Coming into the season, Poland coach Nick Blanch has had a successful 11 years at the helm of the program. With league titles, a district title and multiple 1,000-point scorers during his tenure, Blanch’s Bulldog teams have accomplished quite a bit.

In addition to winning the fifth district title in program history with a thrilling 40-38 win over Marlington on Saturday, COVID-19 regulations have given Blanch the chance to add a new section in his resume.

“Every day has been a challenge,” Blanch said. “We’re disinfecting everything. I feel like I’m running a maid service to be honest. … It’s been a year of adversity and our girls keep persevering through.”

Like Poland’s maid service that’s keeping every basketball shiny, the Bulldogs have been cleaning their way through their schedule and sit at 22-2, with the next opponent being Perry in the Division II, Region 5 semifinal. Poland takes on the Pirates tonight at Barberton High School. Tipoff is set for 8:15.

Perry, which has been a staple at the regional level over the past few seasons, poses a tough matchup for Poland, but one that the Bulldogs could overcome.

“We match up really well with them,” Blanch said. “They’re a very aggressive defensive team. Man-to-man mainly, and they shoot the ball really well. … We’ve got shooters who play a physical brand of basketball as well, so I honestly think it’s going to be another great matchup, and it’s going to be a four-quarter game down the stretch.”

One of those shooters is senior Jackie Grisdale, who has led the Bulldogs on and off the court all season. On the court, Grisdale leads the team averaging 20 points-per-game and has brought down 173 rebounds on the season.

Off the court, Grisdale and the other seniors, Ella Harrell and Lizzy Herdman, have been a crucial aspect of the team succeeding as much as they have this season.

“They are great leaders, and this year, we needed it more than ever,” Blanch said. “We didn’t have an offseason because of everything going on, so we did our stuff virtually and I had to have great leaders in order to pull this off.

“One thing about this group I’ll always remember is their leadership capabilities and the way they care for their teammates more than they care for themselves. Our success has a lot to do with that because the girls are more excited to play with the person next to them than they are to pad their stats.”

The Poland senior class, which has helped compile a record of 88-11 over the last four seasons, is doing everything in its power to keep the team together as long as possible.

“We’re going to the Purple Palace and we’re practicing in March, which is always one of our goals,” said Blanch, referring to the nickname of Barberton’s gymnasium. “Keep it going as long as we can. Eventually it comes to an end, but we want to fight like hell to get there and go as long as we can to keep each other together. They’ll remember this year and the memories we’ve had, with the COVID situation, all of the changes to our schedule and picking up games on the fly and not knowing where we’re at. It’s just been a great experience.

“We’ve persevered through a lot of adversity, a lot of frustration for coaches, parents and players, and kept taking them one at a time and finding a way to make it positive. That’ll be the biggest thing I take from this year is just overcoming adversity and doing whatever it takes.”

If the Bulldogs can top Perry, they’ll advance to the regional final for the second time in three years and face the winner of Laurel and Cuyahoga Valley Chrisitan Academy on Friday at 7 p.m.