COLUMBUS, Ohio— Halfway home to Championship Day, action returned once again Friday to the Jerome Schottenstein Center on the campus of Ohio State University for the OHSAA semifinals of Division I and II. Thursday’s slate of games set up two of the four championship contests while Friday’s results filled out the remaining brackets. Play is scheduled to begin at 10:45 a.m. Saturday morning and wrap with the final nets being cut down following the 8:30 p.m. Division I championship game.
Today we take a look back at Friday’s action with more results, game stat synopsis and images. Follow the link below to look back at our coverage from Thursday’s Division III and IV semifinals.
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Saturday the Division IV final will tip first with Ottoville (27-2) taking on Minster (25-3). Ottoville got by Buckeye Central 44 – 25 in their semi while Minster held off Waterford 46 – 31 to advance. Division III will follow with Versailles (28-1) facing off with Africentric (26-3). Versailles punched their ticket with a 63 – 47 win over Elyria Catholic while Africentric advanced by way of their 50 – 37 win over Ottawa-Glandorf. D-II will be “dinner theater” tipping off at 5 p.m. as Gilmour Academy (25-3) and Toledo Rogers (26-3) go at it for all the marbles. Continue reading below to see how both teams made their way into the final bracket and a chance to take home the hardware. The Division I title game will feature Solon (26-2) and Pickerington Central (27-2). Their semifinal wins are both profiled below as well.
Check back with Blue Star Media Sunday morning for championship results, more statistic synopsis and images from the 2018 Ohio State Tournament Championship round.
Division I
It’s difficult enough to make it to the big stage and compete for a state title. No matter who you play you know they’re going to be accomplished but if you shoot just 28.2 percent as a team and turn the ball over 21 times, well then that uphill climb becomes Mt. Everest. Wadsworth found out the hard way in their Division I semifinal match up with Solon that those numbers just don’t add up to another game. Solon capitalized on the Grizzlies misfortune to build a 22 – 13 lead at the half before adding another dozen across the two final periods to punch their ticket to Saturday’s championship game.
The Comets fared better from the field finishing 17 of 42 for 40.5 percent and they just turned it over 10 times limiting Wadsworth to only three conversion points. The Grizz did hold an edge on the boards finishing with 34 to 26 on the Solon side of the ledger.
McDonald’s All-American Valencia Myers led the way in the win with 19 points, 6 rebounds and 3 blocks. Senior classmate Gabby Mitchell added 10 more including 2 of 6 from behind the arch. Wadsworth got 12 from senior forward Lexi Lance who shot 5 of 8 and grabbed 5 rebounds in the process. The rest of the team was 6 for 31 combined from the floor. Solon now takes their 26 – 2 record into Saturday’s final while Wadsworth heads home with a not too shabby 24 and 4 mark.
One of the most competitive match-ups of the eight semifinal contests was actually the last one played. Pickerington Central and Mason battled from start to finish and while it didn’t go Mason’s way in the end…they made the Tigers earn it. Sadly for the Comets, they inherited Wadsworth’s ice cold shooting (they shared the same bench!) from the previous game making just 13 of 49 field goal attempts for a frosty 26.5 percent. Not one player could even top the 40 percent bar for Mason who normally scores at a 60 point per game clip.
Pickerington Central fared much better coming up with a 52.2 percent effort, the result of 24 of 46 shooting. The Tigers had just a one rebound edge, 34 – 33, but Mason was more efficient with second looks getting 16 offensive boards. Both teams took care of the ball with Mason giving it up just 11 times while Pickerington turned it over 14 times.
Despite sitting for foul issues briefly in the third period, junior point guard Madison Greene was a defensive nightmare for the Comets. Finishing 9 for 13 from the floor and 6 of 6 at the line she led the way in the win with 25 points. Maliya Perry, a junior wing, stepped up as well producing 13 points and 9 rebounds for the game. Mason was led by standout junior Sammie Puisis with 14, 10 of which came in the first half. After opening 4 of 7 in the first 16 minutes of play, she cooled off going 2 for 9 the rest of the way. Puisis also added eight rebounds to the cause. Senior forward Tihanna Fulton finished with 11 and pulled 8 boards of her own in the loss. Pickerington Central takes their 27 – 2 record into Saturday’s final with Solon while Mason will have to call it a season at 24 and 4.
Division II
There wasn’t any snow outside the arena Friday morning but it was frosty and cold on the floor when Gilmour Academy and Bellbrook took the court for their Division II semifinal. Combined, both squads “blistered” the nets for a 29 of 92 tally and a whopping 31.5 percent. On cold nights those “other” stats take on a whole new meaning and for Gilmour an even bigger one as they struggled at the line as well going just 11 of 25. The Lancers got the win by way an edge on the glass, 39 – 34, that included 16 on the offensive boards. They also forced the Golden Eagles into 21 turnovers that they converted into 16 critical points on the other end of the floor. Bellbrook had a two point lead at the half but Gilmour outscored them by three in the third and by four in the final period for the 47 – 40 final score.
Senior forward Naz Hillmon struggled simply to get looks against the efficient Bellbrook zone but still finished with a double – double of 11 points and a whopping 19 rebounds. Junior guard Annika Corcoran picked up the scoring slack connecting on 5 of 14 three point attempts and finishing with a team high 19 points in the win. Bellbrook was led by junior Bekah Vine’s 11 points. Senior teammate Cassidy Hofacker joined her in double figures with 11 while sophomore Kayla Paul grabbed 11 rebounds. Gilmour moves on to Saturday’s final with a 25 – 3 record while Bellbrook finishes the season at 20 and 9.
In theory, when you shoot 50 percent from the floor as a team, including 6 of 10 from three point range, you should comfortably come out on top in most games. Toledo Rogers still came out on top but New Philadelphia made sure there was nothing comfortable about it until the final horn sounded. The Quakers trailed by as much as 12 but kept the pressure on forcing the Rams into 23 turnovers which they converted into 16 points of their own. They won the battle on the boards as well 32 – 29 which was bolstered by 18 offensive rebounds that translated in 18 more points. New Philadelphia never led after an early game edge but they got it to just two twice early in the fourth and cut it back to three two different times with under a minute remaining in the contest. The foul parade made it five in the end as Rogers advances to face Gilmour Academy with a 62 – 57 win.
The Rams were 21 of 42 as a team including that 6 for 10 mark from deep. New Philadelphia went 21 for 55 and got 6 long balls of their own on 16 attempts. Freshman guard Madison Royal-Davis led the Rams with 23 points going 7 for 9 from the floor. High profile standout junior Zia Cooke finished with 21 while drawing the focus of the Quakers defense. In the loss, New Philadelphia had three in double figures. Rachel Anderson, a junior, had 16 while sophomore Josie Pry added 13 more. Junior forward Aaliyah Currence had a double – double despite early foul problems. She finished with 12 points and 10 rebounds. Rogers enters the D-II championship game sporting a 26 – 3 record while New Philadelphia wraps up the season at 25 and 3.
