FULTON – Canterbury’s three-peat quest continues, so the celebration lasts only a couple of days.

The two-time defending Class A state champion Cavaliers moved toward a possible third title with a 69-38 win over Oregon-Davis on Saturday in the Caston Regional finals.

“From the first practice of the season that’s where you motivate yourself; you set the bar high, and therefore motivating yourself to work that much harder,” Cavs senior Cassie Kreiger said. “Together, we are getting to a point where we need to win.

“We celebrate a little bit because this is a big deal for us. We work very hard to get it done, but at the same time we have to remain grounded.”

The Cavaliers (23-2) will play Turkey Run (20-5) in the semistate next Saturday at Warsaw or Elkhart’s Northside gym. The IHSAA will decide the locations today. The state finals are March 6 at Memorial Coliseum.

“We didn’t anticipate or expect anything less,” Canterbury coach Scott Kreiger said. “Our goals are set pretty high. We want to get to the Coliseum. In order to do that, we have to keep playing well.”

Cassie Kreiger and Tabitha Gerardot each had 21 points to lead the No. 2 Cavaliers.

“We were really concerned about these two games, and have confidence but not be arrogant,” Gerardot said. “After so long, we just get it. The one thing I like about our team is we keep learning, as individuals and as a team.”

The two teams have met in the regionals the last four years. The winner of the previous three games won the state championship.

Canterbury beat Oregon-Davis 61-55 in last year’s regional finals and two years ago in the regional semifinals.

The Bobcats won in the 2007 regional finals and went on to win the state title.

“We are used to it, and we know exactly how they are going to play,” Canterbury junior Becky Pedro said of the Bobcats. “We don’t do anything ahead of the next game. We take it step at a time, and we get our work done.”

The Cavs broke open a close game in the second quarter with a 19-3 run that pushed the margin to 31-11.

Canterbury’s bench came through with Matte Troxel scoring eight and Bailey Farley seven.

“This is the deepest and most talented team we have had,” Scott Kreiger said. “We were concerned with two games in one day because we haven’t had that experience yet this year. We were also concerned about the pace of the game and foul trouble. All those things came into play.”

The Cavs led 12-4 in the first quarter before the Bobcats scored the final four points. It was the closest No. 5 Oregon-Davis (22-5) would be the rest of the game.

“We had some mental mistakes because this is such a big rivalry for us,” Gerardot said. “That’s what made it so sloppy in the first quarter.”

The Cavaliers beat Kouts 55-33 in the semifinals.

Gerardot had 19 points and 10 rebounds. Canterbury won despite shooting only 29 percent from the field.

gjones@jg.net