Regina beats Liberty-Benton in Division III semifinal

Dan Labbe, OhioHSsports.com, March 19, 2009 6:21 p.m.

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South Euclid Regina's Therany Dunnigan, right, fights for a rebound with Findlay Liberty-Benton's Amber Peterson during the first quarter of Regina's Division II state semifinal win. - (AP Photo/Paul Vernon)

Liberty-Benton appeared up to the task of hanging with Regina in the first Division III semifinal game Thursday night. Then the third quarter happened.

Trailing by seven going into the quarter, the Eagles quickly fell apart, punctuated by a technical foul on coach Nate Irwin at the 3:14 mark of the quarter. The ensuing free throws by Riley McCormick followed by a solid possession resulting in two Jackie Cook free throws pushed Regina's lead to 43-26 and the Royals did not look back.

"We made a slight adjustment in the second half and basically played defense like we'd never played before," said Regina coach Pat Diulus.

Regina outscored the Eagles 15-5 in the quarter. The Royals won the game, 59-30.

Regina found plenty of room to work inside on the Eagles, highlighted by Therany Dunnigan's 17 points and 7 rebounds. Cook worked inside and out to add 11 points and 10 rebounds for the Royals. Tay'ler Mingo scored 12 points.

"I just kept telling myself all week long, just be fearless, just grab the boards," said Dunnigan. "Do what I know."

"There's no question about it," added Diulus, "it's the best [Therany Dugan's] played."

Liberty-Benton was paced by Caite Craft's 11 points.

Regina jumped out to a 14-10 first quarter lead behind 7 of 14 shooting. Mingo scored 6 points in a quarter that saw Liberty-Benton turn the ball over six times resulting in 10 Royals points.

The Royals extended their lead to 19-13 following back-to-back buckets by Dunnigan. Amber Boyd (9 points) went on a 5-0 mini-run as well extending Regina's lead to 26-17 with 2:27 to play. Liberty-Benton may have been out of it if not for Shanay Gibson's six points in the quarter. Mingo scored on a driving layup to end the half and give the Royals a 30-23 edge at the break.

Regina will face the winner of Oak Hill and Versailles on Saturday at 2:00 p.m. The Royals fell a game short of the state championship game one year ago. Regina lost to Versailles in that game.

This was Liberty-Benton's first trip to the state tournament.