SMCC surges past Plymouth in district semis

SHELBY — Good shooting comes and goes. But a consistent, imposing effort on the defensive end can keep any team in a game. That's what worked for St. Mary Central Catholic in its 46-25 win over Plymouth (12-12) in a Division VII district semifinal Thursday night at Shelby High School. The No. 2-seed Panthers (9-15) advanced to Saturday's district title game at 6 p.m. back at Shelby, where a rematch with No. 1 St. Paul (19-5) awaits. The Flyers won, 43-39, back on Feb. 1 in Norwalk. The key sequence in the Thursday's game came when the Panthers held a 13-10 lead after Big Red guard Keegan Beverly made a jumper midway through the second quarter. SMCC then went on a 9-0 run to close out the first half. The Panthers made three consecutive 3-pointers, the final one from way outside from Cayden Wikel with two seconds to play in the half. Wikel hit the 3 just before that with 1:27 to play, also from well beyond the arc, and Leo Will got the spurt going with a 3 with 2:01 to play in the first half. Plymouth, which trailed, 22-10, at the half, didn't get closer than seven points in the second half. The Big Red looked like they were going to make a run at the deficit early in the third quarter. Jarrett Burrer rebounded a missed basket, then made a 3-pointer at the 5:29 mark to pull within 22-15. However, the Panthers quickly responded to get the lead back to double-digits. Bryan Gibson scored on a short jumper, then Brayden Gill scored on a reverse layup in the post to push the lead up to 26-15 at the 3:57 mark of the third. Burrer split a pair of free throws, but Blake Finneran answered at the other end, and Gabe Burch made a 3 at the 2:24 mark to put SMCC up 31-16. Plymouth's Colton Sundstrom answered with a 3 of his own about a minute later, but the Panthers closed the door in the fourth. Wikel made a 3 a the 7:12 mark to push it to 36-22, and after a miss by the Big Red, Gill scored again in the lane. An easy layup by Finneran the next time down the floor extended the SMCC lead out to 40-22 with 5:01 left in the game. The lead grew to as much as 46-22 with 2:38 left before Sundstrom closed the scoring with a 3 in the final minute. The Panthers had five players score at least five points with Wikel leading all scorers with 12. Seven of his points came in the second quarter when SMCC pulled away. Finneran had 11 points, including five in the second quarter. "It was a great team effort. We were very balanced on offense," SMCC head coach Kyle Hammond said. "We shared the ball really well. Cayden usually leads us. We had good ball movement, and it's about finding the open man and making a play." Hammond said that he wanted his defense to hold Burrer in check. The All-District 6 and Firelands Conference first team selection averaged more than 18 points and 10 rebounds during the regular season. The Panthers worked to trap and get the ball out of his hands in the second quarter. "He's such a good player. We wanted to get the ball out of his hands," Hammond said. "We didn't want him to be the one that beat us." Wikel talked about the game plan. "We were really prepared. The big key was defense. We thought if we could hold them to under 30, we'd have a good chance to win," he said. "Good defense creates offense for us." The first quarter was a defensive struggle. The game's first basket didn't come until Gill connected on a short turnaround jumper with 4:39 to play in the quarter. There was one tie and two lead changes in the opening quarter, and a 3 by Sam Lawrence closed out the scoring, giving the Panthers a 7-5 lead after the first eight minutes. Hammond talked about Saturday's rematch with St. Paul, winners of 13 straight games. The Flyers rolled to a 68-35 win over Buckeye Central in the first game Thursday. "It's going to be a big challenge," said Hammond. "They have a great group of seniors that are playing really, really well. We're going to have to bring our 'A' game. I'm excited to see what we can do." PLYMOUTH (12-12) Jarrett Burrer 2-2—7; Keegan Beverly 1-0—2; Lex Grose 1-0—3; Colton Sundstrom 2-0—6; Cainen Kilgore 1-0—3; Izaya Reynolds 1-2—4. Totals 8-4—25. ST. MARY CC (9-15) Bryan Gibson 2-0—4; Cayden Wikel 4-1—12; Blake Finneran 5-0—11; Sam Lawrence 2-0—5; Leo Will 2-0—5; Brayden Gill 3-0—6; Gabe Burch 1-0—3. Totals 19-1—46. Plymouth 5 5 12 3 — 25 St. Mary CC 7 15 11 13 — 56 3-point FGs: (P) Sundstrom 2; Kilgore; Burrer; Grose (SM) Wikel 3; Finneran; Lawrence; Will; Burch.