CRESTLINE — It wasn’t a hallmark Loudonville victory, but it was historically significant nonetheless.
Freshman sensation Corri Vermilya led three Redbirds in double figures as Loudonville cruised to a 53-36 Mid-Buckeye Conference win at Crestline on Saturday.
Loudonville finished the regular season 21-0, the program’s first unbeaten regular season in 45 years. The 1976 Redbirds were 12-0 during the regular season before finishing the season 14-1.
“It’s been almost 50 years,” Loudonville coach Tyler Bates said. “We thought in the fall we had a pretty special group and the way that the girls have just bought in as far as following the COVID guidelines and practicing hard, it was just a recipe for a lot of success in the regular season.
“We’ve got other goals in mind for the tournament, but today we want to focus on this achievement because the girls have worked so hard to earn an undefeated regular season.”
What’s more, Loudonville’s four-player senior class of Grace Vermilya, Sydney Snyder, Paige Race and Faith Grove are 80-14 in their four high school seasons, the best mark for a senior class in Loudonville history. Last year’s Loudonville seniors won 79 games in their four years.
“These seniors have played in a lot of big games for us and for them to get to that 80-win mark, which is a 20-win average, is just so extremely special,” Bates said. “They are four great kids and they’ve been a pleasure to coach. Hopefully we can add some more wins to that total.
“To set the record for your school and call yourself the winningest class is one of the top achievements you can get.”
Loudonville jumped out to a 12-6 advantage after the first quarter. The period was highlighted by a Shalen Guilliams 3-pointer from the left corner off an inbounds play with 1:29 remaining. The trey was Guilliams’ 79th of the season and broke the record previously held by Kim Herman, who connected on 78 triples in 1996. Guilliams hit three 3s on the day and has 81 on the year.
“Shalen breaking the 3-point record is very special because that was a lofty record,” Bates said. “We’ve had some awesome 3-point shooters and the never reached that mark. For Shalen to get over 80 in a single season and do it shooting a very high percentage just shows what kind of worker and kid she is.”
Loudonville extended its lead to 34-14 at the half and was never seriously threatened after the break. The young Bulldogs never quit, however, and actually outscored the Redbirds 22-19 in the second half.
“Our last two games earlier this week, our second halves against Plymouth and (Kidron) Central Christian were just really bad,” Crestline coach Kyle Strauch said. “We put an emphasis on that at halftime, to come out and play well. I thought the girls really stepped up.
“Loudonville is a great team and they’re probably going to make a deep run in the tournament. They made a few more shots than us, but we went toe-to-toe with them in the second half.”
Grace Vermilya backed her younger sister with 12 points. Guilliams added 10 while Race had eight.
“They can shoot lights out and they have a post (Grace Vermilya) who is just unbelievable down low,” Strauch said. “We made them make shots and I thought our girls competed, which was the big thing today.”
Senior Hannah Delong led the Bulldogs with 13 points. Daija Sewell added seven, while Emma Kirby and Ivy Stewart each had five.
Next up for Loudonville is a Division IV sectional semifinal game against Richmond Heights at 7 p.m. Feb. 17. The top-seeded Redbirds dropped to Division IV this year after being a staple in the Division III Wooster district tournament for the past 20 years.
“Typically that Division IV district isn’t very strong but this year some new teams got moved in. We’ll have to be ready to play come tournament time,” Bates said. “We also think we belong right in the mix. We’re going to go compete.”
