Correspondent photo / Eric Fortune The Western Reserve Blue Devils won a Division IV district title on Saturday with a 50-26 win over East Canton.

BERLIN CENTER — Defense has basically been the key for the past month and a half for the Western Reserve Blue Devils.

Coach Steve Miller realized that it was the direction they had to go, and it’s been the strength of the team.

It paid off again on Saturday as the Blue Devils got past the East Canton Wizards, 50-26, to win a Division IV district final.

Western Reserve held East Canton to 9-of-31 shooting and now will face the McDonald Blue Devils for the third straight year in the tournament.

This time, it’ll be in a regional semifinal on Thursday at 8 p.m. at Massillon Perry.

“We hated, and they (McDonald) hated, the fact of having to play each other so early in the tournament in the district because we believe that we’re two of the best teams in the state for the past several years,” Miller said about the Blue Devil vs. Blue Devil postseason rivalry. “It’s unfortunate the way sometimes things are set up and your road ends before maybe it should.

“I was happy, and the people of McDonald were happy, that we were able to delay that a little bit and push it back into the regional. You got two teams from the same league. You have two teams in two close communities that battle in every sport. Two proud communities that are both where they should be.”

Danielle Vuletich led the Blue Devils with a 24-point, 11-rebound double-double. Her size and length presented problems for the Wizards all game long.

“I wasn’t really thinking about stats,” Vuletich said. “All I was thinking about was helping my team to win this district championship. I try to help my team, the best way I can. We knew who we were going up against and our initial plan was to get me the ball. I wouldn’t have had this performance without my teammates, so I give my credit to them. Our seniors are so happy. Now we have to prepare for McDonald. We’re looking forward to that.”

Oliva Pater added 12 and Kennedy Miller helped to shut down the Wizards’ best offensive threat, Bella Kline, who finished with five points. Audrey Wade and Kammi Lebo led the Wizards with seven points each.

After a sloppy opening quarter on both sides in which Western Reserve held a 9-3 advantage, the Blue Devils started to get some separation, finishing out the first half on a 13-4 run over the final four minutes to take a 29-10 lead at the half.

“We had some uncharacteristic turnovers,” Miller said. “I thought they did a good job cutting off our dribble-drive lanes and taking things away from us. It was a little bit more of maybe nerves and anxiety, but I have to give East Canton some credit. We have to shore up our turnovers.”

Vuletich’s inside presence became too much for the Wizards in the third quarter as her eight points in the paint along with controlling the boards pushed the Blue Devils’ advantage to 46-15 heading into the final quarter.

“Everyone knows going in, they have to figure out how to guard Dani and stop her,” Miller said. “That’s probably easier said than done. It’s not so easy to just play behind, run, or just double, because we have some guards that have good ball skills. They had some perimeter shooters and could attack the basket.”

Miller said he thought East Canton did a good job of keeping Western Reserve off-balance early. The Blue Devils struggled early and the game stayed tight for a while.

“I think it was just the war of attrition,” Miller said. “We just kept kind of going to Dani. We didn’t overuse her but we used her when we had to and certainly with the size advantage it helped. We then got Kline into foul trouble. That caused them a lot of problems.”

Vuletich knew East Canton didn’t have a lot of height but Kline was aggressive and could cause some problems.

“We knew they were going to throw something at me, even double me, so we just had to be patient getting me the ball. I think everyone did a great job giving me the ball tonight especially Brooke (Schantz), Kennedy. and Olivia. They knew to look for me.”

Now McDonald awaits.

“It feels great,” Vuletich added. “We know that March 4, it’s going to be a battle. It always is with them. We’ve had that date circled on our calendars since day one.

“We’ve been preparing for this the whole entire season. It’s going to be a really good game. I can’t wait to play them again.”