MILLBURY – In its comeback Wednesday against Whitmer, the Lady Giants had everything go their way.
Saturday afternoon, playing for a district championship, the tide shifted. Everything that could go wrong did. Ross began the game by missing its first five shots and turned the ball over four times in the opening three minutes.
While Ross started out ice cold, Perrysburg came out of the gate red-hot. The Yellow Jackets made five of their first six shots of the game, putting 14 points on the scoreboard before Ross got its first.
The rest of the afternoon played out much the same way as the Lady Giants’ season came to a sudden halt, in a 59-31 district championship defeat.
“They did everything we knew they were going to do, we just couldn’t stop them,” Ross coach Juan Vela said. “Today they’re a better team. Every team in the state is going to lose. This doesn’t define our season, but it gives our kids an idea of what good basketball looks like and hopefully they can get to the point where they can play like that.”
Perrysburg boasted superior size inside, with 6-foot-2 Ashlynn Brown 6-footer Tori Kopp down low as well as shooting touch from Nadeen Jemaa and Whitney Thames on the perimeter.
Before the Lady Giants knew what hit them, they found themselves trailing 14-0 just over midway through the first quarter.
“I knew they were shooters, I knew they were big, and I knew they were going to do that,” senior Jazmin Bulger said. “But I didn’t know they were going to be so consistent with it. Give them props for that.”
Perrysburg grew its lead to 20-5 by the end of the first quarter and 37-12 by halftime.
“If you play with effort and passion and all that, every now and then, luck will be on your side and you’ll have a situation like we did against Whitmer,” Vela said. “Tonight, we tried it again but we needed a little bit more skill, more fundamentals. That’s the next step. We came a long way and we’re going to keep working at it.”
The Lady Giants close their season with a 15-9 record, their best year in well over a decade. They also won their first sectional title in five seasons as well their thrilling district semifinal win over Whitmer on Wednesday.
“We made it far,” said Bulger, the first-team all-TRAC honoree, who scored 17 points in the final game of her career. “We earned it and I’m proud of all of us.”
Along with Bulger, Ahlia Simms, Braelyn Horn, Bre Nason, Ashley Dodson and Laura Szymanowski concluded their Lady Giant careers, helping the program reach its highest levels in years.
“Their last three or four years, playing varsity, have probably given our program more wins than since the 94-95 team,” Vela said. “Basketball has been down for a long time and these seniors put the program on their back and they’re special.”
Ross will return a solid core next year as sisters, Olivia and Brooke Baptista will return, along with regular players Jasannah Sabiers, Marissa Overmyer and Rachel Gore.
“I’m going to try to get everyone to come to summer stuff and have them be involved more,” Olivia Baptista said about becoming a returning-senior next year. “And once the season starts, keep adding to what we (accomplished) and keep working on it.”
Said Vela: “I think the seniors will give the torch to Olivia and her class, and Brooklyn. Hopefully they respect that as much as the seniors did and work on their craft and on their game and keep this thing rolling. I think the girls are enjoying basketball and learning and playing team basketball and the community too is having fun. We want to keep this atmosphere rolling forward.
“When you work on your craft, when you play together and play with passion, you get opportunities like we did tonight,” Vela added. “That’s the message for the girls that are leaving and for the younger girls who are coming back. We have to keep this ball going. They say winning breeds winners and I hope that’s true.”
Perrysburg 59, Fremont Ross 31
ROSS (31)
Bulger 5 6-9 17; B. Baptista 4 0-0 12; Overmyer 1 0-0 2. Totals, 10 6-9 31.
PERRYSBURG (59)
K. DeMarco 1 0-0 2; Jemaa 3 0-0 9; Thames 4 1-2 9; Michel 1 0-0 2; Williams 1 0-0 3; Brown 7 9-10 22; Kopp 2 5-6 9; Adamski 0 3-5 3. Totals, 19 16-23 59.
3-pointers: FR, 5 (B. Baptista 4; Bulger 1). P, 5 (Jemaa 3; Williams 1; Brown 1).