LOUDONVILLE — Grace Vermilya had a career night and Loudonville needed every one of her school-record 53 points.
A senior post, Vermilya broke the former mark of 49 set by Misty Wells in 1992 and the top-seeded Redbirds held on for a 78-74 overtime win over No. 3 Dalton in the Division IV district semifinals at Loudonville High School.
“I never thought the single-game record was ever going to be broken,” Loudonville coach Tyler Bates said. “That wasn’t in some regular-season game at the end of the year against a bad team. We needed all of those points.
“The most amazing thing about Grace’s night was she didn’t force a single shot. Every shot that she took was through the flow of the offense. She was calm and she was never in a hurry.”
Vermilya’s younger sister, freshman Corri, added 17 points in the win.
“The Vermilya sisters combined for 70 points tonight,” Bates said. “It was something else.”
Loudonville secured the victory at the free throw line. The Redbirds connected on 17 of 18 freebies in the fourth quarter and overtime.
“We knew that Dalton was tough defensively and they would want to keep the score down,” Bates said. “We weren’t sure that they would be that high scoring. Our coaching staff thought our magic number would be in the mid- to high-50s. We were wrong.
“We’re proud of the girls for continuing to fight and adjust throughout the game. We got them to take some quick shots. It wasn’t perfect, but we had a couple girls hit some big shots and we made our free throws.”
Loudonville will host second-seeded Willoughby Cornerstone Christian at 4 p.m. Saturday in the district finals. Cornerstone beat No. 4 Cuyahoga Heights 40-32 in the other district semifinal game Wednesday.
