by Canton, Ohio – Massillon Perry’s Cinderella run through the NCAA Tournament continued with a 66-63 win over North Royalton in the OHSAA Division II state semifinals at Canton Memorial Fieldhouse.
North Royalton scored the first bucket of the game at the 6:05 mark of the first quarter.
The score was tied at 16 after the first half. The Bears went on a 10-2 run to increase their margin to 26-18 thanks to a triple from Lincoln Lee. Although Perry closed the margin to two, North Royalton would lead 35-29 at the half.
The Bears would increase their margin to double-digits twice in the third quarter. Junior guard Antonio Escano drove to the hoop and scored. He sank the and one to increase the North Royalton lead to 42-32. Following a Preston Dazey basket, Dylan Lakatos canned a trey to increase the lead to 45-34. From that point on, Perry went on an 11-2 run to cut their deficit to 47-45.
In the final stanza, the two teams traded a jumper and three points, and the score stood 52-50 in favor of the Bears. Preston Dazey, who helped to catalyze the Panthers’ rally, tied the game with a bucket inside the paint. After a miss by North Royalton, Luke Wolf gave the Panthers their first lead at 54-52.
The Bears would tie it back up, but Preston Dazey gave the Panthers back the lead, 58-56, with a jumper. Darnell Malone followed with a slam dunk to push the lead to 60-56. However, there was a technical foul call, giving North Royalton a pair of free throws. Dylan Lakatos sank the technical free throws to make the score 60-58. He later knotted it up with a driving layup.
Perry took the lead for good with 1:27 to play, thanks to a pair of Preston Dazey free throws. After a steal from Luke Wolf on the ensuing possession, Drake Jacobsen drew a foul and sank two free throws of his own, increasing the Panther lead to 64-60. North Royalton was not done, as Lakatos cashed in a triple of his own to cut the deficit to 64-63. Luke Wolf drew a foul with 18.1 to play and sank a pair of free throws to make the score 66-63.
North Royalton had a chance to tie it up and force overtime, but their three-point attempt was offline as time expired.
Massillon Perry senior Luke Wolf has been a clutch player this postseason, and he proved it once again on Sunday, finishing with 18 points. Junior forward Preston Dazey finished with 18 as well, 16 coming in the second half.
Senior guards Darnell McLeod added 13 points, and Drake Jacobsen finished with 11.
North Royalton was led by senior Dylan Lakatos, who finished with 24 points. Sophomore guard Lincoln Lee finished with 12, senior forward Sasha Sunjeravic had 11, and junior guard Antonio Escano with ten.
Massillon Perry advances to play Westerville North in the OHSAA Division II state championship on Friday, March 21st at the University of Dayton Arena at 7:30pm.
Extended highlights below:
