Tigers thrash Panthers 55-21 for program's 3rd district title

GIBSONBURG - Mission accomplished.It's something that doesn't happen very often. A trip that has taken 10 years to get to has finally arrived for Seneca East.The top seeded Tigers defeated fifth seeded Sandusky St. Mary 55-21 in a Division VII district final on Saturday at Gibsonburg."I'm pleased," SE coach George Parks said. "We have come a long way with these girls over the last four years. Third program district title in history. It's been 10 years since the last one." SE hasn't been to regionals since 2016. But the journey to get there hasn't been easy.When Parks came back to coach the Tigers (18-7) in 2022, the record that season was 1-22, and it's been four years of rebuilding a program to get back."We definitely focused on defense today," senior Alexa Snay said. "We focus on the defense and the offense will come and the shots will fall. We have to play hard-nosed all the time."It is the second time that the Panthers (12-14) faced the Tigers under Kevin Yousekievicz, head coach of SMCC. SE blew SMCC out the door at sectionals last season 63-8. The only other time that SMCC and SE faced off was on Feb. 16, 2008, and SMCC won 53-44. Parks was coach for the girls from 2005-2011."Obviously freshman year was rough, but every year we have gotten by the records," said Snay about the journey to get there. "The Northern 10 didn't turn out the way we wanted it to, but we put that behind us and it's very visible by how tournaments have gone so far."Though SE was ahead 30-13 at the half, Parks wasn't happy."I wasn't pleased at halftime," Parks said. "I know we had a couple of mental breakdowns and picked up some crazy fouls. But we came out in the third, held them to three and that was the story of the game. We did what we wanted to do in the third quarter and I'm happy with that."The third quarter was the moment shift for the Tigers and their highest scoring quarter with 24 points. After the Panthers used a timeout with five minutes left, Izzy Stockmaster drilled a triple from the middle of the arc.Then Lillian Burkholder made a trip to the free throw line and made her pair. It was 46-16 with 4:02 remaining.Snay got hot on offense. She scored on a putback to start her run. Then, with 2:30 on the clock, Snay scored on a turnover from SMCC. Less than a minute later, she triggered the running clock when she scored on a reverse layup and sealed the deal with 20 seconds left in the quarter on an offensive rebound."I couldn't do it without my teammates," Snay said. "A big part of my role on the team is getting those putbacks and rebounds. I have to get the ball out to my shooters, even when I am being double teamed. I'm very happy."It was 54-16 heading into the fourth. The only point that SE scored was with 50 seconds left and Addison Dawson made a trip to the charity stripe and split her pair.SE kicked the game off on a steal by Snay from Reid Didion. Then Madi Smith made a basket.Evelyn Shafrath made a trip to the free throw line just one minute after the quarter started as a response to end the small run of the Tigers. She made both of her free throws, and sliced the lead 4-2.Didion drilled a three-point shot with 1:45 to get the Panthers just a little closer to the Tigers, 13-7 but the quarter ended on a Stockmaster 3-pointer and the score 16-7."We had some key contributions from our younger players tonight," Parks said. "It's a blessing We have a pretty deep bench, and they push each other in practice. When we can rotate four or five players into the game from the bench and have one or two subs, it can wear on teams."SE has 13 players on the bench while SMCC had 15 in the program. For the Tigers, Snay had 14 points along with seven rebounds, Stockmaster had 12 points and Smith with 10 points. Leading the Panthers in scoring was Didion with six points. Audriella Walton led SMCC in rebounds with five followed by Shafrath with four.All scores aside, to go from 1-22 record four years back to being the district title champions for only the third time in program history, it's something that the senior Tigers will remember. They have eight seniors: Cami Lantz, Bordner, Snay, Allie Smith, Madi Smith, Stockmaster, Luella Burkholder, and Dawson.The Tigers will face Berlin Center Western Reserve (23-2) on Thursday at 6 p.m. at Massillon Perry High School."Our community is so supportive and I think the atmosphere is what I am most looking forward to," Snay said. "We have shown up every single day, even when things weren't going well, and have worked really hard to be able to hold a district title like this. It's huge for us to make history and I can't wait to see where we go from here." Seneca East 55, Sandusky St. Mary 21SENECA EAST (18-7): Cami Lantz 1-2-4, Jordyn Enders 1-0-2, Alexa Snay 7-0-14, Madi Smith 4-0-10, Karli Foos 3-0-6, Izzy Stockmaster 5-0-12, Luella Burkholder 1-0-2, Addison Dawson 0-1-1, Lillian Burkholder 1-2-4 TOTALS: 23-5-55Sandusky St. Mary (12-14): Nicolette Hile 2-0-4, Lauren Maxwell 1-0-3, Allison Lill 1-2-4, Reid Didion 1-3- 6, Evelyn Shafrath 0-2-2, Madi Perkins 1-0-2 TOTALS: 6-7-21Seneca East 16 14 24 1 –55St. Mary CC 7 6 3 5 –21Three-Point Goals: Seneca East 4 (Smith 2, Stockmaster 2); St. Mary CC 2 (Maxwell, Didion)Rebounds: Seneca East 39 (Snay 7); St. Mary CC 21 (Walton 5)Free Throws: Seneca East 5-7; St. Mary CC 7-11Turnovers: Seneca East 12; St. Mary CC 24