Hathaway Brown coasted to yet another Division II state final four appearance with a 63-35 win over Struthers in last Saturday’s regional final at Barberton High School. Hathaway Brown is the defending Division II state champion and has played in four consecutive final fours, finishing as the runners-up in 2007 and 2008.
4. It has been said many times that to be the man, you have to beat the man. Well, the Clearview (Lorain) Clippers know that better than most teams. The Clippers beat the two-time defending Westlake Division II boys district champion Vermilion Sailors in the semifinals and then cruised to a 61-29 win over top-seeded Bay in the finals two nights later. Clearview will play Thursday night in the regional semifinals against Celina at Bowling Green.
5. The Orrville Red Riders gave the Triway Titans a little bit of payback in last Friday’s district final at The College of Wooster. Having lost the annual non-conference meeting in overtime at Triway, Orrville bested the Titans 69-65 in the finals and will continue in the regionals Wednesday night against the Cleveland Central Catholic Ironmen at The Canton Memorial Fieldhouse.
Top performers
Zach Wasson, a 6-foot-5 junior at Orrville High School, scored nine points and corralled 14 rebounds in the win over Triway last Friday. During the game, Wasson also surpassed the 1,000-point mark for his career.
Despite a 4-1 loss in the state finals to Cleveland St. Ignatius, Austin Gryca, a sophomore goalie for the Sylvania Northview hockey team, stopped 28 of the 32 shots he faced from the Wildcats. Northview was outshot 32-17 in the finals. Gryca shut out Dublin Coffman in a 4-0 state semifinal victory.
Toledo Waite senior forward Natasha Howard had an All-American performance in the Indians’ 54-31 regional final victory over Perrysburg last week. Howard scored 17 points and pulled down 11 rebounds in helping Waite get to the state tournament. Shanice McNeal also netted a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds for the Indians.
Looking ahead
Madison (Middletown) (26-0) and Liberty-Benton (Findlay) are the only girls basketball teams that have a chance to finish the season with an undefeated run to the state championship. Madison will face Ironton (17-7) in the first Division III state semifinal, while Liberty-Benton (25-0) takes on Smithville (25-1) in the second semifinal Thursday afternoon at The Ohio State University’s Jerome Schottenstein Center.
Avon Lake vs. Mentor, boys basketball regional semifinal at Cleveland State University on Wednesday night. The Avon Lake Shoremen were seeded fourth in the Grafton district but defeated second-seeded Brunswick 54-44 and the No. 1 seed Medina 52-46 in successive games to advance to the regional. The Mentor Cardinals know all too well what Lorain County teams can do in postseason play. They were upended by the North Ridgeville Rangers in last season’s regional semifinal and are seeking redemption this time around.
The Division I girls basketball state semifinals Friday night. With four-time champion Mount Notre Dame (Cincinnati) getting knocked out of the tournament in the district semifinals, a new team will take the Division I crown. The combined record of Toledo Waite (23-2), Kettering Fairmont (22-2), Reynoldsburg (21-5) and Canton McKinley (23-3) is 89-12. Mount Notre Dame had won five of the last seven state titles and played in all seven of those finals.
Recruiting news
The Cleveland Plain Dealer reported Tuesday that Shaker Heights High School junior offensive lineman Antonio Underwood has made an oral commitment to play college football for the Ohio State Buckeyes. Though he has made a verbal commitment, nothing is official until Underwood signs a National Letter of Intent next February.
Matt’s minutes
There is a fine line between trying to prove you are the best team on the court and embarrassing your opponents. Often in the early rounds of the postseason, Cinderella runs meet abrupt and lopsided endings, but how much is too much? One such game in the first round of the girls Division IV basketball tournament, whose schools I will not identify, had a differential of 74 points with the losing team failing to make it to five points for a GAME total.
Clearly overmatched by a state-ranked team, what possible good could the losing team draw from such a setback? Coaches are supposed to be mentors for the players and representatives of a community, but I think these types of games can send mixed messages. There is more than a little irony for this community to continue supporting a perennial contender that embarrasses its opponents while complaining every year about a disproportionate amount of state championships being won by private schools when they have a "dynasty" in their own back yard.
Matt Florjancic currently works as a freelance sports reporter and announcer for WOBL and WDLW Radio.
