Walsh Jesuit and Canton McKinley take home district semifinal wins to set up showdown for district crown

MASSILLON, Ohio – Walsh Jesuit and Canton McKinley advanced to the district finals with wins over Riverside and Ellet, respectively, on Tuesday night at Perry High School.

The top two seeds in the Northeast 1 bracket of the Division I Northeast super district, second-seeded McKinley (21-4) and fifth-seeded Walsh (18-5) will face off on Friday, February 24th at Perry for the district title and a spot in the regional semifinals, which will be played at Medina High School on Tuesday, February 28th.

Walsh Jesuit 50, Riverside 40

The Walsh Jesuit offense woke up just in time, pouring in 19 points in the fourth quarter after having only scored 31 total through three.

“(Riverside) did a good job of trying to pack the middle,” Walsh head coach Chris Esterak said. “We did a good job of finding the open shots and taking them.”

Cesily Sutton scored nine of her game-high 18 points in the final quarter after hitting a 3-pointer with five seconds left in the third quarter to give Walsh a 31-28 lead.

“Ces is a creator for us, and she does a great job,” Esterak said. “I told her to find shots in the flow and I thought in the second half she did a good job of not forcing things and she hit some big shots for us.”

Kara Courtad began the fourth with a 3-pointer for the Warriors, but the Beavers answered with a 3-pointer by Belle Bozic and a basket by Sam Volpe to cut the lead to one at 34-33.

But back-to-back buckets by Sutton pushed the lead back out to five and then after Walsh got the lead to seven, the fifth 3-pointer of the game for Taylor Angielski gave the Warriors a double-digit lead that felt insurmountable with just over four minutes left.

“Once that went in, we knew we were up 10 and we had the game in our hands,” Angielski said. “We just had to try to contain the lead. We knew with limited time left and up that much, we just tried to keep rolling.”

Angielski scored 15 for Walsh, while Courtad had 11.

Bozic scored a team-high 15 for Riverside and Savanah Laurenty added 14.

The Walsh defense harassed Riverside all game, not allowing more than 12 points in any single quarter.

“From day one, we preached defense and working hard,” Esterak said. “This is a great bunch of young ladies. They come to work every single day. They are always on it.”

Canton McKinley 66, Ellet 32

McKinley showed right out of the gate why the Bulldogs earned the second seed in the super district, running out to a 10-0 lead and never looking back.

McKinley led 15-2 after the first and pushed that lead to 21 at the half, leading 30-9 after 16 minutes.

Ellet tried to make a run int he third quarter and got the lead down to 13 twice, the latest being 39-26 after Caitlyn Holmes knocked down a 3-pointer.

"I think they get bored a little bit because we are used to playing in tight games," McKinley head coach Bryant Bowden said. "When we get up by 20-plus, they seem to get bored and forget what got that 20-point lead." 

But McKinley ended the third with back-to-back 3s of their own by Kylonee Foster and Mya Taylor with Taylor's going through the net as the buzzer sounded to end the quarter to give McKinley a 45-26 lead.

"We have a star on our team but a good team has to have all of those little pieces," Bowden said. "We have four or five girls who on any given night can give us 15 or 20 points."

Foster led the Bulldogs with 21 points, Paris Stokes had 16 points and Taylor had 13. 

Stokes not only scored the ball for McKinley, but she was tasked with the bulk of the defense on Holmes, the Akron City Series Player of the Year. Holmes tied for the team lead with Rachel Wenzel with 13 points, but she had to work for every point.

"I don't give many players too many props but Caitlyn is a good player," Stokes said. "I knew she was going to score regardless. I wasn't going to hold her to zero points but I wanted to limit her."

The decision to put Stokes on Holmes was made by the player, not the coach, who has a motto - "If you're gonna play for me, you're gotta play D."

"She asked for it," Bowden said. "She took that assignment on. She said two days ago, 'I am ready to lock down.' She proved today why she is one of the best players int he state of Ohio."