COLUMBUS, Ohio—The 40th annual OHSSA Girls Basketball State Tournament has returned to Columbus once again to crown champions in four different divisions. The Buckeye State remains one of the premier hotbeds of prospective college talent with 67 current singings or commitments to date among the 2015 – 18 classes. This weekend the final four in each classification is on hand to take a shot at Saturday’s championship games and the chance to leave their mark in the record books.
Blue Star Media was courtside from start to finish Thursday and will be on hand until the final nets are cut down Saturday night. Check back with us throughout the tournament. We’ll have Division I and II semifinal coverage tomorrow as well as championship results and player profiles Sunday.
Friday’s action got underway with semifinal games in Division III and IV. Fostoria St. Wendelin and Waterford kicked things off in D-IV followed by Berlin Hiland and Fort Loramie. The four title hopefuls had suffered just 10 losses across the season with Fort Loramie the only team making a return to Columbus after a 2014 appearance. The evening session belonged to the D-III crowd with Versailles and Doylestown Chippewa going at it first with Ottawa-Glandorf and Proctorville Fairland wrapping up day one in the day’s final game. The four finalists came in together winning 91 percent of their games including an unblemished mark from Doylestown Chippewa
DIVISION IV
Waterford 42 St. Wendelin 36
The first semifinal of the Division IV bracket was somewhat slow out of the gate with Fostoria St. Wendelin “jumping” out to a 9 – 7 advantage on Waterford after one period. The Wildcats were lucky to trail by only two given the fact that they were just 2 of 13 from the floor over the course of the first period. A three pointer at the buzzer made the halftime margin three with St. Wendelin still holding the 18 – 15 edge going into the locker room. The Mohawks actually shot the ball well (50%) but eight turnovers and some costly second looks given up on the boards kept the game close. Waterford finished the first half 6 for 27 for a whopping 22 percent. The third period saw plenty of back and forth that allowed junior post standout Kamryn Troike get eight points on 4 of 4 shooting to help Wendelin hold a 28 – 26 lead entering the final quarter. Unfortunately for the Mohawks the last eight minutes belonged to Waterford. They finally took the lead at the 1:51 mark going up 37 – 36 and extended it to a four point gap by converting an ensuing turnover. When all was said and done the Wildcats punched their ticket to Saturday’s final by way of a 42 – 36 margin. St. Wendelin was done in by 18 turnovers (10 second half) and 11 offensive boards given up at critical junctures. Junior guard Dani Drayer led Waterford with 11 despite just 2 of 7 shooting. Freshman swing player Megan Ball added 10 more in just 18 minutes of play. Troike finished with 18 in the loss shooting 8 for 10 from the floor but converting only 2 of her 8 attempts from the line. Waterford shot 45 percent in the second half to “raise” their final completion rate to 31.9 for the game and, more importantly, the chance to play one more.
Fort Loramie 45 Berlin Hiland 36
Two of the state’s most accomplished programs went at it for the chance to take on Waterford for the D-IV crown. Berlin Hiland (14th trip to the final four) and Fort Loramie (9th appearance) both started out ice cold in battling to a 10 – 9 first quarter in favor of Hiland. The Redskins were just 3 of 12 while the Hawks grabbed their limited lead on their own 4 for 13 effort. Neither team warmed up in the second as Fort Loramie grabbed the lead on a “blistering” 28.6 percent while Hiland cooled to 26.9 and trailing 19 – 18 at the break. Senior Hallie Benanzer had six for the Redskins while freshman point guard Kennedy Schlabach had 10 for the Hawks. Fort Loramie leading scorer Jessica Boerger was held to a single free throw for the half. The third proved pivotal as the Redskins found the range to some degree and outscored Hiland 14 – 7 opening up a 33 – 25 lead entering the game’s final eight minutes. The Hawks managed to put 11 points on the board in the fourth and had down to just two possessions with1:29 remaining. The parade to the foul line began ultimately sealing the win and a trip to the finals for Fort Loramie by a 45 – 36 score. Boerger got on track in the second finishing with a double – double of 10 points and 12 boards. Senior Kelly Turner added a double – double of her own with 10 and 10 in the win. Schlabach added five more in the second half to finish with 15 for Hiland while normally productive Megan Beachy (14.8 ppg) was limited to just eight points on 3 of 16 shooting. Fort Loramie owned the boards by 13 but survived five more turnovers to claim their ticket to Saturday.
DIVISION III
Versailles 54 Doylestown Chippewa 43
Versailles was not intimidated by Chippewa’s undefeated record coming in getting on the board early and often going up 17 – 11 after one period. The Tigers were 8 for 12 from the floor while the Lady Chipps managed just 3 of 11 to start. The lead grew by three more over the second period behind some solid play from senior forward Lauren Bruns and freshman point guard Kami McEldowney. Versailles 32 – 23 halftime lead came behind nine points from Bruns and seven from McEldowney who were a combined 7 for 8 shooting. Chippewa’s leading scorer Carly Koncz finished with four for the half but failed to connect on any of her six field goal attempts. Momentum swung the way of the Lady Chipps in the third…but just barely. Neither team hit double digits over the course of the period and the gap was closed by only two for a 39 – 32 Versailles margin entering the final period. Some stingy defense made good looks hard to come by for Chippewa but they managed to get the lead down to just four at the 2:08 mark. However, that would be the closest they would get. Free throws distorted the final margin to 54 – 43 as the Tigers claimed the opportunity to suit up one more time Saturday night. Chippewa’s cold shooting had a lot to do with the defense they faced as their 12 of 39 effort featured very few uncontested looks. At the other end Versailles shot 47.6 percent for the game and produced three double figure scorers. McEldowney had 13 and 3 assists while senior wing Taylor Winner added a quiet double – double of 12 points and 10 boards. Bruns was impressive with 12 points and six rebounds but also committed six turnovers. Ashley Richardson, a 6-0 junior forward led Chippewa with 18 points on 8 for 13 shooting and doubled up with 11 boards. Richardson would have had a bundle more if not for the physical defense of Versailles 6-2 senior forward Christa Putoff who also pulled down 10 boards, blocked three shots and grabbed two steals.
Ottawa-Glandorf 55 Proctorville Fairland 27
The evening’s last game was hardly the performance Fairland imagined when they qualified to come back to Columbus for the school’s second ever appearance. Shooting just 1 of 9 to open the game the, they fell behind 13 – 3 after one and were struggling with Ottawa Gandorf’s assertive defense committing six turnovers in the period. Things didn’t improve much in the second as they could manage just five field goal attempts (making only one) and turned the ball over four more times trailing the lady Titans 27 – 10 at intermission. Aggressive and skilled senior guard Elissa Ellerbrock led the way with nine points, five boards and two steals. Only three Dragons made it on the scoreboard in the first half. Fortunately for Fairland the second half is just 16 minutes of basketball. Unfortunately…things only got worse. Glandorf outscored them in the third 13 to 7 and they turned the ball over three more times which is magnified when you shoot only 3 of 11 for the period. The Lady Titans added five more to the lead down the stretch extending the final gap to 28 points when the smoke cleared on a convincing 55 – 27 win. Ellerbrock led 10 players who scored for Ottawa Glandorf with 11 while adding nine rebounds from her backcourt position. The Lady Titans led on the glass 36 – 23 and forced 17 turnovers while committing just 12 of their own. Senior Kelsey Riley had 11 in the loss for Fairland who finishes their season at 22 – 6.
