Tigers dominate 2nd half to claim 1st regional title in school history

MASSILLON - Ticket to state – punched.Cami Lantz came through in the clutch, nailing a deep 3-pointer that turned the tide in time for Seneca East during the fourth quarter.Now, for the first time in girls basketball program history, the Tigers are headed to Dayton.Seneca East clawed its way to victory over Cortland Maplewood 31-25 in a Division VII regional final on Saturday at Perry High School.The Tigers will battle Russia (24-3) on Friday at 1 p.m. at Wright State University's Nutter Center."It's chaos but I am so proud of these girls," Tigers coach George Parks said. "We have come so far from where we were at, they deserve it."This is the second time they have knocked off a team with 23-plus wins. Coming into the game, SE (20-7) knocked off Berlin Center Western Reserve, who was 23-2. SE built off of Lantz's one-handed triple. The Rockets (23-4) called a timeout with 5:04 remaining, hoping to stop the momentum shift.After the timeout, Alexa Snay forced a turnover by a steal and passed it to Aubrey Ritzler. Ritzler went for a bucket but missed.Snay got the offensive rebound and put it in for two points.Maplewood tried to retake the lead on an Aliah Brumit basket, but it was 25-23 with 2:07 left.Snay got into the lane and made her bucket and started putting distance between SE and the Rockets 27-23.With 49.3 seconds left, Izzy Stockmaster was fouled and sent to the free throw line. She split her pair and exactly six seconds later, she was back at the charity stripe and this time knocked both of hers down, making it 30-23.Stockmaster was fouled one more time with 15.6 seconds left and split her pair, making it 31-25.For the eight seniors, this game is a reminder of how far they have come. The record their freshman year was 1-22 and now, to make it to this point is something that they didn't expect."I'm still in shock to be honest," Lantz said. "This is just a full circle moment for us, and from our freshman year to now is a complete turnaround and so incredible for us."The transformation has been incredible over the four years and went from inexperience of three starters to experienced starters, to bonding has been the big key for SE."These girls are the true definition of dedication and hard work are about," Parks said. "Every day they come in and work hard. From the top to the bottom, the friendships they have built and the bonds that they have, this is one of the best teams that I have ever coached."Each team scored six points in the first quarter, and while Maplewood turned it over seven times compared to SE's six turnovers, the Tigers took more shots that just didn't fall."We didn't take care of the ball offensively in the first half," Parks said. "We struggled with it. We should have been scoring on inbound passes near the basket but we didn't."Maplewood went on a 9-2 run in the second quarter, and that allowed Morgan Himes to put seven points on alone.It was 15-8 at the half, and Parks knew something had to change."We have outscored teams 60-11 so far in the postseason in the third quarter. I knew if we were close coming into halftime then we would have a chance to win. Our defense came to life," he said.The heart-to-heart inspired Lantz."He had a heart-to-heart with us," said Lantz of Park's conversation at halftime. "He said we have nothing to lose. We call it house money and honestly, go out and take care of the ball."SE had a fire lit underneath it on the way out of the locker room. Stockmaster came out and got a bucket, and then later, Snay scored two back-to-back buckets, making it 19-14.Later, as the buzzer sounded, Stockmaster floated a bucket, closing the gap 21-19."Cami hitting that big triple, amazing," said Parks. "She is a defensive specialist. She could care less if she scores a point, and when she made that shot, I knew we were going to win the game."The leading scorer for SE was Stockmaster with 13, followed by Snay with 10. For Maplewood, it was Himes with 13, all in the first half.From coming in fourth place in the Northern 10 Athletic Conference, even though they didn't get the title, three schools and five games in particular helped the Tigers prepare for the moment."Our league is tougher than crap," Parks said. "With Wynford, Carey, and Crawford, five of the games we lost were one possession games. I told our coaches, these losses are going to help us come tournament time. You learn more from the losses than wins, I truly believe that." Seneca East 31, Maplewood 25SENECA EAST (20-7): Cami Lantz 1-0-3, Alexa Snay 5-0-10, Madi Smith 1-1-5, Izzy Stockmaster 3-7-13 TOTALS: 11-7-31MAPLEWOOD (23-4): Morgan Himes 6-1-13, Aliah Brumit 2-0-4, Claire Urchek 3-0-6, Katie Wear 1-0-2 TOTALS: 12-1-25Seneca East 6 2 11 12 –31Maplewood 6 9 6 4 –25Three-point goals: Maplewood 0; Seneca East 2 (Lantz, Smith)