COLUMBUS, Ohio—Day two at the 2015 Ohio Girls Basketball State Championship featured semifinal action between the final four Division I and II teams looking for a shot at Saturday’s title games. D-II kicked things off with the day’s first game featuring undefeated Archbishop Alter (28 – 0) and the defending state champs from Millersburg West Holmes (24 – 3). The second semi pitted Toledo Rogers (23 – 5) and Beloit West Branch (27 – 1). The big dogs from Division I took the stage in the evening session starting with Solon (24 – 3) and Toledo Notre Dame (26 – 2) going at it first. Wrapping up semifinal action for 2015 was West Chester Lakota West (26 – 2) and Newark (27 – 1).
Thursday’s results set the stage for Saturday’s finals in Division III and IV. Championship Saturday gets underway at 10:45 with Waterford (27 – 1) taking on Fort Loramie (25 – 4). Waterford got by Fostoria St. Wendelin while Fort Loramie moved on by topping Berlin Hiland. D-II follows with a 2:00 tip off for all the marbles. Versailles (25 – 4) faces Ottawa Glandorf (26 – 2) for the right to hang a banner. Versailles took down undefeated Doylestown Chippewa in the semis while Glandorf had no trouble with Proctorville Fairland for the right to move on.
Follow the link below for coverage of Thursday’s action on Blue Star Media.
http://www.bluestarmedia.org/index.php/component/k2/item/1178-ohio-state-tournament-day-one
Saturday’s schedule continues with the Division II championship game between Archbishop Alter and Toledo Rogers at 5:15. The game will be a rematch of a January Alter win that saw the Knights edge the Rams by a single point. The Division I final will wrap things up with an 8:30 bout featuring Toledo Notre Dame and Lakota West. Continue reading blow for a breakdown of both the Division I and II semifinals from Friday.
Blue Star Media has been on hand from start to finish for all the action in each of the divisions. Check back Sunday for championship results as well as player profiles and images of some of the events top performers.
DIVISION II
Archbishop Alter 53 West Holmes 37
West Holmes came out in the “spirit of giving” and promptly turned the ball over 11 times over the course of the first period that saw them limited to just six field goal attempts. Alter failed to completely capitalize shooting just 3 of 14 and holding a slight 10 – 5 lead. The Knights extended their lead before the half finally connecting on enough looks to extend the margin to a 24 – 14 gap. Senior Emma Bockrath had 13 points on 5 of 9 shooting including 2 for 4 from long range. West Holmes leading scorers Brittleigh Macaulay and Hannah Clark were a combined 1 for 6 from the floor. West Holmes finished the half with 15 turnovers but did manage to control the boards over the first two periods 19 – 10. The third didn’t do much to help their cause as Alter stretched the margin to as much as 21 before leading by 15 going into the final quarter. The period didn’t come with a cost however as Alter sophomore guard Braxtin Miller went down with a right ankle injury and had to be helped from the floor. She did not return to the game. West Holmes put up 15 in the final eight minutes but surrendered 16 to Alter who moves into Saturday’s OHSAA D-II final with the 53 – 37 win. Bockrath was impressive throughout finishing with 23 points on a 10 of 15 effort from the floor. Junior post Hayley Combs added 12 more plus four rebounds in 25 minutes of play. Nobody for West Holmes hit double figures as the Alter defense continued to limit junior standouts Macaulay and Clark. Combined the normally productive dup finished with 10 points on 3 for 15 shooting. In the end 21 turnovers led to 23 points for Alter and ended the WH Lady Knights season at 24 – 4.
Toledo Rogers 51 Beloit West Branch 37
Toledo Rogers suffered a devastating loss last week when standout junior forward Akienreh Johnson went down with a torn ACL. It didn’t seem to hurt the Rams out of the gate as they jumped quickly on West Branch going up 11 – 5 after one period. The Lady Warriors were about as cold as you can get going a miserable 2 of 12 for just 17 percent shooting. Leading scorer Melinda Trimmer was limited to just one shot and turned the ball over three times against some stout on ball defense from Rogers. The Rams continued to exploit West Branch’s frosty shooting and before the half had extended their advantage to 23 – 9 behind some solid play from Breylnn Hampton-Bey. The sophomore point went into the intermission with nine points and four steals. Tanaya Beacham added 11 more for the half. For the Warriors Trimmer failed to even get a look in the second quarter and 12 point a game scorer Pavin Heath continued to fire away despite 1 of 12 results. The third period was a mystery in terms of Rogers’ intent. It appeared that they were holding the ball but it’s certainly not a strength and didn’t serve them well. They still held the lead but offered up some hope to a West Branch team which they seemingly could score on at will. Trimmer finally got on the board with two free throws at the 2:04 mark but the Rams still maintained a comfortable 34 – 19 lead entering the fourth. The comfort element left the equation twice as West Branch cut the lead to 10 at the 6:35 mark and again with 2:11 remaining but could never get the margin into single digits. In the end a 51 – 37 win propels Toledo Rogers into rematch with Archbishop Alter who they lost to back in January by a single point. This time it will be for the right to cut down the nets. Hampton-Bey set the pace with 16 points and seven steals while Beacham added a double – double of 14 points and 14 boards. Heath managed to connect on 3 of her 17 attempts to finish with 11 in the loss while junior guard Kaylee Manning chipped in 11 more. Trimmer finished just 1 of 7 from the floor and committed an uncharacteristic six turnovers.
