The Massillon Lady Tigers never lack resilience. Even in intense situations against teams that are ranked much higher, the Tigers always come to play. Many times in the past few seasons, they have proved that rankings do not matter. Whether it was in the regional semifinal last season versus defending state champions Olmsted Falls, this regular season against perennial power St. Vincent-St. Mary’s, or last night against Twinsburg, the #2 ranked team in Division II, Massillon has held their own.
The regional semifinal was close from start to finish. Massillon took an early lead but fell behind by 4 at the end of the first quarter. They would trail by as many as 10 in the 2nd quarter but narrowed it to 4 once again at the half. In the 3rd quarter, Twinsburg pulled ahead by 12, but the ever-fighting Tigers went on an 11-0 run to pull the game within 1 point; they trailed 42-44 after 3. Led by key shots by Delaney Pierce and Hannah Nicola, the Tigers would take a 5-point lead with just over 2 minutes remaining. The last two minutes went back-and-forth. Unfortunately for Massillon, a momentum-changing no-call led to a game-tying shot. Up 2 and with the ball, Delaney Pierce was seemly knocked down and fouled, and as the Tigers would have been in the bonus, free throws should have come to possibly put Massillon up by 4. Instead, the whistle was not blown and Twinsburg tied it on the runout. (Video below).
The Tigers would fight to retake the lead, but once again the whistle was not blown as Hannah Nicola was grabbed while going towards the basket, which led to a turnover. Twinsburg took the lead on free throws and Massillon missed a shot. Forced to play the foul game, the Tigers were unable to overcome these game-altering plays and fell 57-63.
Game Recap
The contest between the Tigers of Massillon and the Tigers of Twinsburg was a low-scoring affair for the first few minutes. Missed shots on both ends led to a score of 7-4 in favor of Massillon halfway through the quarter as Rylee Adams knocked down a 3 to break the tie. Twinsburg put together a run, outscoring Massillon 12-5 in the remainder of the quarter to take a 16-12 lead. Delaney Pierce hit a jumper to cut the deficit to 2, but once again misses both ways led to a long scoreless stretch. Twinsburg finally broke the streak with a pair of free throws and added a bucket to take a 20-14 lead. At the 3:00 mark of the 2nd quarter, Massillon trailed by 10. Pierce was the first to respark the Tigers on the offensive side as she drilled a 3. Hannah Nicola stole the ball and took it all the way for 2. Twinsburg scored, but Jaryn Wolff hit a huge 3 to cut the lead to 23-27. Twinsburg had the last shot of the half but missed, and the Tigers only trailed by 4 after 2.
Twinsburg started the second half with a 7-0 run, increasing their lead to 11; they led by as many as 12. Kynslie Williams was the first to spark the Massillon offense this time, and it was a spark that put them back in the game. Following her 2-point shot, Hannah Nicola went coast-to-coast for 2. Next it was Delaney Pierce, who stole the ball, scored, and followed it up with a 3 to make it a two-possession game. She followed the 3 up with a layup to cut the lead to 1 at 34-35. Twinsburg went on a run to extend the lead to 41-35 with 2:00 remaining in the 3rd. Nicola cut to the basket off a Williams pass and scored, but Twinsburg answered with a 3. Adams knocked down a 3 in response, and Pierce took it into the paint for 2 to cut the deficit to 42-44 at the end of 3 quarters. The Tigers of Twinsburg once again went on a quarter-opening run to start the 4th, outscoring Massillon 4-0 to start. Pierce got Massillon back into action with a 3, and Nicola banked it in with 5:00 remaining in the game to make the score 47-50. An offensive foul on the Twinsburg end gave Massillon the ball, and Pierce shot past defenders, put it in, and was fouled. After she drained the free throw, the game was all knotted up at 50. Williams stole the ball and Pierce drilled a 3 from the front point to put Massillon in front by 3 with 3:35 remaining. A Twinsburg 3 rimmed out and Pierce scored once more for Massillon, giving them a 55-50 lead. On the other end, Twinsburg was able to hit a 3 with 2:00 left to cut the deficit to 2. Nicola quickly responded with 2. Her basket was matched on the other end. With under a minute remaining, the tide quickly turned for Massillon as Pierce was knocked down and a foul was not called. Twinsburg went all the way for the tying score. Nicola took the ball towards the paint in an attempt to regain the lead, but was grabbed by a defender (as another potential foul call was missed) and Twinsburg stole the ball. A foul led to Twinsburg free throws, and they took a 2-point lead with seconds remaining. Massillon had one final attempt but was unable to make a shot. They were forced to foul and went down by 4 after the free throws were made. The ensuing inbounds pass was stolen, and Twinsburg laid in a buzzer-beater to take a 63-57 victory.
