by Canton, Ohio – The Ursuline Fighting Irish led from wire-to-wire in a 60-35 win over Canfield in the Division II regional final Saturday evening.
Just like Thursday evening’s regional semifinal, the Fighting Irish came out swinging on offense.
After a brief 2-2 tie following an Anthony Russo bucket for Canfield, Ursuline never trailed again. Freshman guard Jayden Gunther splashed down four triples in the opening quarter.
It was the spark that lit the Fighting Irish offense up, as they took a 20-10 lead after one. The defense kept up the intense pressure in the second quarter. They held Canfield to a pair of field goals from Jake Delisio and Landon Shina. Jaden Payne added four more points in the second quarter, including a buzzer beater to increase the lead to 32-16 at the half.
Canfield hit their first triple with 6:35 left in the third quarter when Dom Cruz connected from long range, as the offense struggled throughout the evening.
Ursuline also had contributions from sophomore forward Myles Miller and senior forward Geno Lucente. Miller scored seven points in the third as the lead swelled to 47-26. From there, the Fighting Irish were in cruise control, and celebrated their first regional crown since 1994.
Freshman guard Jaylen Gunther led all scorers with 16 points. Senior forward Jaden Payne added 15, and sophomore forward Myles Miller had 12 off the bench. Ursuline will play in the Division II state semifinal at the University of Dayton Arena on Saturday, March 22nd at 10:45am.
Canfield was led by junior forward Ben Weaver, who finished with 14 points for the Cardinals. They finished a remarkable postseason run, winning their first district crown since 2000, and getting to the regional final for the first time since 1991.
Extended highlights below:
