It has been a long 81-year path for the Massillon Tigers in their attempts to win a regional title. 2003 was the last time the Tigers played for a chance at state. The last time the Tigers reached state, the Battle of Iwo Jima was still raging, “Rum and Coca-Cola” by the Andrews Sisters was #1 on the Billboard charts, and The Picture of Dorian Gray was all the rage in theaters. The 1945 squad, led by state champion football coach Elwood Kammer, rolled past 22-2 Canton Timken and crushed 17-4 Elyria to win the Kent region. The season unfortunately came to an end in a 44-47 loss at the hands of the Bellevue Redmen, a 25-0 squad nicknamed the “Whiz Kids” that would go on to claim the Class A state title. Back in the present day, the Tigers knocked off an athletic Euclid squad by a score of 76-72 to claim the Wooster region. Massillon led throughout most of the game, only trailing for a minute in the 3rd quarter. The 25-1 Tigers will go on to face Lima Senior (22-4), who defeated Winton Woods by a score of 62-58. The first meeting in the history of these two squads will take place in the state semifinal at Wright State’s Nutter Center on Saturday. Tip will be at 1PM.
Game Recap
Ball movement was key from the beginning in Massillon’s victory. The Tigers have been one of the top scoring offenses in the state of Ohio all season long and continued to show top-notch passing ability throughout the contest. The Tigers’ flow on offense propelled them early. Xavier Williams was the first to take it to the basket for Massillon, giving them a 2-0 lead. Gio Jackson Jr. drew a foul and laid it in, and although the following free throw was no good, the Tigers were quickly back on offense. A steal led to a Jadyce Thigpen step through and score, and an Isaiah Lamp relay pass of a Euclid miss led to a thunderous Jackson dunk. The Tigers were on a roll, and the Panthers called time. Euclid came off in solid form following the timeout. They knocked down a pair of 3s to cut the Massillon lead to 8-6. As was the case throughout the game, Massillon was able to answer quickly. A great feed set up Braylon Gamble for 2– the first of his team-leading 20 points. Terrion Wells got involved as Euclid tied it up, backdooring the Panthers and picking up a putback to regain the lead for Massillon. He would lay another one up at the buzzer; it was blocked above the cylinder for a goaltend and 2 more points for Massillon, who led 20-14 after 1.
The start of the 2nd quarter went back-and-forth for a few minutes. Marcus Garner was key under the basket for Massillon and laid a pair of shots home. Mehki Asberry, Euclid’s leading scorer versus Toledo St. John’s, poured on the 3s for the Panthers to keep them in pace with the Tigers. A Braylon Gamble fadeaway put the Tigers up 29-22 with 4 minutes remaining in the quarter and Terrion Wells picked up a block on the defensive end, but Asberry continued to hit 3 after 3. Massillon continued to get to the basket at will, and held off Euclid at the end of the quarter to preserve a 31-28 lead.
The second half did not start off well for Massillon, but it was the only stretch of the game where they were not in control. Euclid started off with a putback, and a steal and an and-1 gave them their first and only lead of the game at 33-31. Gio Jackson Jr. quickly tied it, and Terrion Wells made a leaping save to set up Braylon Gamble for a go-ahead 3. Moments later a block and tap out by Jackson set up a Jadyce Thigpen 3-pointer. The Tigers began to roll, picking up more buckets and extending the lead to 45-37. The Tigers led by 8 with seconds left in the quarter, and Braylon Gamble drilled a 3 just before the buzzer sounded to hype the crowd and put the Tigers up 50-39.
Braylon Gamble kept the crowd fired up as he spun to the basket off the opening inbounds pass and scored. The Panthers answered, but Xavier Williams knocked down a 3 to give the Tigers their largest lead of the game at 55-41. Euclid ate into the Tiger lead for the next few minutes, cutting the deficit to 8 with around 5 minutes remaining. Williams once again had the answer for Massillon as he hit a corner 3 to put Massillon up 62-51. The Panthers were able to press the Tigers and pick up a pair of steals, cutting the lead down to 7. Gio Jackson Jr. answered with a 3-point play as the Tigers continued to pace Euclid. More steals for the Panthers trimmed the lead to 6 with 2 minutes remaining. Terrion Wells made a layup, but the Panthers hit a 3. Gamble was fouled and drained a pair of free throws to increase the Massillon lead to 71-64 with 1:30 left. Massillon turned the ball over twice, but Euclid was only able to get one bucket and had to foul. Isaiah Lamp drained free throws and Jackson cut to the basket for a bucket, forcing Euclid to shoot desperate shots. With 9.1 seconds remaining, Massillon led 76-70. A Panther 3 was no good, and a meaningless layup at the buzzer made the score 76-72. An overjoyed Tiger community watched as Massillon hoisted a regional championship trophy for the first time in 81 years.
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