Massillon has had quite a season under the leadership of Coach Joe Pierce, and they had quite the opening round. The Lady Tigers faced Parma Heights Valley Forge, a team who went winless during the regular season. The Tigers’ dominant defense led to two shutout quarters and their aggressiveness under the basket led to dominance on the boards.
First Half
The Lady Tigers opened scoring with a corner 3 from Jaryn Wolff and would never look back. At the 3:30 mark of the 1st quarter they led 18-0– enough points to win the game as the Patriots only scored 17 altogether. None of those 17 points would come in the first quarter as the Tigers’ aggressive defense shut out Valley Forge in the 1st. The starting 5 (La Nia Moore, Jaryn Wolff, Kynslie Williams, Hannah Nicola, and Delaney Pierce) and even the subs doubled down on the press and forced numerous turnovers. The Patriots found themselves trapped and in a jungle of Tigers as the ladies poked balls away, swatted passes, and piled on fastbreak points to jump out to a 28-0 lead after one quarter. La Nia Moore– the Lady Tigers’ leading rebounder on the season and the county rebound leader– was a fighter off the glass all night for the Tigers. She and the other ladies fought under the basket and won on the boards all night. The Tigers’ hot shooting and great defense continued in the 2nd quarter. The ladies kept piling it on and increased their lead to 39-0; Valley Forge broke up the shutout with a jumper at the 3:45 mark of the 2nd quarter. Massillon broke the 40-point mark with a Delaney Pierce layup and soon after were up 47-2. Valley Forge added a layup to put their point total at 4– Jaryn Wolff hit a free throw to put the Lady Tigers at 50– the Patriots rounded out the first half scoring with a 3, and the Tigers led 50-7 at the half.
Second Half
A running clock and a quick second half greeted the Lady Tigers. They did not let up, however, and continued to play great defense. They had increased their huge lead to 56-7 by the first timeout and led 60-7 at the end of the quarter. The Tigers had been playing with a few subs, and Coach Pierce continued to sub in backups. Valley Forge finally made into double digits with 6:40 left in the 4th quarter. The Tiger subs added 9 points in the 4th, and Valley Forge scored 10– more points than they had scored in the previous three quarters combined– and the Tigers went to their home lockers for the final time this season with a 69-17 blowout victory.
Scoring Stats
La Nia Moore– 18 points; Delaney Pierce– 18 points; Hannah Nicola– 16 points; Jaryn Wolff– 10 points; Kynslie Williams– 5 points; Rylee Adams– 2 points
Postgame Interviews
Coach Pierce: (On the nerves of “win or go home”) “To be honest I was a nervous wreck just because it was our first game. We played on the 8th and had to wait until the 19th– I was nervous but the girls showed up and played. This team has nothing to lose… they can come out and on film they look capable of holding their own and putting it together. It’s just a matter of what we’re going to do defensively.
La Nia Moore: “Playoffs are a little different than the regular season because it’s now win or go home. We have nothing left to lose… we really want to make it as far as we can. This is the farthest I’ve gone in my four years; this is the best team we’ve had and we want to make it as far as we can.”
“Everybody crashes the boards a lot. They try to get their own– we work as a team when it comes to that. We work in groups of five and rotate a lot. The coaches want everyone on the team to have a chance to get points, not just one person. The whole team tries to let everyone get points.”
(On herself as a senior leader and Delaney as a freshman phenom) “From the first practice Laney and I have been coordinated. I haven’t had someone like that to play with… now all we have to do is look at each other and we know what to do. I go for one thing and boom she’s there with me. Now I’ve got a helping hand and it makes the game a lot easier.”
Delaney Pierce:
(On her breakout freshman season) “It feels pretty amazing. I’m surrounded by my best friends, my family… it’s great. I love to come into the locker room every morning for 10am practice. It’s smiles and hi-fives all around, it is really amazing.”
(On the aggressive play of the Lady Tigers) “Me and La Nia are always trying that one trap up in the top. It’s either her kicking the ball or me waving my hands trying to get the ball. We actually got it out once and she scored off it.”
(On the next few rounds) “It’s pretty nerve-wracking– win or go home. We’ve done what we needed to do, we have good energy on the team, no negative vibes. I’ve got the confidence that we can make a run.”
Hannah Nicola:
(On this season’s team) “Coming into my freshman year we had a lot of drama, sophomore year was alright, but this is the year that we’ve really worked together. We like each other and our chemistry is great. We had a lot of offseason stuff that we worked through. It is a great feeling being part of a team that not only is so close to each other but is also having the best season that Massillon has had in a while.”
(On her 78.3% free throw shooting) “It’s always been something that was ingrained in me since I was young– to make a free throw. My dad always said it was a free point. I’ve worked on them and gotten pretty good.”
(On getting open off the ball) “As soon as we get a steal we’re always looking up, even when we get it in transition off a rebound. We always look up and always push. We run and we work together.”
Up Next…
The Lady Tigers will travel up to Elyria Catholic on Saturday to take on 11 seed Cleveland Heights (they defeated 18 seed North Ridgeville 51-36). Tip will be at 7:00.
Photos and Highlights
