MASSILLON, Ohio — This has been a long time coming -- 365 days, to be exact.
A year ago, Cornerstone Christian lost to New Washington Buckeye Central in the Division IV regional semifinal, 57-53. It was a game the Patriots felt they should have won.
“I’ve had pictures of Buckeye Central in my room ever since we lost,” junior forward Madison Cloonan said. “I wake up in the morning and I look at them.”
Given the chance to gain revenge on the Bucks, Cornerstone took full advantage Thursday at Massillon Perry High School, putting together a dominant defensive effort to manhandle Buckeye Central, 49-32. With the victory, the 22-4 Patriots earn a spot in Saturday’s regional final at 7:30 p.m. against Dalton, which rolled past Berlin Center Western Reserve, 53-32, in the night’s other semifinal.
“I have Buckeye Central’s scouting report from last year hanging in my office at home,” Cornerstone coach Lisa Stopp said. “We felt like we had a lot of distractions at this point last year. We weren’t focused. This year our focus was much better. Coming here and taking care of business just felt great.”
This one was all about defense, and the Patriots put on a clinic. Primarily playing an aggressive man-to-man, Cornerstone put pressure on the ballhandlers out front, which didn’t allow the Bucks to get the ball inside to their best player, 6-foot senior Courtney Pifher. The Bucks won 22 games mostly because of Pifher’s inside game coupled with the outside shooting of her younger sister, Claudia. But the two only combined for 14 points against the Patriots.
“Those sisters were the 1-2 punch for them and at halftime they each only had three points,” Stopp said. “We’re big on stopping the inside game from the outside. Outside pressure allows us to defend the big. I just thought it was a team effort defensively.”
Great team efforts are usually put together by a series of great individual efforts, and Cornerstone had several players who stood out. Senior guard Lauren Harris constantly harassed point guard Taylor Ratliff, Riley Stopp did the job on Claudia Pifher, and Cloonan was outstanding battling on the inside with Courtney Pifher. Despite giving up a few inches and several pounds, Cloonan constantly worked to front Pifher, and attempts at lob passes often turned into turnovers.
“The guards did an amazing job of getting up on them and getting their hands up, which didn’t allow them to lob it into Courtney,” Cloonan said. “She’s an amazing player, but we were able to keep them from getting it into her. She’s very strong, so it was tough. But my guards bought me some time that allowed me to get in front of her.”
Featuring its typical balanced scoring, Cornerstone had three players in double figures, led by junior Kailey Tyna with 14. Riley Stopp added 13 and Harris had 10. The scoring was also balanced in that they had four 3-pointers as well as several points in the paint.
The game was broken open during a 5-minute span that straddled the first and second quarters in which the Patriots went on a 13-0 run. Five players scored during the run, which turned a 9-7 lead into a 22-7 lead. Buckeye Central fought back, but never got closer than seven.
“This just feels good,” Lisa Stopp said. “Buckeye Central is a formidable team. I thought it was going to be an evenly-matched game. But I think our defense and our strength of schedule really made the difference. Defending teams like St. Vincent-St. Mary and Hoban and Euclid got us ready for the tournament. It allows us to step up and show teams some defensive pressure that I don’t think they have seen.”
Which gets us back to the revenge factor. Coaches often talk about teachable moments and what a team can learn from a loss. The Patriots certainly proved that they learned their lesson after last year’s loss to Buckeye Central, which went on to win the regional title before falling in the state semifinals to eventual state runner-up Ottoville.
“It was a lesson,” Stopp said. “We say losses are worth it if you learn from it. That one stung. We were all in tears last year. Just getting another opportunity to play them a second time, I thought we rose to the occasion.”
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