MASSILLON (Crawford County Now) — The improbable journey continues.

The Seneca East girls basketball team overcame early problems to pull out a 31-25 victory over Cortland Maplewood in the Division VII regional championship here Saturday night.

A sluggish first half saw the Lady Tigers trailing 15-8 mostly due to turnovers. It seemed like a switch was turned on after that, however.

“At halftime we came in and talked. We really weren’t crashing the boards in the first half,” said senior Alexa Snay. “We said we have to get shots up and crash the boards. I started doing that and we were just determined.”

Snay wound up with 6 rebounds to go along with 10 points. Izzy Stockmaster led the way with 13, of which 9 came in the second half.

The Lady Tigers move to 20-7 and will play Russia at 1 p.m. Friday at Dayton’s Wright State University in a state semifinal.

It’s quite the remarkable journey. It marks the first time in school history that the team has gone to a state tournament.

“Our work ethic is good and we never gave up. Our freshmen year winning one game. You can see how much we care about the sport and showed up at practice every single day and worked hard,” Snay said.

“Our defense did it today. It is shocking, but it’s a great feeling to go to a state tournament. It feels amazing.”

Seneca East committed 11 turnovers in the first half, with Maplewood’s ultra-quick guard Morgan Himes turning seven steals into 13 points. She was held scoreless in the second half.

“It’s chaos. But I’m so proud of these girls. They’ve come so far from where we were at and they deserve it. I love it for them,” said head coach George Parks. “These girls are showing what true dedication and hard work does — and it pays off.

“We won 8 games as sophomores and 16 last year. Every day they come in and work hard, top to bottom. Even if we had lost this game, it’s the best group of girls I’ve ever coached.”

Maplewood finishes its season at 23-4.

There was a point in the third quarter when Seneca East was down 19-12 and it seemed like the journey might end. But Snay scored and Madi Smith drilled a 3 and suddenly they cut the deficit to 21-17.

Stockmaster hit a 6-foot shot and the Lady Tigers trailed 21-19 and carried the momentum into the fourth period.

“I told them if someone had said back in October we would be down by 7 points in the regional finals, every person in this locker room would have taken it,” Parks said. “I knew if it were close at halftime, we’d have a chance to win the game.

“We hit a couple of shots. Cami Lantz hit a big 3. She’s a defensive specialist and could care less if she scores a point. When that went in, I said we’re winning this game.”

Lantz’s 3 put Seneca East ahead 23-21 with 5:04 remaining.

Snay followed that with an offensive rebound and bucket. But Aliah Brumit countered for the Rockets before Snay took a Stockmaster pass inside for a 27-23 lead with 1:36 left.

“We didn’t take care of the ball offensively in the first half,” Parks said. “We struggled with it. We should have been scoring on inbound passes near the basket; but we didn’t.”

The Lady Tigers finished fourth in a stacked Northern 10 Athletic Conference before going on its historic post-season run.

“Our league is tougher than crap. Six of those games we lost, five were one possession late in the game,” Parks said. “These losses would help us at tournament time, because I truly believe that you learn more from losses than you do wins.”

Stockmaster had 3 steals and Snay a pair. The Rockets managed just 4 points in the fourth quarter.

“Defensively, we were solid. Offensively, early the nerves got us,” he said.

“We will enjoy this one today and tomorrow. Everyone I’ve talked to in other sports or at other schools says to enjoy it. We are going to have fun with it. Coaches will start prepping Sunday. We’ve got to make hotel plans.”

Parks said he hasn’t looked ahead from a scouting perspective.

Stockmaster said slow starts are nothing new.

“Recently in these tournament games, it’s happened. We just think, ‘It’s going to be OK.’ We’re a second-half team honestly,” she said. “In that second quarter I was a little flustered mentally. But I knew that I had 16 more minutes to play.

“We wanted this journey to continue. We just turn on the gas and focus on our defense.”

Heading to a state tournament is something Stockmaster and her teammates aspired to despite the rough years.

“It was a long journey. Freshman year, that 1-22 start took a mental toll. But we knew we would grow and develop into that varsity level,” Stockmaster said.

“It’s been a fun journey, but it’s been tough too.”

Parks echoed what many felt this week: “It’s a great day to be a Tiger.”

By the numbers:

  • 2022-23: Record of 1-22; last in the N10 at 0-14.
  • 2023-24: Record of 8-16; tied for fourth in the league.
  • 2024-25: Record of 16-8, loss to Danbury in district final; tied for third in the league.
  • 2025-26: Record of 20-7; regional championship and the school’s first state tournament berth.

Box score

Maplewood      6         9          6          4 — 25

Seneca East      6         2        11       12 — 31

Cortland Maplewood (23-4): Shots 12-35; 3-pt. shots 0-9; Free throws 1-4; Rebounds 16 (Claire Urchek 5); Turnovers 21. Scoring: Morgan Himes 6 1 13, Aliah Brumit 2 0 4, Claire Urchek 3 0 6, Katie Wear 1 0 2.

Seneca East (20-7): Shots 11-42; 3-pt. shots 2-18 (Cami Lutz, Madi Smith); Free throws 7-12; Rebounds 28 (Izzy Stockmaster 12); Turnovers 16. Scoring: Cami Lutz 1 0 3, Alexa Snay 5 0 10, Aubrey Ritzler 1 1 3, Madi Smith 2 0 5, Izzy Stockmaster 3 7 13.