MASSILLON (Crawford County Now) — Seneca East faced an apparently daunting task in its regional game with veteran Berlin Center Western Reserve.

The Tigers were making their first regional appearance in 10 years and only the third in program history. The Blue Devils came in with an impressive 22-2 record and were making their third trip to the Massillon regional in four years.

After a slow start, Seneca East made it clear they were not intimidated.

The Tigers broke open a two-point halftime lead with a 20-point third quarter to roll past Western Reserve, 45-33, at Perry High School Thursday.

Seneca East (19-7) will meet Cortland Maplewood ­— a 55-39 winner over Warren JFK — on Saturday at 7 p.m. back at Perry High School.

Tigers’ coach George Parks thought the slow start was due to regional tournament nerves.

“They’re a good ball team, a great ball team. They wouldn’t be here if they weren’t,” Parks said of the Blue Devils. “Both teams were nervous. We’ve never been here before. They’ve been here a lot. Once we got through the nerves, made it to halftime, I knew we’d have a good chance.”

Western Reserve coach Steve Miller downplayed nerves as a factor for his tournament tested squad.

“I don’t like to think we were the team that should have had jitters,” Miller said. “It’s a big game, a big moment, but we were here last year. So, it’s back-to-back for us. The seniors have been here three times in their career.”

Both teams stumbled out of the gate. Seneca East was two of 10 from the field in the first quarter with six turnovers and the Blue Devils were three of eight with four turnovers. Western Reserve (22-3) squeezed out to a 7-5 lead by period’s end.

Shooting improved in the second quarter, but turnovers didn’t. The Tigers committed six more miscues, but, not to be outdone, the Blue Devils coughed up nine.

When the smoke cleared, Seneca East took a 19-17 lead to the locker room at halftime.

Then came the pivotal third quarter, the turning point in the view of both coaches.

“We got a couple of turnovers, a couple of easy layups. We got a little momentum and the girls started feeling good about themselves,” Parks said. “Madi Smith hit two big 3-pointers and that really opened some things up for us.”

The Tigers scored the first 10 points of the frame to open a 29-17 lead and Western Reserve never got closer than 10 after that.

“The bottom line was that third quarter,” Miller said, “They came out and hit a 3 to start the quarter. I think after a turnover they shot another one and the ball just dies on the top of the rim and goes in. That quick six definitely put us in a hole.”

The Tigers’ held the Blue Devils’ two 1,000-point scorers — Quincy Miller and Kylee Ramsey — to 10 and six points, respectively.

“We had a couple hiccups where (Miller) got a couple of open looks,” Parks said. “It wasn’t just one person on her. Karli Foos and Jordyn Enders were the responsible two on her. They did an outstanding job. You can’t guard her with one person.

“The Ramsey girl had 1,000 points last year as a junior,” Parks noted. “Cami Lantz and Aubrey Ritzler shut her down.”

Seneca East ended the third with a 39-22 lead and expanded the advantage to 20 — 43-23 — with 5:02 left in the game on a basket by Izzy Stockmaster.

From there, the Blue Devils whittled it down with a 10-2 run to finish, but the damage had been done.

Stockmaster led the Tigers with 15 points and Smith had 10. Alexa Snay grabbed nine boards and Smith added eight.

Parks cited Smith’s overall play as a stabilizing force, the glue that holds everything together.

“She’s never outspoken. She’s not flashy,” Parks said. “She started to do a lot of little things in the second half. She was the key to our defense.”

Miller’s 10 points topped Western Reserve while Ramsey and Chloeigh Endsley had six each. Kylah Busch had eight rebounds.

Miller says goodbye to four seniors in Miller, Ramsey, Kylee Allen, and Alyssa Fiscus.

“In my 13 years here, we have never rebuilt. We always reload,” Miller said. “It looks empty again. I lost two huge bullets. So, who’s going to be the ones to step up? In 28 days, we’ll find out.”

Parks looks forward with optimism to the first ever in school history.

“I told the girls at halftime, ‘Trust yourself, trust what we’ve done the last four years. Trust each other,” Parks said. “Play with aggression and good things will happen.”

Box score

Seneca East               5       14        20         6 — 45

Western Reserve       7       10          5       11 — 33

Seneca East (19-7): Shots 18-47; 3-pt. shots 3-19 (Madi Smith 2, Jordyn Enders); Free throws 6-12; Rebounds 32 (Alexa Snay 9, Madi Smith 8); Turnovers 21. Scoring: Jordyn Enders 2 0 5, Alexa Snay 2 2 6, Aubrey Ritzler 1 1 3, Madi Smith 4 0 10, Karli Foos 1 1 3, Izzy Stockmaster 7 1 15, Lillian Burkholder 1 1 3.

Western Reserve (23-3): Shots 12-35; 3-pt. shots 5-14 (Quincy Miller 3, Kylah Busch, Baylie Sinn); Free throws 4-14; Rebounds 23 (Kylah Busch 8); Turnovers 23. Scoring: Harper Darney 1 0 2, Kylee Ramsey 2 2 6, Kylah Busch 1 1 4, Baylie Sinn 2 0 5, Quincy Miller 3 1 10, Chloeigh Endsley 3 0 6.