Canton Girls Basketball Team Wins Regional Semifinal

Canton senior forward Kari Schmitt had the type of performance Tuesday night that defines what the Canton basketball program is trying to achieve.

Schmitt led all scorers with 17 points, but, more importantly, she added eight rebounds, six steals and two blocks as the Chiefs dominated Ann Arbor Pioneer, 47-29, in a regional semifinal at .

“We love to play defense,” Schmitt said. “That’s where we get our offense from.”

The Pioneers (20-4) didn’t stand much of a chance as the Chiefs (22-2) came out of the gate on fire. 

Canton led 9-2 before Pioneer scored its first field goal of the contest, nearly halfway through the opening quarter.

“Defense and rebounding is what we stressed from Day 1,” Canton coach Brian Samulski said. “We jumped out early and were able to get second and third shots. To hold them to 14 points in the first half is pretty solid.”

Canton ended the first quarter with a 20-8 advantage and expanded it to 34-14 at the half. At one point in the third quarter, the Chiefs led by 30, 46-16.

“This is an important next step for where we want to go,” said Canton senior Kayla Bridges, who scored 11 points. “We’re not looking too far ahead. We’re taking it one game at a time and this was one step further.”

Senior Sara Schmitt, Kari’s twin sister, and senior forward CarolAnn Sexauer added seven and eight points, respectively, on mostly layups or putbacks.

“We knew they couldn’t guard us in the paint,” Sara said. “That’s one of our strengths. We got in there and tried to finish.”

Canton advances to the regional final against Farmington Hills Mercy, which defeated Hartland, 52-29, in the first semfinal.

The championship game is Thursday at 7 p.m. at Canton High School.

Canton and Mercy met in the beginning of the season with the Chiefs taking a 57-37 victory on Mercy’s home court.

“Mercy has improved a lot since then,” Sara Schmitt said. “It will be a good game. It’s a regional final, so we’re all going to come out wanting to win.”