COLUMBUS, Ohio- If you’re scheduling your travel to cover girls state tournaments nationwide, you would be hard pressed not to look at the action in Ohio as a given to plug into your annual plans. For 44 years the Buckeye State has been one of the most competitive landscapes throughout each of the classes and has produced individual talent that keeps Division I rosters full of their native daughters both in state and across the nation. Even in “down” years there can still be some great basketball and exciting finishes. Not to say it was a down year this season as Ohio can claim four McDonald’s All-Americans in the 2019 class, two who have led their teams to appearances in this year’s state tournament.
All four defending champions are back in Columbus defending their state crowns from a year ago. Pickerington Central in Division I, Toledo Rogers in D-II, Africentric in Division III and Minster in D-IV are looking some additional hardware to add to their collection. Combined, the semifinalists in all four classes suffered just 40 losses on the season in 431 games played between them. Two teams brought undefeated records to the big dance with 11 of the 16 having two losses or less on their resume.
Thursday’s action saw Division III and Division II take the floor in the Schottenstein Center on the campus of Ohio State. Africentric held off a determined Berlin Hiland squad 61 – 48 to return to Saturday’s final looking for their seventh state championship. Junior Alexia Smith led the Lady Nubians with 19 points on 8 of 15 shooting from the floor. Sophomore guard Morgan Yoder stood out for the Hawks in the loss finishing with 21 going 8 of 15 as well including 3 for 5 from deep.
Waynesville kept their undefeated streak alive with their 41 – 39 overtime win over Chippewa courtesy of senior Marcella Sizer’s put back at the buzzer. The senior post finished with a double – double of 13 points and an impressive 16 rebounds. Chipps junior wing Celina Kontz had her own double – double wrapping up her season with a 20 point – 11 rebound effort. Waynesville’s reward is a match up with Africentric who is also undefeated and a team that has an average margin of victory of 41.7 points per game in 27 contests.
Division II had the evening session kicking off with Dayton Carroll and LeBron’s Alma Mater, St. Vincent St. Mary. A six point halftime lead kept the Irish close but a 19 – 8 third opened things up and let Carroll advance with a comfortable 57 – 38 win. The Patriots had three in double figures led by freshman Sarah Ochs. Juniors Julia Keller and Allie Stefanek each added 12.
Thursday’s nightcap featured the defending champs from Toledo Rogers and Sheridan, both teams coming in with identical 25 and 2 records. Rogers senior guard Zia Cooke (USA Basketball / McDonald’s) did what Zia Cooke does posting 37 points including an 18 of 21 slate at the line to lead the Rams back to the D-II finals. Sheridan, however, never went away and still had a two possession game under a minute to go before resorting to the unsuccessful intentional foul parade. While things didn’t go their way they did get a stellar performance from freshman post Faith Stinson who produced a double – double of 16 points and 13 rebounds.
Division IV semifinals are up first on Friday followed in the evening session by the big dogs fighting for Division I honors.
Division IV Semifinals
Willoughby Cornerstone Christian (23-4) vs. Minster (26-1)
Ottoville (24-3) vs. Shadyside (24-4)
Division I Semifinals
Canton GlenOak (24-2) vs. No. 4 Cincinnati Mount Notre Dame (25-2)
Pickerington Central (27-1) vs. Toledo Notre Dame Academy (23-5)
Saturday will highlight all four championship games starting at 10:45 a.m. and cutting the last nets down following the 8:30 p.m. Division I final. Check back for our coverage of each day from the 2019 OSHAA Girls Basketball State Tournament.
