Lowellville gets a learning experience

By Tom Williams

The youthful Rockets saw a state-championship caliber program up close in a 69-36 loss to Berlin Hiland.

MASSILLON — Lowellville High girls basketball coach Tony Matisi knew his freshmen-laden lineup would have its hands full against the defending Division IV state champions.

Matisi was grateful for the opportunity.

“It was very important for us to get this group down here this year,” said Matisi after the Rockets lost to Berlin Hiland, 69-36, in Thursday’s regional semifinal at Perry High School. “The most important thing we wanted was win the district final to get them here to experience this because we are so young. We wanted to show them what it’s like at this level.”

The Rockets (20-5) won the Inter Tri-County League Tier Two crown with a starting lineup of a senior (Chelsea Marrie), a junior (Jamie Hynes) and three freshmen (Ashley Moore, Taylor Hvisdak and Emily Carlson).

Despite Thursday’s finish, Hynes called the season “amazing. It started from nobody thinking we’d do well. We went undefeated in our league and won district — nobody expected us to do anything. So to come here was just a great experience.”

The Rockets had their hands full from the opening tipoff as Hiland scored the first 14 points. Against a strong defense, it took the Rockets five minutes to get their first shot and another two before Hvisdak scored.

“We knew it was going to be a chore,” Matisi said of the Hawks’ defenders. “Doggone, they bring so much pressure.

“Unfortunately, we didn’t have two or three weeks to [prepare],” said Matisi, who added that his players practiced against varsity boys on Monday and Tuesday. “I got caught up in watching — it was a joy to watch.”

Leading the Hawks was senior guard Karli Mast whose 23 points included four 3-pointers in the second quarter that helped Hiland (24-1) to a 42-15 halftime edge. Noelle Yoder’s 14 points included four treys.

“We had to hope their 3-point shooting was off and ours was on,” Matisi said. “We had to handle the pressure and I don’t think we did anything very well.”

Hiland’s loss was to Twinsburg, the Division I team that knocked undefeated Howland out of the district semifinals.

“They have an amazing offense and defense, they just go all out all the time,” Hynes said. “They are very talented.”

Hiland coach Dave Schlabach called the Rockets “a nice team. They’re young, they’re athletic, they play hard. They are going to back here a few more times, no question.”

Matisi said the Rockets treated the regional trip as a learning experience.

“We were glad we were playing Hiland to see what it’s gonna take,” said Matisi of a program that has won the state crown three times in the past four seasons.

“I told then that you can be happy winning your league, you can be happy winning district, but if you want to get better, you’ve got to take it up that notch, you’ve got to get stronger, you’ve got to work harder,” Matisi said. “We were happy to see what Hiland is all about. Hopefully, it’s going to be beneficial to us.”

Carlson led the Rockets with 12 points. Hynes scored seven while Hvisdak had six and Moore five.

Despite the score, Matisi managed to smile and offer support through the game.

“With young kids, you’ve got to be positive with them,” Matisi said. “Maybe if they were juniors or seniors, you would have seen me stomping a little bit more. But it’s important to try and keep the positives from this year going. It was fun watching them handle the situations [here]; hopefully it’s a growing experience.”

williams@vindy.com