Smithville and Warrensville Heights hold serve to advance to district final

WOOSTER, Ohio – Top-seeded Smithville and fourth-seeded Warrensville Heights picked up wins in the OHSAA Division III district semifinals at Wooster High School on Wednesday night.

Smithville won a defensive battle against Loudonville 32-24, while Warrensville Heights defeated Tuslaw 58-43

No. 1 Smithville (23-2) and fourth-seeded Warrensville Heights (21-2) will face off at Wooster on Saturday, February 25th at 7:00 p.m. for a spot in the regional semifinals, which will be played on Wednesday, March 1st at Cuyahoga Falls High School.

Smithville 32, Loudonville 24

The name of the game was defense for both teams, with Smithville being just a little better in the second half.

The Smithies shut out the Redbirds in the fourth quarter and allowed just three total points in the second half as they outscored Loudonville 16-3 after the half.

“This team is the best defensive team I have ever had and they take pride in that at that end of the floor,” Smithville head coach Eric Nickles said. “They take some stuff personally and they get after it.”

Loudonville’s Corri Vermilya scored 10 points in the game, with nine of them coming in a stretch to end the second quarter to turn what had been a 16-12 Smithville lead into a 21-16 advantage for Loudonville at the half.

But Smithville, the top seed in the Division III Northeast district, got back to their gameplan of keying on Vermilya in the second half and didn’t let the All-Ohio performer get going. The bulk of that defensive assignment fell to sophomore guard Cammi Wickens.

“I thought Cammi Wickens played phenomenally on Vermilya,” Nickles said. “Vermilya is a tough player, she is very talented, and Cammi did a great job.”

The Smithies did just enough on offense in the second half, scoring 10 points in the fourth quarter to overcome what had been a two-point deficit after three quarters.

Naomi Keib scored a basket to tie it and then hit two free throws to give Smithville the lead with 4:23 left. A steal and layup by Wickens and then another bucket by Wickens with 1:56 left put the game out of reach.

“We tried running as ton of sets early on and that didn’t work out for us. I think that’s a credit to their coaching staff,” Nickels said. “We ended up going to our open motion and our kids made plays. It was a toughness game and we made it.”

Keib led the Smithies with 11 points, Wickens and Audrey Sidle had six each, Madi Singer scored five and Leah Keib added four.

Sophia Spangler finished with eight for Loudonville, while Sydney Strouse added three, Alesha Felix had two and Maddie Kline had one.

Warrensville Heights 58, Tuslaw 43

Warrensville Heights shook off a slow start and used a 17-2 run to end the first quarter and start the second quarter to take control of the game after Tuslaw jumped out to a 12-8 lead.

“We are such a young team and so inexperienced,” Warrensville Heights head coach Ourtney Bryant said. “A lot of these kids never even played in a game like this. Just trying to calm their nerves and get them to relax and treat it like a regular basketball game. I told them it’s a regular basketball game, they just give it a title.”

The Tigers jumpstarted the offense by pressuring the Tuslaw ball handlers and forcing turnovers in the second and third quarters that led to easy buckets on the other end. They won the second quarter 19-9 and were even better in the third, outscoring the Mustangs 15-4.

“We pride ourselves on defense, that’s the frustrating part,” Bryant said. “We gave up forty something points, that was too much. We shouldn’t have given up 40 points. It was loud in here and Tuslaw brought a great crowd with them.”

Janyah Bohanon led the Tigers with 27 points and nine Warrensville Heights points in a row during the run in the second quarter. The 6-foot-2 senior was all over the floor, creating turnovers, grabbing rebounds and finishing at the basket.

“That kid is special, she is the whole package,” Bryant said. “She is a 6-2 point forward. She can do a lot with the basketball. She stepped up when it was time to step up.”

Ravyn Gill added nine points for the Tigers, while Paris Gilmore scored eight.

For the Mustangs, Breanna McCabe scored 13 points and Destiny Dulkoski added 12. Malia Mizeres scored the first four points of the game and finished with seven.