State soccer run comes back to help Copley High School in girls basketball regional win

MANSFIELD — When you’ve reached the summit the air is different, but you never forget the view.

The Copley High School girls basketball team came into its Division II, Region 6 semifinal with Bellevue ready for anything, and that’s what it got on Tuesday.

As it has all season, Copley found a way in a 47-40 win to reach its fourth regional final in school history and the first since 2006.

Up next is a regional final at Mansfield against Bryan (25-1), which reached the state semifinals last season and is riding a 19-game winning streak.

And if you thought that having Emily Kerekes and Kami Ayoup, who played on the 2022 Division II state championship soccer team, might help, you’d be correct.

“I think that makes a big difference,” Copley coach Julie Solis said. “When you’ve had to go through the pressure of those moments, it changes you. It’s natural to get nerves, but they’ve been all the way through it and came out on top. In my experience with state championships, that changes a kid. The big moment doesn’t impact them as much anymore.”

Three quarters of great defense make up for Copley's first-quarter woes

It certainly could have after a less-than-stellar first quarter put Copley down 16-10.

The squad shot 4 of 12, turned the ball over four times and was getting beat up on the perimeter.

Ayoup (12 points, six rebounds) was in foul trouble and things could have gone sideways.

But Copley regrouped and played lights-out for the next two quarters.

“I think we knew exactly what we need to win,” Kerekes said. “You can’t let up. We faced adversity and we knew we could find it. No one could stop us if we do what we do and play together.”

Copley (24-3) meshed offensively and clamped down on defense to hold Bellevue (22-6) to 5-of-27 shooting the final three quarters.

That helped Copley rebound from a bad first quarter to take a 26-22 halftime lead.

Although Bellevue tied the score 31-all with 3:38 left in the third quarter, Izzy Callaway (22 points) and Kerekes (10 rebounds) played their game and the team found a way.

“That state championship in soccer we were up 1-0 in the first half,” Ayoup said. “We had to keep up the offense and playing lock-down defense. It’s just that pressure of being up and maintaining that level.

“It’s difficult. You have to lock into the game. You can’t listen to the people around you. You have to focus because the game is what matters in that moment. That’s what you focus on.”

Bryan up next for Copley team ready to join 2006 state final four team

Copley’s next step is a gigantic one as it tries to become just the second team to reach the state final four.

That 2006 team finished 22-4 to set the standard for teams to come. That it took eventual state champion River View to beat Copley 51-44 in overtime showed just how locked in that team was.

Many of the players on this year’s team weren’t even born and if they were it was by mere months.

That’s why Copley isn’t looking past Bryan, which beat Granville 40-26 to advance.

“We have to be ready coming into games more,” Callaway said. “It was a different crowd here. It was definitely bigger. We just have to get into our groove and make adjustments.

“We have to kind of trust each other. We all know what our end goal is. We know our standard and exactly what coach is asking of us. We need to know our roles and go from there. It’s the end goal. We know we want it bad. We know we have to push back and do the things to get back up.”

Getting back up means finding a way to keep Bryan's 6-foot-1 Kailee Theil (12.5 points, 6.0 rebounds, 4.0 blocks) in check and not let Ella Voigt (10.0 points) go off.

Even that might not be good enough. Granville held the tandem to 11 points, but got burned by Ella Rau, Marah Smith and Josey Arnold, who combined for 24 points and six 3-pointers.

“They bring a lot of people,” Solis said. “It was loud in here. I don’t want them to be intimidated by that moment. I’m glad they saw it, so they weren’t intimidated by it. I think that atmosphere is why Granville started slow.

“It was alive in here. There was a lot of energy. That’s the crowds you want to play in front of. You want to hush those crowds. We’re going to do what we can psychologically and physically to be prepared for that noise. It’s taking that moment and embracing because this is your shot to go to the final four.”

Contact Brad Bournival at bbournival@gannett.com and follow him on Twitter at @bbournival

This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Championship pedigree lifts Copley girls basketball in OHSAA regional