Pickerington Central not limping into postseason after 67-43 win over Dublin Coffman

DUBLIN, Ohio – Even as he limped off the court in obvious pain, Pickerington Central girls basketball coach Chris Wallace had a huge grin on his face.

Wallace, who injured his lower right leg while bursting out his chair during the first quarter of the Tigers’ 67-43 rout of Dublin Coffman on Tuesday, wasn’t about to let any physical pain dampen how pleased he was with his team’s performance.

“I think I tore my Achilles (tendon), but I’m still smiling and in a good mood, because we just won at all three levels here tonight,” said Wallace, whose squad improved to 17-4 overall. “I’m not even sure how I did it because all I did was stand up, but I’d rather that this happen to me instead of one of the players, because I’m not making any shots.

“Dublin Coffman’s one of the best teams in our region, so obviously it took a good team effort. When you beat a team like them by this many points, it’s hard to say that this wasn’t the best we’ve played over an entire game this season.”

Playing against a Coffman lineup that features three Division I college recruits in 6-foot-2 senior wing Tessa Grady (Wisconsin), 6-0 senior combo guard Jenna Kopyar (undecided) and 6-0 senior forward Keiryn McGuff (Bowling Green), Berry Wallace scored 13 of her team-high 17 points in the first two quarters to help the Tigers jump out to a 36-21 halftime lead.

The 6-1 junior forward, who is getting recruited by several Division I college programs, scored most of her points in the paint while making 8 of her 11 field goal attempts.

“I love playing against great competition with top-level players, because it shows what I can become,” said Berry Wallace, who is Chris’ daughter. “We came out aggressive and played within ourselves. We like to start (scoring) from the inside out. Whenever I have someone shorter guarding me or if I just think I’m stronger than them, I try to get easy buckets in the post.”

Senior guard Taylor Kelley, a Tiffin University recruit, stretched Central’s lead to 36-19 just before halftime by making back-to-back 3-pointers. Kelley had missed most of this season while recovering from a knee injury.

“Taylor played a lot of minutes and knocked down some big threes,” Berry Wallace said.

After missing her first five shots, senior point guard Madison Greene made four consecutive field goals and scored all nine of her points in the third quarter. The Vanderbilt recruit nailed a 3-pointer on her last shot of the third quarter, as the Tigers grabbed a commanding 55-28 advantage heading into the fourth period.

“The third quarter was critical because they are a really good team, so our emphasis was to finish it,” Chris Wallace said. “Defensively, this was one of our better efforts. They have three Division I players, so holding them to 43 points is pretty good.”

Trinity Jackson and Olivia Cooper each scored 11 points, while Kelley (6), Riley Bess (4), Jaden Tucker (4), Blossom Wallace (3) and Kennedy Gordon (2) rounded out Central’s scoring.

Cooper, a Columbia recruit, went 6-for-6 from the foul line and helped hold Grady to 3-for-12 shooting from the field.

“We moved the ball well and shot it well,” Chris Wallace said. “When we’re this balanced, we’re tough to beat.”

Kopyar scored 17 points to lead the Shamrocks, followed by McGuff (11), Grady (8), Avery Mather (3), Jamila Jones (2) and Peyton Mather (2).

Grady made a 3-pointer midway through the first quarter to put Coffman ahead 6-5, for its only lead of the game.

“We were intense and rebounded well, but we just didn’t shoot it well,” said Coffman coach Adam Banks, whose squad dropped to 16-5 overall. “Our game plan was to eliminate dribble penetration, but then they hit a bunch of threes; so we would take away one thing and another thing would hit us in the head.

“They are a really good, well-coached team, and they shot it great. Hopefully, we’ll see them again in the regional semifinals.”

Coffman defeated Central 51-41 in a regional semifinal a year ago, after losing to the Tigers 55-53 in the regular season.

The top-seeded Tigers and fourth-seeded Shamrocks are both favored to win their brackets of this year’s Division I district tournament, and they would meet in a regional semifinal 8 p.m. Feb. 28 at Westerville South, if they both capture district titles.

“Coffman put us out in the regional semis last year, and they sent a message to us by choosing the bracket where they could see us there again,” Chris Wallace said. “If we’re going to win out, we’re going to have to find a way to beat them a second time.”