Records Fall in Lady Leopards 77-63 Sectional Win Over Massillon – Girls Basketball
#6 Louisville 77, #11 Massillon 63
The #6 Seed Louisville Leopards Girls Basketball Team defeated the #11 Seed Massillon Tigers 77-63 in the Division I Massillon Sectional Semifinals Saturday Afternoon at Louisville High School. With the win, Louisville improves to 14-7 on the season and advances to play at the #3 Seed New Philadelphia Quakers in the DI Massillon Sectional Finals on Thursday, February 20 at 7:00 PM.
Paige Cole scored a game-high 23 points and Sherilynn Mullett poured in 22 points to lead the Lady Leopards. Four Louisville players reached double figures as Kendal Loy also scored 17 and Kayla Gibson added 11.
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Cole made a team tournament record 5 three-pointers in the first half in leading the Lady Leopards to a 39-24 halftime lead. Her fifth triple also gave her sole possession of the single-season team record for three-pointers with 37. She eclipsed the mark of 36 previously held by Amanda Jaeb (2007-08) and Leah Seaman (2005-06).
Mullett also dropped in 14 points in the second half as Louisville broke the team record for points scored in a tournament game with 77. The previous record was held by the District Champion 1991-92 squad who defeated the Fairless Falcons 73-45 in the DII Sectional Finals at Lake Elementary School.
The Leopards led 18-16 after a back-and-forth opening quarter. Then they outscored the Tigers 21-8 in the second quarter to take a 15-point cushion at the break. Massillon chipped away in the third quarter by outscoring Louisville 22-19 and even cut their deficit down to single digits at 70-61 with 1:15 left in the contest.
However, the Tigers made the mistake of leaving Gibson wide open in the right corner. She buried a three-ball with 55 seconds left to put the Leopards back up by double digits at 73-61. LHS would hit 7 of 8 free throw attempts in the final period to put the game out of reach.
Massillon was led by Mckeyah Duley who made 3 three-pointers and scored 16 of her team-high 20 points in the second half. Mackenzie Duplain also poured in 16 and Arianna Berry tacked on 12.
The 140 combined points scored is the second most in Louisville Leopards Girls Basketball history for a tournament game. Only the Lady Leopards 84-66 loss to Elida in the Division II Regional Finals on March 10, 1990 yielded more combined postseason points with 150 total. This game also marks the second highest scoring home game in team history as Louisville’s 77-64 win over the visiting Akron Springfield Spartans on January 22, 1994 produced more points with 141 total.
Lady Leopards Basketball Highest Scoring Games
| Place | Date | Location | Final Score | Total Points |
| 1 | 3/10/1990 | Neutral | Elida 84, Louisville 66* | 150 |
| 2 | 1/10/2015 | Away | Louisville 80, Alliance 65 | 145 |
| 3 | 12/12/2012 | Away | Canfield 74, Louisville 69 | 143 |
| 4 | 2/14/1994 | Away | Doylestown 84, Louisville 57 | 141 |
| 4 | 1/22/1994 | Home | Louisville 77, Akron Springfield 64 | 141 |
| 6 | 2/15/2020 | Home | Louisville 77, Massillon 63* | 140 |
| 7 | 12/5/2009 | Home | Louisville 75, Minerva 64 | 139 |
| 7 | 11/28/2007 | Away | Perry 72, Louisville 67 | 139 |
| 9 | 2/19/1981 | Home | East Canton 71, Louisville 66 | 137 |
| 10 | 12/9/2019 | Home | Louisville 76, Massillon 60 | 136 |
*Tournament Game
Louisville is now 44-43 all-time in tournament games with the win which includes a 5-3 record in postseason contests played at LHS. The Lady Leopards are 5-12 in the postseason since joining Division I in 2008.
With the victory, Louisville has now three straight against Massillon. The Lady Leopards now lead the all-time series 16-10 which includes an 8-3 record in games played at LHS. Louisville is now 3-2 against the Tigers in tournament play. This is their first victory over Massillon in the postseason since a 59-28 victory over WHS in the DI Alliance Sectional Semifinals on February 14, 2008.
UP NEXT:The Lady Leopards will next hit the road to take on the #3 Seed New Philadelphia Quakers in the DI Massillon Sectional Finals on Thursday, February 20 at 7:00 PM.
Varsity Statistics
LEOPARDS 77, TIGERS 63
Team 1-2-3-4–TOTAL
Massillon 16-8-22-17–63
Louisville 18-21-19-19—77
TIGERS:Duley 6 5-5 20, Duplain 7 1-1 16, Berry 5 2-7 12, Hewitt 4 0-0 9, Fisk 1 0-0 3,Williams 1 0-1 3. TOTAL 24 8-14 63.
3-Pointers (7): Duley 3, Duplain, Fisk, Hewitt, Williams
Team FT: 8-14 57%
LEOPARDS: Cole 9 0-0 23, Mullett 9 3-4 22, Loy 7 3-4 17, Gibson 4 2-2 11, Adelman 0 2-4 2, Dyer 1 0-0 2. TOTAL 30 10-14 77.
3-Pointers (7): Cole 5, Gibson Mullett
Team FT: 10-14 71%
Fouls: 17-16 Louisville
Records: Louisville 14-7
