STRASBURG — Playing a demanding regular-season schedule loaded with big school powers has galvanized the Strasburg Tiger girls’ basketball team for a journey they hope will end in Dayton, home of the state tournament, in March.
The powerful Tigers, seeded No. 1 in the Division VII tournament, devoured yet another opponent on the tourney trail Saturday when they rolled past No. 8 seed Zanesville Bishop Rosecrans 76-13 in a running clock sectional championship game in the Strasburg gym.
“Since the banquet last year, we’ve said that (getting to state) was one of our goals,” said Strasburg head coach Tyler Bates. “We don’t think if you shy away from it that, it helps, so we try to put it out in the open as players, coaches, parents and the community, and usually that way you’re all on the same page and you have a common goal, and hopefully you can give it your best effort.”
Saturday’s sectional title win vaults the Tigers (19-5) into a Division VII district semifinal where they will meet fifth-seeded Steubenville Catholic Central Wednesday, Feb 25 at 7 p.m. at a site to be announced. Steubenville Catholic ousted sixth-seeded Malvern 66-50 in the other sectional title contest on Saturday.
“I’m really proud of the way the girls have been practicing,” Bates said. “They were locked in this week, and I can tell they want to achieve special things, and we know that it’s one game at a time.”
Saturday’s win was another of total domination by the battle-tested Tigers, who have won 11 of their 24 games via a running clock this season.
And how dominant have the Tigers been in their first two tournament contests? Consider this: They have outscored their first two tourney foes, Bridgeport and Rosecrans, 146-22.
Pacing the Tigers’ latest triumph was returning All-Ohio senior guard Sofia Secrest, who took game-scoring honors with 26 points in the three quarters she played. Secrest hit a trio of 3-pointers and scored 20 points in the first half alone as Strasburg built a commanding 55-5 halftime lead.
“That (a 20-point first half) is a first,” Secrest said, smiling. “We worked really hard on not just having one or two but three and four (good) quarters, and I think this is one of the first games we’ve done that, and I’m really happy with it.”
Secrest says many of the Tigers’ basketball players have been on teams that have made it to state in volleyball and softball and know what it takes to win at a high level and reach that goal.
“We have a lot of the same girls who play volleyball and softball that went to state and a lot of the same girls know what the environment looks like, the expectation, and what it takes to be that good,” she said.
Secrest led a well-balanced offensive effort. Three Tiger players ended up in double figures, two others just missed double digits by a single point and eight SHS players scored in the contest. Returning All-Ohio senior center Ally Miller finished with 11 points, while DeDe Herron added 10 markers. Scoring nine points apiece were Lydia Thomas and Maty Boylan, who had three of the Tigers’ nine treys in the game.
“It was great to see us moving the ball against a zone,” said the Strasburg coach. “We’ve seen a lot of zone (defenses) this year and we anticipate we’re going to see more as the tournament goes on. They (the Bishops) were pretty committed to guarding the paint there in that zone, so we know we’re going to get a lot of open looks and we’ve got to knock ’em down.”
Leading youthful Rosecrans, which has six underclassmen on its seven-member roster, was Abby Sagan with seven points, while Allysen Sagan added four points.
“I’m proud of them for the effort they put in,” said Rosecrans head coach Abbe Mumford. “Obviously, Strasburg is an excellent team, and they’ve got a lot of girls and we’re kind of smaller and that’s hard for us, but I’m definitely proud of the effort they put in, and the fourth quarter was definitely a little better.”
The Inter Valley Conference North Division champion Tigers jumped out to a 15-0 lead in the first 2:45 of the game and took a commanding 36-4 advantage after the first quarter, as Secrest scored 12 of her points in the frame.
The Tigers’ swarming defensive pressure, led by guards Secrest and Olivia Spidell, forced 25 turnovers out of Rosecrans in the first half, many which ended up in fast break points for the Tigers, who took a commanding 50-point (55-5) lead at intermission. It also started a running clock throughout the second half.
“We definitely want to get our hands out and guard, and if we can turn turnovers into points that helps us,” Bates said. “And that’s something we want to continue to do.”
With Strasburg holding a 59-point (67-6) lead after three quarters, Bates cleared his bench and used all of his backups in the fourth quarter.
“You want to try and balance your kids that are in the rotation with the minutes we feel like they’ve earned and also be a good sport and get out of the games healthy,” said Bates of playing his entire roster.
The Tigers, who have played a loaded regular-season schedule, including games against Laurel, predicted to win the D4 state title, D3 power Akron St. Vincent-St. Mary and D5 power Tusky Valley, haven’t lost to a D7 team all season.
Bates said this year’s senior class is also getting close to breaking a record.
“That’s 81 wins for this senior class, and the school record is 82 set by last year’s seniors,” he said. “I’m super proud of the girls and it was nice to get another (tourney) win at home.”
With the loss, Rosecrans bows out with a 6-17 record.
“We’ve had a lot of good games this season, there were several games where we played really, really well, and so I hope we can continue to build on that and be able to show next year more of what our abilities are,” said Mumford.
BISHOP ROSECRANS (6-17): Kenna McVicker 0 0-0 0, Allysen Sagan 2 0-0 4, Mallory Moody 2 0-0 4, Abby Sagan 2 3-5 7, Byron Newton 0 0-0 0, Catherine Netting 0 0-0 0, Izzy DeMattio 1 0-0 2. Totals: 5 3-5 13.
STRASBURG (19-5): Addy Sibila 0 0-2 0, DeDe Herron 4 0-0 10, Ally Miller 5 1-1 11, Sofia Secrest 8 7-9 26, Lydia Thomas 4-1-2 9, Olivia Spidell 2 1-1 5, RayeLynn Lancaster 2 0-0 5, Maty Boylan 3 0-0 9, Millie Richards 0 0-0 0, Brynnlee Hostetler 0 0-0 0, Bella Becker 0 0-0 0, Emily Rothacher 0 1-2 1, Mya Boylan 0 0-0 0, Sadie Thomas 0 0-0 0. Totals: 28 11-17 76.
Rosecrans 4-1-1-7—13
Strasburg 36-19-12-9—76
3-point goals: Rosecrans 0. Strasburg 9 (Sofia Secrest 3, Maty Boylan 3, DeDe Herron 2, Rayelynn Lancaster 1).
This article originally appeared on The Times-Reporter: Strasburg girls basketball dominates Rosecrans for sectional championship
Reporting by Mike Brown, Special to The Times-Reporter / The Times-Reporter
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
