Girls regional basketball: Natalie Moser's power surge sends Wadsworth to final

BARBERTON — Natalie Maddox and Lauren Decker were locked in, playing lockdown defense, but the Wadsworth girls basketball team needed someone to step up offensively.Junior point guard Natalie Moser answered the call.Moser scored eight of her team-high 12 points in the second half and grabbed seven rebounds as the No. 1 seed Grizzlies pulled away for a 44-33 victory over No. 3 seed Massillon Jackson in the Division I, Region 1 semifinals Wednesday."Everybody got on the Mo Train," Decker said. "We told her, 'We need you,' and she went off."Despite landing on her right thumb while being fouled at the end of the third quarter, Moser shook off the pain and opened the fourth with back-to-back driving hoops to extend Wadsworth's lead to 37-29. Jackson never got closer than five points the rest of the way.Moser had come out of halftime with a similar surge, going coast-to-coast for a layup and making two free throws in a 7-0 run that began with a Decker 3-pointer and put the Polar Bears in a 29-19 hole."Coach (Andrew) Booth had an encouraging talk with me at the half, so I decided to go right at them and win this game," said Moser, who had five of her seven boards after intermission. "We all worked our butts off to get this far. I'm just really proud of us."The Grizzlies (23-2), who will take on second-seeded Mentor in the regional championship Saturday, could not have been more effective against the three-pronged attack of the Polar Bears (22-4). Jackson only managed five field goals in each half and shot 22.2%.Undersized sophomore power forward Maddox collected six points, a game-best 15 rebounds, three steals and two blocked shots. Senior small forward Decker wound up with eight points, seven boards, three assists, four steals, one black eye and a knot and deep scratch on her face.The duo combined for as many rebounds as the entire Jackson team, which likely will see Maddox and Decker hounding them in their sleep."I just go after it every time," Maddox said. "I see the ball and I run because I know how important rebounding is."Purdue Fort Wayne recruit Maddie Lepley kept the Polar Bears within striking range with 17 points but was just 4-for-17 from the field and 1-for-7 beyond the arc. The senior center made 8-of-9 free throws and had six rebounds and three steals.Jackson point guard Ava Kouri had six points and six boards while shooting 2-for-12, while Ashley Helle started and finished the game with 99 3-pointers on the season. Helle was held scoreless on four field goal attempts."You can only slow down Lepley and Kouri so much, but the way we kept hounding Helle was the key," Booth said. "It wasn't the prettiest game, but it was a great example of two league championship teams battling their tails off to keep their season alive."All five Wadsworth starters were part of the swarming defensive style. Sophomore shooting guard Julia Maddox had 10 points and three assists, and senior center Marah Minor scored eight points.Minor delivered the dagger with 3:15 remaining, draining a 3-pointer that made it 44-32. The Polar Bears opted not to extend the game through fouling, allowing the Grizzlies to run off the final 90 seconds for their eighth win in a row.The postgame was another victory, of sorts, as Decker was bright-eyed and talkative after taking an elbow to the face midway through the third. She left the court for several minutes but was cleared to return after being examined by a trainer and having a bandage applied."I wasn't going to let a black eye stop me," the smiling Robert Morris volleyball signee said. "This is the tournament. Games aren't guaranteed anymore."In the first half of the doubleheader, Mentor blanked Canton McKinley in overtime to escape with a 44-40 victory. Lead guard Nina Rodriguez scored two of her 11 points in the extra session, while Mya Taylor scored 23 for the Bulldogs.The Greater Cleveland Conference champion Cardinals (24-1) have won 23 straight since falling to Twinsburg 52-40 on Nov. 30.Contact Brian Dulik at sports@medina-gazette.com. Follow him @BrianDulik on X.Wadsworth 44, Massillon Jackson 33Division I, Region 1 SemifinalJACKSON 11 8 10 4 — 33WADSWORTH 12 10 11 11 — 44Jackson — Talia Russell 0-2 0-0 0, Lexi Pizor 0-3 0-0 0, Maddie Lepley 4-17 8-9 17, Ashley Helle 0-4 0-0 0, Ava Kouri 2-12 2-4 6, Lily Wackerly 3-4 0-0 7, Maddie Dolan 1-3 1-1 3. TOTALS: 10-45 11-14 33.Wadsworth — Lauren Decker 3-10 1-2 8, Natalie Maddox 3-9 0-0 6, Marah Minor 3-6 0-0 8, Julia Maddox 4-6 2-3 10, Natalie Moser 5-12 2-4 12, Leah Blake 0-1 0-0 0, Tenley Mendel 0-1 0-0 0, Analise Lucey 0-3 0-0 0, LyndiGray Tetzel 0-0 0-0 0. TOTALS: 18-48 5-9 44.3-point goals — Jackson 2-16 (Wacklerly 1-1, Lepley 1-7, Russell 0-1, Pizor 0-1, Helle 0-3, Kouri 0-3), Wadsworth 3-17 (Minor 2-5, Decker 1-1, J. Maddox 0-1, Blake 0-1, Lucey 0-2, Moser 0-3, N. Maddox 0-4). Fouled out — None. Rebounds — Jackson 22 (Lepley, Kouri 6), Wadsworth 37 (N. Maddox 15). Assists — Jackson 5 (Helle, Kouri 2), Wadsworth 13 (Decker, J. Maddox 3. Turnovers — Jackson 13 (Helle 4), Wadsworth 17 (Moser 5). Total fouls — Jackson 14, Wadsworth 16. Records — Jackson (22-4), Wadsworth (23-2).