NEW PHILADELPHIA — It was a basketball party 47 years in the planning stages.
Strasburg High School celebrated its first district girls’ basketball title in 47 years Feb. 28, registering an impressive 51-30 D7 district championship triumph over Caldwell before a large Tiger following in the New Philadelphia High School gym.
“It’s been 47 years — 1979,” said Strasburg girls’ basketball coach Tyler Bates of the last district title. “It was the first year they made Happy Meals, and we’re happy today — we might go get some Happy Meals. I’m really happy, and our community deserves it.”
“We just kind of played into their game,” said Caldwell head coach Heather Saliba. “We didn’t run offense, and we kind of let that get to our heads. We got sped up and just kept digging the hole deeper.”
The Strasburg win by the No. 1-seeded Tigers vaulted them into next week’s Division VII regional where they will meet Lancaster Fisher Catholic Thursday at 6 p.m. at Logan High School. Fisher Catholic won its district crown on Saturday with a 51-20 romp over Lancaster Fairfield Christian Academy.
The win was also the 83rd by Strasburg’s senior class, setting a new school record for most victories by one class.
“Our motto all year has been the team, the team, the team,” said the Strasburg head coach. “And the players and their families have put the team first all year. And you can’t ask for a better group as a coach when you have players and families that just want to win first.”
After spotting Caldwell a 2-0 lead, it was all Strasburg on Saturday as the taller Tigers denied anything inside, forcing Caldwell on the perimeter where they struggled. Strasburg won the boards, 33-15, led by 6-1 returning All-Ohio center Ally Miller, who cleaned the glass for 14 rebounds.
Meanwhile, the Tigers’ offense worked in precision from the inside and outside, paced by returning All-Ohio guard Sofia Secrest who took game-scoring honors with 20 points, including all four of the Tigers’ 3-pointers in the game.
“It feels awesome (to win a district title),” Secrest said. “Not only for us but for all the Tiger parents (and fans).”
“Sofia in the tournament has been unreal,” Bates said. “She’s done such a good job, and that’s what we expect. All three of our seniors (Secrest, Ally Miller and Olivia Spidell) led us today, and it was great to see.”
Following Secrest’s 20-point game for Strasburg was Miller and talented freshman Lydia Thomas with 10 points each. Meanwhile, Addy Sibila, who had a great overall game, added six points, while point guard Olivia Spidell, who ran the offense to perfection, finished with five markers.
A good indication of Strasburg’s dominance on the defensive end was displayed in the final Caldwell scoring stats: They had no players reach double digits.
“I think we were definitely capable of being in the game,” Saliba said. “We just got in too big of a hole early and too flustered. We just could never come back out of that.”
“I felt like as the game went on our rotating bodies and stretching our pressure helped us,” said Bates of his team, which is blessed with talented depth. “We have seven girls on the team that could start for us, and they all play about the same minutes usually,” he added. “So being able to do that and having multiple players at each spot is beneficial.”
Secrest said the Tigers take a lot of pride in their defense.
“We really kind of focus on defense,” she stated. “In practice we do a lot of defense, if they can’t score, they can’t win.”
Using its height advantage with Miller inside, the Tigers forced Caldwell into 10 first-half turnovers, while offensively, Strasburg had good movement with Spidell penetrating in the paint and distributing the ball for open outside shots to several players, including Secrest.
It all added up to a 14-9 Tiger lead after one and the Tigers increased their advantage to nine points (23-14) at halftime.
“We knew we had to play four quarters and they didn’t sub much throughout the season, so we really wanted to try and make it a four-quarter full-court game and wear them out at little bit,” Bates said.
Strasburg really took control at the outset of the third period, going on a 6-0 run and outscored Caldwell 18-7 in the quarter to take a commanding 42-21 advantage heading into the fourth period.
The Tigers took their largest lead of the game at 25 points (51-26) following two free throws by Secrest with 3:49 left in the game. Bates cleared his bench at the 1:44 mark and the backups finished out the 21-point triumph.
With the loss, No. 2-seeded Caldwell finished out a 19-7 campaign, one its best in school history.
“This is the first time that Caldwell girls basketball has been in the district final in 20 years,” said Saliba. “So it’s something for the girls to be proud of. They’ve had the mindset from the beginning and you just couldn’t have asked for a better group of girls. They just had so much fight in them — day in and day out. This is the second best record in (girls’ basketball) history.”
Bates said Strasburg will now go back to work to prepare for Fisher Catholic in the regional.
“I’m grateful for the Strasburg faithful that came out today, and I hope to see them in Logan,” said the Tigers’ head coach.
CALDWELL (19-7): Colin Erick 1 0-0 2, Alayna Leake 1 0-0 2, Lexi Franklin 1 0-0 3, Breighlee Morocco 3 1-3 8, Laynie Sidwell 1 2-4 5, Hailee Hull 0 0-0 0, Addi Byer 0 0-0 0, Sophia Marshall 1 0-0 2, Lyla Lowe 1 0-0 3, Mea Hendershot 1 0-0 2, Emma Hayes 0 0-0 0, Came Crock 1 2-4 3, Sammi McConnell 0 0-0 0. Totals: 11 4-7 30.
STRASBURG (21-5): Addy Sibila 2 2-2 6, DeDe Herron 0 0-0 00, Ally Miller 4 2-2 10, Sofia Secrest 7 2-3 20, Lydia Thomas 4 2-2 10, Olivia Spidell 2 1-1 5, RayeLynn Lancaster 0 0-0 0, Maty Boylan 0 0-0 0, Millie Richards 0 0-0 0, Brynnlee Hostetler 0 0-0 0, Bella Becker 0 0-0 0. Totals: 19 9-10 51.
Caldwell 9-5-7-9—30
Strasburg 14-9-18-10—51
3-point goals: Caldwell 4 (Lexi Franklin 1, Breighlee Morocco 1, Laynie Sidwell 1, Lyla Lowe 1). Strasburg 4 (Sofia Secrest 4).
Total fouls: Caldwell 17, Strasburg 15. Fouled out: none.
This article originally appeared on The Times-Reporter: Strasburg girls basketball ends 47-year district title drought
Reporting by Mike Brown, Special to The Times-Reporter / The Times-Reporter
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
