LOUDONVILLE – The Loudonville girls basketball team celebrated its seniors, shot the lights out, then cut the nets down Saturday afternoon.
Now the Redbirds’ season can begin.
Not shy all year about stating its No. 1 priority of making a run to the Division IV Final Four, Loudonville bludgeoned visiting Columbia 88-49 at The Cage.
The Redbirds and Raiders entered the day with identical 19-2 records, and Columbia had topped Loudonville last year, 53-41.
But it took sixth-ranked LHS about 10 minutes of gameplay to show that Saturday would be a nightmare for the Raiders.
Steered by sisters Corri Vermilya (33 points, 8 rebounds, 5 steals) and Mya Vermilya (28 points, 8 3-pointers, 9 rebounds), the Redbirds hit a season-high 15 3-pointers and forced 20 turnovers through three quarters. The Raiders – who hadn’t allowed more than 49 points in a game all season – gave up 88, tied for the most Loudonville has scored all year.
It was an emphatic regular-season finale for LHS, which celebrated seniors Corri Vermilya, Jena Guilliams (9 points on three 3-pointers) and Sophia Spangler (6 points, 5 assists) in the pregame. The trio led a celebration of the eighth consecutive Mid-Buckeye Conference title captured earlier this season.
“Today, from the fans, to the junior high and youth basketball girls being here, to our team and what we put on the floor, that’s what Loudonville basketball is all about,” Redbirds head coach Tyler Bates said.
“I think if we played Columbia another nine times, the score would not be that at the end of the game.”
Bates said it might have been his team’s best all-around performance in a few years.
“They’re a much better team than the final score indicated today and we expect them to make a good run in the tournament,” Bates said.
Things didn’t bode well early for the Raiders. Senior Elise Champagne, set to play at Baldwin-Wallace College, had two fouls in the game’s first four minutes.
That opened the door for Loudonville to close the first quarter on a 13-4 run. The Vermilyas set the table for things to come by scoring the team’s first 14 points before Spangler scooped in a layup.
Champagne scored her first of a team-high 19 points with 6:42 left in the second quarter, knocking down a 3 from the left corner to make it 23-10. But Corri Vermilya quickly answered with her own straightaway trey from the Redbirds’ logo in the middle of the court, and Loudonville rolled to 48-19 gap at the half.
“I think everybody contributed, everybody knew their role today and we maximized our roles,” said the Ashland University-bound Corri Vermilya, who went on to net 15 points in the third quarter.
“I was really proud of Corri because early in the game she wasn’t forcing anything,” Bates said. “We were making the right pass, she was actually being used a lot as a screener in the first quarter for her teammates and they were knocking down shots.”
There was no better definition of the deep-ball precision than freshman Mya Vermilya, who drilled three treys each in the first two quarters and finished just two off the program record for a single game (10).
Her 28 points were a personal season-best, but not a surprise to Bates, who said she is already getting college interest and should be one of the best to come out of Ohio in her graduating class.
“Having a home game helps because we haven’t had a home game in a while (Jan. 10),” the younger Vermilya said, “so I was just feeling it where we practice everyday.”
“It’s really fun playing with Corri,” she added. “It’s just like a bond and she’s like my best friend.”
“From when she was a ballgirl in fourth grade to her freshman year, she’s probably never missed a workout or a practice,” Bates added of his freshman. “I think when you have those types of kids, you know they’re going to give you something. … We knew that she was going to help this team a lot.”
Columbia rallied a bit to match Loudonville in third-quarter scoring, 22-22, as Champagne got rolling and junior guard Sadie Schulke built on a 17-point game.
But the Raiders didn’t get closer than 28 points in the third period and the Redbirds collected their 17th win by at least 30 points this season. It also marked their sixth 20-win season in the last eight years.
“When you’ve got a three-time All-Ohio player (Champagne) that you’ve got to put on the bench in the first quarter because of fouls, that’s not the easiest,” Raiders coach Corey Taylor said. “That took us out of our offensive flow a little bit, but at the end of the day, they played real well. Loudonville earned that win big time.
“That’s a really well-coached team,” he said. “I’ve got a lot of respect for Tyler.”
Prior to Saturday, Columbia’s lone two losses were by a combined eight points to Lorain County 8 champ Keystone, which finished the regular season 22-0.
The Raiders had 16 wins by at least 20 points, as Champagne surpassed 1,000 points for her career and set the program record for career assists (351 entering Saturday) this season.
But Loudonville was more than ready to put an exclamation point on one of the most dominant regular seasons in north centrral Ohio history. The Redbirds started the season 15-0, winning each game by at least 24 points.
The ‘Birds are 10-0 at home heading into their sectional semifinal Wednesday against Valley Christian at LHS. If they win that game, they will be sectional champs, as Lordstown forfeited the ensuing sectional title game earlier this week.
Corri Vermilya, the 2023 Division III Player of the Year and Ms. Basketball Finalist, will enter her final postseason with 2,283 points (17th in Ohio history), 1,173 rebounds (21st), 523 steals (10th) and 498 free throws made (14th).
“When you play your best game of the year the last game of the regular season, you can sit here and say we’re clicking at the right time,” Bates said. “But obviously none of us know until we go play someone in a tournament game.
“We hope that we’re prepared, we feel good about our schedule this year, but we’ve got to show up and play.”
Note: Loudonville had already finished off its MBC title on Jan. 6. After being given permission to drop four of their league games for tougher nonleague opponents, the Redbirds finished 4-0 in the MBC, throttling Mansfield Christian (84-18), Central Christian (78-12), Lucas (78-5) and Crestline (85-21).
