MASSILLON — Dalton’s offense caught fire from long range, but Buckeye Central avoided getting burned.

The Bulldogs connected on eight of their first 15 3-points shots and led by as many as six points in the third quarter.

The Buckettes stayed true to their game plan and it paid off. Buckeye Central chipped away and eventually overtook Dalton, 55-47, to win the Division IV regional title at Perry High School.

The Buckettes secured a spot in the Final Four where they will meet Ottoville in a semifinal at the Jerome Schottenstein Center on Thursday at 1 p.m.

“They got the lead and shot the ball real well,” Buckeye Central coach Greg Moore said. “But we just played (our game) and tried to get the ball inside.”

The Buckettes presented the Bulldogs problems in the post so Dalton coach Katie Miller essentially gave her team the green light.

“We couldn’t match up with them inside,” Miller said. “They are long. I told the kids to drive, but if their feet were set and they had a good shot, go ahead and take it.”

The strategy worked to near perfection through most of three quarters. Dalton (22-5) eased out to a 12-10 lead after one quarter and maintained the advantage through for the majority of the next two periods, though Buckeye Central (26-1) never let the Bulldogs get too far away.

Makenna Geiser hit two 3s in the second quarter for the Bulldogs as built a five-point lead, at 23-18, but the Buckettes scored the last four points of the period to trail just 23-22 at intermission.

“I thought we did a good job, after the first four minutes, of rebounding,” Moore said. “We settled down and played basketball.”

Sophomore Lexi Evak kept the Buckettes’ offense afloat with eight of her 12 points coming in the first half — six in the second quarter.

Dalton kept coming in the third quarter, draining four more 3s — two by Jalyssa Turner — as the Bulldogs built the lead to six twice. The last was at 34-28 on a Turner trifecta with 4:06 left in the frame.

“In the first half, we needed to have a better cushion than a one-point lead (at halftime),” Miller said. “It caught up with us. We had our chances.”

The rim suddenly got smaller for the Bulldogs. They missed their last eight attempts from beyond the arc, allowing Buckeye Central to gain the upper hand.

The lead changed hands several times until the Dalton had its last advantage, 45-44, on a basket by Emma Cannon with five minutes left.

“We made some big adjustments at halftime,” Moore said. “We pounded the ball inside.”

The Buckettes closed out the game on an 11-4 run, including seven of seven from the foul line. To Moore’s point, Buckeye Central had only three 3s, 15 two-point goals and hit 16 of 20 free throws.

Jenna Karl eight of her team-high 18 points in the fourth quarter for Buckeye Central. Karl was 10 for 10 from the foul line for the game and grabbed 11 rebounds.

Courtney Pifher added 15 points and Evak had 12 points and 10 rebounds. The Buckettes held a 31-24 advantage on the glass.

Geiser led the Bulldogs with a game-high 22 points while Cannon finished with nine points and seven rebounds.

“We learned that we have to play 32 minutes, not 28 or 27,” Miller said. “Makenna (Geiser) works extra hard and it shows. She will continue to get better.”

Dalton loses only one senior, Kirsten Shoup, who finished her final game with four points.

“Hats off to our kids,” Moore said. “Lexi Evak got some rebounds. It’s nice to see her playing with confidence.

“We needed to hold them to one shot,” Moore added. “We did a better job in the second half and Jenna rebounded.”

Twitter: @TF_Schmidt

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Dalton                    12    11    16     8 — 47

Buckeye Central   10    12    18   15 — 55

Stats

Dalton (22-5): Shots 18-50; 3-pt. shots 8-26 (Makenna Geiser 4, Jalyssa Turner 2, Camille Beatty 2); Free throws 3-4; Rebounds 24 (Emma Cannon 7); Turnovers 10. Scoring: Emma Cannon 4 1 9, Jalyssa Turner 2 0 6, Makenna Geiser 8 2 22, Kirsten Shoup 2 0 4, Camille Beatty 2 0 6.

Buckeye Central (26-1): Shots 18-39; 3-pt shots 3-5 (Jenna Karl 2, Courtney Pifher); Free throws 16-20; Rebounds 31 (Jenna Karl 11, Lexi Evak 10); Turnovers 11. Scoring: Jenna Karl 3 10 18, Taylor Ratliff 1 2 4, Courtney Pifher 5 4 15, Kyleigh Brown 3 0 6, Lexi Evak 6 0 12.