43
Bluejays earn another trip to Massillon Perry
McDonald vs Jackson Milton
Gallery
MINERAL RIDGE
In Saturday’s rematch of last year’s Division IV district final, the Jackson-Milton girls basketball team started fast then cruised past McDonald, 48-22.
The Bluejays jumped out to a quick 16-6 lead in earning a second consecutive trip to the Massillon Perry regional. The 2016 game ended with McDonald falling, 36-20.
“This is awesome,” Jackson-Milton coach Pat Keney said. “We won last year and the year before we lost in the district championship by one point.
“These kids came and played hard and bought into what we were selling and we’re just so excited for a chance to get to the regionals again.”
The Blue Jays never trailed but were tied at 4-4 when they went on a 12-2 run to end the first quarter.
“They’re a tough team, they come and compete and we didn’t hold our own this afternoon,” McDonald head coach Amy Dolsak said.
After pushing the lead out to 23-13 at the intermission, Jackson-Milton held McDonald to just two third-quarter points and took a 33-15 lead.
“We just came and played great defense and didn’t let them get into their offense,” Keney said. “We just got a bunch of great kids. Any time you make it to this level, it’s great.”
Juniors Michaelina Terranova and Emily Williams led the way in points and rebounds, respectively, for Jackson-Milton as Terranova scored a game-high 15 points and added six boards while Williams had a game-high eight rebounds and tossed in 14 points.
“It means a lot to me because we worked really hard all season to come back to the district finals,” Terranova said. “We’ve been [in the district finale] since my freshman year and we just wanted to keep the tradition going.
“It’s very special to me because I’ve been playing with these girls since sixth grade and we all get along very well so it makes it so much easier to play together.”
Keney heaped praise at Terranova.
“She’s as tough as they come,” he said. “And you would never know that she played a great game the night before, she walks in the gym and just plays hard and has fun every time.”
Williams had a solid game on both ends of the floor.
“This is such a big deal to have come back a second time and play as well as we did,” Williams said. “We definitely came in here focused today and it really showed.
“We were really together today.”
The Totani twins — seniors Ashley and Kaitlyn — also made their mark as Ashley scored 12 points and grabbed five rebounds while Kaitlyn added seven points and two boards.
“Last year we made history for the first time but to do it back-to-back it’s amazing,” Ashley Totani said.
Dolsak said she’s proud of how her girls returned to the title game.
“A lot of people didn’t think that we would be able to get back here but our girls worked hard and they were able to overcome some injuries this season and still make it back here regardless.”