DIVISION I
Solon 61 Toledo Notre Dame 48
Solon and Toledo Notre Dame looked like the early rounds of a heavyweight fight with both teams measuring their punches and feeling out their opponent. The Eagles grabbed a slight 13 – 11 lead after eight minutes behind six points and six boards from ever improving senior post Kaayla McIntyre. Solon shot the ball better (45% – 33%) and controlled the boards while getting five points from freshman Valencia Myers. The second period didn’t do much for offensive efficiency as an 8 – 7 edge for Notre Dame “stretched” their lead to three (21 – 18) at the break even with McIntyre spending time on the bench with two fouls. Both teams knocked down seven attempts from the floor but the Eagles added three “3’s” while Solon put up just one. Solon will look back on the first six minutes of the third as a turning point in their state championship hopes. Notre Dame roared out of the locker room and went on a 19 – 4 rampage that the Comets had absolutely no answer for. McIntyre got nine during the run and eight more from long range shooting sophomore guard Mariah Copeland. Solon cut six off the lead before the end of the period and entered the fourth within reach at 61 – 48. Momentum is a fickle teammate, especially at tournament time. Solon utilized a 12 – 4 run of their own to open the fourth and cut the margin to just two at the 4:04 mark. Relentless Comet sophomore guard Dee Bekelja set the pace closing the gap with a physical attack getting to the rim again and again. The Eagles may have bent but they didn’t break. They responded with a final 13 – 4 run to get the difference back to 12 and seal their invitation to tomorrow’s championship game with the 61 – 48 win . McIntyre had a double – double of 23 points and 14 rebounds along with three assists, two blocks and two steals. Copeland finished with 14, getting 12 from deep while senior guard C.J. Jefferson added a dozen more. Bekelja had 23 for Solon and high profile freshman post Valencia Myers contributed 11 more along with seven boards. Things were even in the rebounding department and Notre Dame forced three more turnovers than they committed (15 – 12).
West Chester Lakota West 53 Newark 50
Lakota West utilized some aggressive pressure from the outset to open up a 17 – 10 lead after one period against Newark. The Firebirds forced the Wildcats into eight turnovers and minimized the fact that Newark actually shot 56 percent for the quarter. Lakota West had six different players get on the scoreboard and limited Wildcat standout Kym Royster to just one shot. In the second the lead crept up to 10 by the 3:58 mark but some cold shooting and three turnovers before the half kept Newark within reach going to the locker room trailing 27 – 19. Firebird junior forward Lexi Wasan was 4 for 8 from the floor and led all scorers with eight points in the half. Leading scorers Royster and Lauren Cannetelli from Lakota West both were limited over the first two quarters. The third period was a tale of two teams with Lakota West stretching things out to a nine point lead before the Wildcats tied things up with 2:46 to go in the quarter. Things went back and forth the rest of the period before freshman Abby Prohaska gave the Firebirds a two point cushion at 39 – 37 going into the final quarter. Newark took the lead with 7:02 remaining and held a slim edge until things got quiet in the arena at the 6:18 mark as Lakota West senior post Arianne Whitaker took a hard shot while commiting a foul on a driving Kym Royster. Whitaker was tended to and taken from the floor on a stretcher for further evaluation. When action resumed Newark held a slight margin until Lakota West tied things up with 4:34 remaining. The Firebirds controlled things the rest of the way. Newark tied it once more and had a look at a three to tie as time ran out but came up short 53 – 50. Junior point guard Danielle Wells had 11 in the win as did Wasan and Prohaska. Canatelli, who was a defensive focus for the Wildcats, finished with nine. Newark got 20 points and 15 rebounds from Royster that included a six of nine effort from the floor. Fellow senior Ali Cartnal added 11 more in the loss.
