Willard wins first district title in 19 seasons

ASHLAND — It was redemption time for Willard.After numerous close calls through the past decade-plus — including a close loss to Bellevue last year in the same game — the Crimson Flashes left Ashland High School as champions on Saturday.Cassie Crawford scored 22 points, Willard held a huge rebounding edge, and the Crimson Flashes topped Perkins, 58-50, in a Division II district championship game."We have not gotten hung up on the big game," Willard coach Barry Pfahl said. "We didn't against Shelby and we didn't here. It's just a game. I thought in the second Margaretta game, it was a big game and we just did not respond to it. We were very relaxed. We were very resilient and just went out and played."The district title is the first for the program since the 2001-2002 season — also coached by Pfahl."I cry a lot, but I cry because these things are hard to come by," Pfahl said. "I have four or five of these, but we worked hard to get this. This may never happen again. You never know. Enjoy and relish this. It is a big time deal because I know what it takes to get to this point."7The Flashes improved to 21-4 overall and advance to Tuesday's 7 p.m. regional semifinal against Bay (20-5) at Mansfield Senior High School."Willard just wore us out physically," Perkins coach Brian Heck said. "They are good. This was a tougher matchup for us just because of their size. It showed."Willard found itself down 22-18 at halftime after an Avery Bing 3-pointer just before the half for the Pirates (20-5)."I was upset with the three at halftime," Pfahl said. "That was Avery Bing and if we talked about one thing in the last two days, it was to not let her stand out there and shoot. She is deadly."But, the Flashes got things going better offensively in the third quarter. Mckenna Stephens hit a turn-around jumper before two free throws by Presley Feltner tied the game.After Brenna Jenkins hit a jumper for Perkins, Feltner, who missed a large chunk of the first half with foul trouble, scored on a nice out-of-bounds play and then stepped back and hit a 3 — much to the surprise of the Pirates and to the delight of Willard."I knew with having those two fouls, I could not pick up a third because having me on the court is a big presence down low," Feltner said. "I know I can hit those 3s. Teams do not expect me to shoot that 3."Perkins scored the next four points, but senior Cassie Crawford — an NCAA Division II Ashland University recruit — hit a foul-line jumper and scored off of an offensive rebound. Stephens added a score on a putback and the Flashes had matched its biggest lead of the night at 33-28 with 1:40 left in the third quarter.Willard took a 35-31 lead into the final eight minutes, but Crawford extended the lead when she hit her second triple of the night. Baldwin Wallace recruit Olivia Howard — who did more than her fair share of work for Perkins — picked a steal and scored to keep the Pirates within 38-33.But, Crawford and company took over on both ends of the floor, seemingly in the blink of an eye. Consecutive tallies by Crawford forced Perkins into a timeout.Stephens, who is not known specifically for 3-point shooting, drilled a triple for a 45-33 edge. Crawford added two more points for a 14-point lead with 5:37 left.Perkins cut the lead down to nine points on three different occasions, but Willard consistently had the answer — typically at the foul line. The Flashes made 9 of 12 free throws in the final quarter after only six attempts total through three quarters."We were down at halftime and coach Pfahl gave us the confidence we needed to come out strong," Crawford said. "That is exactly what we did. It was not just me."Willard kept Perkins at bay due to a distinct advantage in the rebounding category. The Flashes held a 45-25 advantage. Feltner led the way with 11 rebounds."I thought we had to do that," Pfahl said. "Perkins just battles and they are scrappy inside. Early on, I thought we were getting our hands on the ball and they were taking it away from us and knocking it away from us."Layla Dials scored off of an offensive rebound to give Willard an 8-5 lead after one quarter. Crawford hit a jumper to open the second quarter, but back-to-back scores by Howard kept Perkins afloat.A 3-pointer by Crawford gave the Flashes a 14-9 lead, but Howard scored and Cameron Kaufman became the first Pirate other than Howard in the scoring column with 3:35 left in the first half.Willard maintained an 18-14 lead after a Stephens basket, but the Pirates capped the first half with eight straight points over the final 1:59 to stay ahead at halftime.Howard poured in 29 points to pace Perkins."Willard was able to handle our ball pressure well," Heck said. "We were not able to get — their size is what dictated tempo. We were not able to grab rebounds and get out and run and control tempo."Crawford added nine rebounds while Stephens tallied 15 points and nine rebounds. Feltner scored 13 points to finish off a big double-double. Dials contributed six points and seven rebounds."Big players step up in big moments," Pfahl said. "Cassie Crawford and Olivia Howard — what a shindig that was. Olivia Howard is an unbelievable player. When we needed it, Cassie Crawford went and did it. You need players to do that kind of stuff." WILLARD (21-4)Kalli Sowers 0-1—1, Layla Dials 1-4—6, Mckenna Stephens 7-0—15, Cassie Crawford 8-4—22, Presley Feltner 4-4—13, Tristin Buurma 0-1—1. TOTALS 20-14—58. PERKINS (20-5)Brenna Jenkins 1-0—2, Olivia Howard 11-5—29, Abriye Skelton 1-0—2, Avery Bing 2-0—6, Kelley Baker 1-2—4, Demi Aaron 1-1—3, Cameron Kaufman 2-0—4. TOTALS 19-8—50. Willard 8 10 17 23 — 58Perkins 5 17 9 19 — 50 3-point FGs: (W) Crawford 2, Stephens, Feltner; (P) Howard 2, Bing 2.