WILLARD, Ohio — Buckeye Central coach Phil Loy scrolled through the game stats on his tablet computer and shook his head in disbelief.
“They are pretty dang good when they play like that,” Loy said after watching Plymouth dismantle his Bucks 62-37 in Friday’s Division IV district championship game at Robert L. Haas Gymnasium. “Tyrell (Edmiston) is a match-up problem and then when everybody else shoots the ball the way they did, it’s tough. You’ve got to choose your poison.”
The Big Red (25-1) were a sizzling 24 of 39 from the field. Plymouth connected on a jaw-dropping 71 percent of its floor shots from inside the 3-point arc (17-24).
“What do you do?” Loy asked. “If they are going to shoot it that well, then hats’ off to them.”
The newly-minted Northwest District Player of the Year in Division IV, Edmiston was virtually unstoppable. The Urbana-bound 6-foot-4 center scored a game-high 24 points, grabbed 18 rebounds, handed out seven assists and blocked five shots.
“Teams have to pay so much attention to him that it opens up the floor for the rest of us,” said senior Tyson Beebe, who connected on five 3-pointers and scored 19 points. “As good as he is offensively, he’s even better defensively. With him back there protecting the rim, we can take more chances.”
Quick Start: The Big Red raced out to a 19-11 first-quarter lead and never looked back. Plymouth led Buckeye Central (17-9) 32-19 at the break and scored the first five points of the third quarter for a 37-19 lead. The Bucks never threatened again.
“We gave the best defensive effort we could and got physical with them,” Plymouth coach Troy Keene said.
Rematch: Friday’s district championship game was a rematch of the season opener. Plymouth beat Buckeye Central 47-44 back on Dec 5.
“Buckeye Central is a very good team,” Beebe said. “We didn’t underestimate them. We had our hands full the first time we played them.”
Regional Return: The Big Red are headed to the regional tournament for the fifth time in school history and first time since 2010. Plymouth will play Wayne Trace at 6:15 p.m. Tuesday at Bowling Green State University’s Stroh Center. Wayne Trace, which finished second in Division IV in the final Associated Press poll, beat Edgerton 60-53 in the Van Wert district final Friday.
“We have been working for this our entire careers,” Beebe said. “Our goal is to win five championships and this is our third. We’ll go to Bowling Green and see what happens.”
