MANSFIELD — Loyalsock knows teams are going to focus on senior center Alaina Dadzie. After all, she’s the reigning Class AAA State Player of the Year and is closing in on 2,000 career points as she nears the end of a stellar career.

That means that if Loyalsock wants to reach the heights they did last year, winning both a district and state title, they will need other girls to step up. In Wednesday’ District 4 Class AAA semifinal, it was Madison Perry and Madison Wertz who stepped up and combined for 25 points to go along with Dadzie’s 20 to lead Loyalsock to a convincing 52-30 win over Troy at Mansfield University.

“I had butterflies. I watched them play in the NTL Showdown and was super impressed. I could show you text messages to my coaches saying ‘We have to play well. They can get us.’ We knew coming in we had to play well, and we did. They run that funky 1-3-1, and we basically prepped for two weeks for it, just to have our steps ready because we don’t see it much,” Loyalsock coach Curtis Jacobson said. “We were able to kind of get them out of it. The game flipped where they had to go to man to try to force things a little more on their end.”

“I was pleased, for the most part, with our patience in the half court and picking the right moments to make plays. Even in the first half, I thought we tried too hard sometimes,” Jacobson added. “We talked about that at halftime, and I think (assistant) Jeff (Everett) said, ‘don’t try to hit a home run. Let it happen. If we just run the play all the way through, the home run will come.’ I’m super pleased with our effort because we knew Troy competes and plays hard, and they did. Our girls responded.”

Respond they did.

Loyalsock physically overmatched Troy at times throughout the game, and that started in the paint. Dadzie and Wertz dominated inside and combined for 31 points and 12 rebounds, 19 of those points coming in the first half. Troy sold out to focus on Wertz, and she made them pay, making eight of her first nine shots from the floor or foul line.

“I just try to do what’s best for the team and everybody,” Wertz said. “So if that leaves me wide open in the paint and makes it easy, that’s what I’ll take. I just try to help.”

For a team that sometimes is looking for scoring options outside of Dadzie, Wertz coming on and playing well down the stretch could be huge for the Lancers.

“She knows what she’s capable of doing, and we know what she’s capable of doing. It’s about finding ways to get her to her spots where she can score the basketball and get rebounds, and spending time with our guards and with Alaina saying, ‘OK, if we run this play, here’s where she can be,'” Jacobson said. “Everybody’s got to be on the same page. I think we’ve worked really hard the last couple of weeks on that, and we just have to continue.”

Wertz had a hand in a 6-0 run to close the first quarter that put Loyalsock up 13-4, and the Lancers were never seriously threatened again. Things got a bit dicey with two minutes to go in the second quarter when Dadzie picked up her third foul and headed to the bench with Loyalsock leading 24-12. Instead of letting Troy back into the game, Loyalsock went on a 5-0 run to close the half, capped off by a corner three at the buzzer by Addie Barowy to give them a 17-point lead.

“I know a lot happened in between (Dadzie getting her third foul and Barowy’s buzzer-beater), but that Addie Barowy 3 was massive. I mean, just huge at the end,” Jacobson said. “I know it’s only three points, but it’s momentum. It makes you feel different. Everything about it, just seeing the ball go in the basket, there are so many good things that come with going into the locker room after that. You have confidence that you can kind of dictate what happens in the second half instead of allowing them to dictate it.”

By the time Madison Perry scored a quick five points to start the third quarter, it was a mere formality that Loyalsock would be in the district finals for their eighth consecutive trip. Perry was fantastic on both ends, and her driving right-handed finish through contact for a three-point-play-the-old-fashioned-way to cap off her spurt seemingly took all the life out of Troy.

The sophomore — the only starter that didn’t play huge minutes on last year’s state championship team — is coming in to her own and finished with 14 points, four rebounds, five assists and three steals to continue her late-season surge.

“I don’t like making claims like this, but she’s probably the most underrated player in District 4. Just the things she’s capable of doing — she’s getting better every day, we’re putting more on her plate, and we’re seeing her being good at what she does,” Jacobson said. “I thought in the first half she made some really good steals that turned into transition buckets for us. In the second half, she picked the right moments to get to the rim. I don’t even know if she missed a two-point shot. She’s kind of the engine that stirs what we do.”

Loyalsock will now face Hughesville in the district final for the third consecutive season at a time and place to be determined with the teams splitting the previous two meeting. This rivalry has become one of the premier rivalries in the state of Pennsylvania. This final should be no different, especially with both teams knowing that they will be getting home state playoff games regardless in the first round.

“I told them after the game, we’ve had smooth sailing to district finals before. We’ve had some in-betweens, and we’ve had some bumpy roads. This one was definitely more on the bumpy side. There were a lot of bumps. Frankly, I’m sure plenty of people wrote us off, but we just stuck with it,” Jacobson said. “It’s a huge credit to our girls. I think this is our eighth straight district title game, and I’d argue that back in early January, a lot of people probably thought we weren’t going to get there.”

“We had things to clean up, no doubt. As a coaching staff, we had to figure out the best way to get there. For me, it’s not about us vs. Hughesville. It’s about the opportunity for our girls to get back to that game and give it our best shot,” Jacobson continued. “We’re going to move on either way, but of course we’re going to try to win. We try to win every game we play. They know us, and we know them. This isn’t two days of over-preparing. We probably know their players as well as we know our own. It’s about taking hold of the opportunity and finding a way to be one point better than them. That’s all there is to it.”

For Loyalsock’s star-studded and mighty-accomplished senior class, this district final may take on a little extra importance.

“I think since it’s senior year, it makes it special,” Dadzie said. I think we’ve definitely come together more as a team, and we’re excited to get after these next two practices and hopefully get another one.”

Loyalsock 52, Troy 30

LOYALSOCK (52)

Madison Perry 6 2-3 14, Jaekirah Harden 1 1-2 3, Alaina Dadzie 8 3-4 20, Madison Wertz 4 3-4 11, Addie Barowy 1 0-0 3, Madalyne McGarr 0 1-2 1. Totals 20 10-15 52.

TROY (30)

Giannia Renzi 1 0-0 2, Raelynn Woodward 3 0-0 9, Kyah Renzo 4 1-2 9, Isabella Renzi 1 1-5 3, Emma Mickley 2 0-0 4, Kyli Oldroyd 1 0-0 3. Totals 12 2-7 30.

Loyalsock 13 16 13 10

Troy 4 12 4 14

3-point goals: Loyalsock: 2 (Barowy 1, Dadzie 1), Troy 4 (Woodward 3, Oldroyd 1).