MASSILLON — Buckeye Central’s Courtney Pifher shot the ball like it was any other game.

It was, in fact, a close regional semifinal on a foreign court.

With the Buckettes clinging to a two-point lead late in the game, Pifher buried a 3-point shot from the right corner, to expand the lead to five.

It proved to be the backbreaker. Buckeye Central never trailed but still had to hold off a physical Cornerstone Christian team, 57-53, in the opening round of the Division IV regional at Perry High School.

The win puts the Buckettes in the regional final against Dalton on Saturday at 7:30 back at Perry High School.

“She hit that 3 coming down the stretch,” Buckeye Central coach Greg Moore said. “She has played a lot of ball (in her career). She was ready for the moment.”

Pifher, a junior, drilled the 3 with 2:46 left in the game to take a tenuous two-point Buckettes advantage to 50-45.

Though Buckeye Central (25-1) never trailed in the game, the Patriots tied it four times and never allowed the deficit to get past eight points.

“We started out flat,” Cornerstone Christian coach Lisa Stopp said. “We were down 7-2 and it was our goal to come out and set the tempo.”

Jenna Karl hit a 3 for the Buckettes in the early run and while she ended with a modest 12 points, the senior was the driving force to her team’s advancing, in the face of the Patriots’ full-court pressure.

“We spent a lot time this week on press breakers,” Moore said. “Jenna was a big part of it. She is strong with the ball.”

Christian (20-6) recovered to trail just 16-13 after one. The Buckettes got the lead to 27-21 on a pair of free throws by Emily Stump but the Patriots regrouped again to pull back to within 27-26 by intermission.

The Christian pressure had only produced seven turnovers in the first two quarters, to the surprise of Stopp.

“I thought we could get more points out of the press,” Stopp said. “But we didn’t and that’s a credit to them. They had an answer for everything.”

But the Patriots would not go away. They tied the game at 33-33 on a 3 by Riley Stopp and again at 35-35 on a basket by Lauren Harris. However, the Buckeye Central got a 3 from Taylor Ratliff and two free throws from Pifher to hold lead, 42-39, by period’s end.

“They were hedging hard on screens,” Moore said. “And they were trapping. But they couldn’t take back the momentum.”

Christian got the lead down to two on a basket by Harris, setting the stage for Pifher’s dagger 3. From there, the Buckettes hit seven of 12 free throws, just enough to keep the Patriots at bay.

Pifher had a game-high 17 points to lead Buckeye Central. Karl added 12 points and six rebounds, while Lexi Evak dropped in 10 points and was a factor early.

“When we did make mistakes (defensively), it was not getting back in transition,” Stopp said. “We were surprised that (Evak) was scoring in transition.”

“Lexi did a great job early,” Moore said. “She’s got that in her.”

Harris led the Patriots with 15 points. Michaela Cloonan tossed in 12 points and Madison Cloonan added 10 points and 10 rebounds before fouling out late in the game.

“I don’t think we quit,” Stopp said. “That’s a great team and they’re well-coached. We knew their point guard (Karl) was very good and (Pifher) was a beast inside.

“Sometimes a loss pays dividends,” she added. “This is a tough place to learn.”

With only one senior on the roster, Ariana Berry, Cornerstone Christian plans to be back next year, according to the coach.

“We’ll be back,” Stopp said. “What we take away from this will be worth it.”

Moore is still taking the one-game-at-at-time approach.

“We move on tonight,” Moore said. “It’s a tribute to Jenna and these girls. They have played a lot of basketball together.”

Twitter: @TF_Schmidt

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Buckeye Central 57, Cornerstone Christian 53

Cornerstone Christian   13    13    13    14 — 53

Buckeye Central             16     11    15   15 — 57

Stats

Cornerstone Christian (20-6): Shots 18-45; 3-pt. shots 5-16 (Lauren Harris 2, Michaela Cloonan 2, Riley Stopp); Free throws 12-17; Rebounds 30 (Madison Cloonan 10); Turnovers 15. Scoring: 2 4 9, Lauren Harris 6 1 15, Madison Cloonan 2 6 10, Michaela Cloonan 5 0 12, Kailey Tyna 3 1 7.

Buckeye Central (25-1): Shots 20-44; 3-pt shots 4-8 (Courtney Pifher 2, Taylor Ratliff, Jenna Karl); Free throws 13-22; Rebounds 27 (Jenna Karl 6); Turnovers 13. Scoring: Jenna Karl 4 3 12, Taylor Ratliff 1 2 5, Emily Stump 1 4 6, Courtney Pifher 6 3 17, Kyleigh Brown 2 0 4, Lexi Evak 5 0 10, Elizabeth Heydinger 1 1 3.