Staff photo / Brian Yauger Western Reserve senior Kylee Ramsey goes up for a layup while being defended by Leetonia's Hallie Lewis.

BERLIN CENTER — The Western Reserve girls basketball team had an 11-day gap between its regular-season finale and Friday’s tournament opener, and Blue Devils coach Steve Miller was curious if there would be any rust. Practices, no matter how intense, can never replicate an actual game.

Those thoughts didn’t last long as senior Quincy Miller drained five 3-pointers in the first quarter to help push Western Reserve past Leetonia, 68-24, in a Division VII, Northeast 1, sectional final at Western Reserve High School.

“It’s nice to get going and keep it going like that,” Steve Miller said. “It was nice. Giana (Leone) shot the ball well tonight, and I thought we moved the ball well and got everybody into the mix there. We got out healthy, and that’s what you want to do.”

Quincy Miller finished the game with 26 points, all but three of them coming in the first half. Leone scored 15 and Kylee Ramsey added 13.

As the Blue Devils look to round out their game more, the focus has been on getting the ball inside. They tried to do that on Friday, but Leetonia’s defense forced them out into 3-point range. Shooting from deep is Western Reserve’s specialty, however, and the Blue Devils (21-2) tallied 30 of their points from beyond the arc.

“We’ve been very strong with the guard play all season long, but we’ve been continuing to work the post, getting in post touches and running different sets for them,” Steve Miller said. “I think trying to become a little bit more balanced as we approach the next couple of rounds of the tournament, I think you need to be able to score from inside and outside down the stretch here. That’s what we’ve been trying to do, to become a little bit more balanced now.

“The way that Leetonia played us today, we didn’t maybe get as many touches as we wanted inside, because with that zone, we just kind of swung the ball quickly and had wide open shots, and then we were hitting them. It’s kind of tough to tell some of your girls not to shoot the ball when that’s how we’re built. That’s what we do. But we came out, we tried to run some things and get some post touches here and there. Hopefully, Tuesday, we get the ball inside a little bit more.”

Leetonia’s season ends at 2-20.

In his first year with the program, Bears coach Steve Reynolds wanted to lay a foundation for future success.

“We’re trying to build a foundation with this team, making sure that they understand what it takes to win as a team,” Reynolds said. “You can see the records over the years, (but what the records don’t show) is that they always fought. (The next step is) finishing the job, so understanding what that looks like, and believing in themselves, because confidence is the key. I definitely believe that’s the case in anything that you do in life.

“I just try to build their confidence up and make sure that they understand that I just don’t believe in them because I’m their coach. I believe in them because I know that they have potential.”

Starr Neel led the Bears with 11 points.

For a team looking to establish a winning tradition and culture, it’d be hard for Leetonia to find a better example than its opponent on Friday.

“When we walk in here, you kind of see the tradition. You kind of see the routines that they have,” Reynolds said. “At Leetonia, we’re trying to build that, and I believe we will get there very soon.”

The Blue Devils advance to the district semifinals, where they’ll play the winner of Bristol and Rittman, who face off today at 1 p.m.