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DAYTON, Ohio — Championship weekend for the Ohio High School Athletic Association girls’ basketball state tournament begins with one school looking to join elite company and wraps up with a pair of programs looking to add to full trophy cases.
Seven division champions will be crowned at the University of Dayton Arena, and Spectrum News 1 and the Spectrum News App will bring you every second of it, with direct links provided below.
Division III State Championship: Purcell Marian (22-6) vs. Avon Lake (23-5); Friday at 1p.m.
Spectrum News 1 or WATCH HERE
Purcell Marian seniors Dee Alexander, Trinity Small and twins Cy’Aira and Ky’Aira Miller have been part of three straight state championship Cavalier teams and are one win shy of a fourth.
Only three other programs, and four teams, have won four or more consecutive state titles in OHSAA girls, or boys, basketball history. Shaker Heights Hathaway Brown won five straight from 2009 to 2013, Cincinnati Mount Notre Dame four in-a-row from 2006 through 2009, and South Euclid Regina won each year from 2000 until 2003.
Adding to the legacy, Alexander this week was named Ohio Ms. Basketball for a third-consecutive time. The University of Cincinnati signee joins Canton McKinley’s Kierstan Bell as the only three-time winners of the award.
Five of Purcell Marian’s losses were to teams from out of state, with only Division I finalist Pickerington Central coming out on top from Ohio. The Cavaliers can score, with 17 games in the 70s, ten in the 80s and six in the 90s.
Avon Lake has held each of its playoff opponents to their lowest scoring output of the season, something that will likely need to continue for the Shoregals to win their second-ever state title. Their last title was won in 1994.
Known for defense, Avon Lake has kept 13 opponents to 30 or fewer points this season, all while playing a challenging schedule that included wins over Magnificat (Division I state semifinalist), Brush (split games with Division III state semifinalist) and two losses to defending state champion Olmsted Falls, which fell last weekend in the Division II state tournament.
Division IV State Championship: Alter (19-8) vs. Bellevue (27-1); Friday at 4:15 p.m.
Spectrum News 1 or WATCH HERE
In Division IV, Alter is going for its sixth state title, and first since 2022. Senior Maddie Moody was on that team as a freshman, and now it’s her turn to lead a younger Knights squad.
The Northern Kentucky University signee is the school’s all-time leading scorer and rebounder, even more impressive when you factor in some of the big names that have played at the school under co-head coaches Christina Hart and Kendal Peck.
Alter was sitting at 12-8 on the year before getting hot at the right time, winning seven straight to reach the championship game.
While Belleview head coach Kory Santoro has guided the Lady Red to the school’s first state championship game appearance, he’s not the first in his family to reach that level in an OHSAA sport this school year.
His son, Jalen, is the 30-year-old head football coach at Sandusky Perkins, which reached the Division IV football title game in Canton in December, falling short to Indian Valley. It’s an athletic family, as Kory Santoro’s three daughters have all played for him.
This Bellevue team has just three seniors, who are all co-captains and leaders, including Hailey Rees.
The Lady Red’s only loss of the year was to Norwalk by three points, but extacted revenge on the Truckers in the final game of the regular season.
Division II State Championship: Winton Woods (26-0) vs. Anthony Wayne (24-2); Friday at 7:30 p.m.
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Friday night is capped by the Division II championship, and the state’s only remaining undefeated team in girls basketball.
Winton Woods is coached by former NFL player Carlton Gray, who also serves as the defensive coordinator for the Warriors football program. He’s a graduate of Forest Park, which merged with Greenhills to form Winton Woods in the early 1990s. Forest Park won a girls’ state title in 1984.
It’s a family program, as Gray’s daughter, Chance Gray, plays at Ohio State after transferring from Oregon, where she signed upon graduation from Winton Woods. Meanwhile, three Davis sisters, Ryan, Whitley and Syndey, are on the current roster.
It’s an athletic team, led by Daniah Trammell, who will take her 14.6 point-per-game scoring average to Buffalo next season. Ra’Khyia Prince, who hit a huge basket late in the state semifinal win over Big Walnut, will play at Shawnee State, and freshman Strawberry Blankumsee is already garnering collegiate attention as a freshman.
While there are three Davis sisters at Winton Woods, there are three sets of twins that play for Anthony Wayne, the Warriors opponent. As crazy as it sounds, there were actually four sets a year ago, but Mallory Pike is concentrating on volleyball. Speaking of spiking, the Lady Generals reached the Division II state championship game in volleyball back in November.
Elise Bender, runner-up in Ohio’s Ms. Basketball, and Brooke Bender will continue their basketball careers at Villanova. As freshman, they helped Anthony Wayne get to the state tournament. Sophie Smith was also on that 2022 team, and they are the only three seniors this year.
This is a battle-tested squad, with just two losses on the season, to Purcell Marian and Indianapolis Lawrence Central, that plays hard on both ends of the floor.
Division V State Championship: Portsmouth (26-1) vs. Norwayne (25-3) (16-9); Saturday at 10:45 a.m.
Spectrum News 1 or WATCH HERE
Portsmouth, fresh off the school’s first state tournament appearance last year, opened 2024-25 with 20 straight wins, before succumbing to Division I power Cincinnati Mount Notre Dame.
The Trojans have just nine players on the varsity roster, with only two seniors and two juniors each.
In the state semifinal, Portsmouth knocked off Proctorville Fairland for a third time this season, the third consecutive year the Dragons made the state tournament. That win made head coach Amy Hughes’ birthday last Saturday all the sweeter.
Norwayne has made the championship game, and state tournament, for the first time, and it was well-earned with a win over two-time defending state champion Africentric in the state semifinal.
It’s already been a historic season for the Bobcats, with 25 victories and 19 consecutive wins, both school records. The three losses, early in the season to Dalton, Waynedale and Smithville, were all paid back in the return conference games the second time around.
Division VI State Championship: Columbus Grove (26-2) vs. Rootstown (27-1); Saturday at 2 p.m.
Spectrum News 1 or WATCH HERE
For the first time since the Division IV championship game in 2007, where Columbus Africentric defeated New Knoxville, two schools making their first state tournament appearances will meet in a final.
Columbus Grove finally broke through the regional level after four consecutive trips, including three losses in a regional final. The Bulldogs reached Saturday’s championship by getting past Minster, scoring the winning basket with less than 20 seconds remaining in that state semifinal match-up.
It’s a young roster with six freshman (two injured) and only one senior, Lauryn Auchmuty, the Northwest Conference Player of the Year who will matriculate to Findlay next season.
Youth is served in Rootstown, too, with ten freshman (6) or sophomores (4) on the team, and just three 12th-graders.
That includes Nadia Lough, who suffered a serious knee injury over the summer, and remarkably only missed eight games this season.
The Rovers’ only loss was to Revere and are trying to become the first girls’ program in Portage County to bring back a basketball state championship.
Division VII State Championship: Fort Loramie (25-3) vs. Waterford (26-1); Saturday at 5:15 p.m.
Spectrum News 1 or WATCH HERE
New divisions, same teams. After meeting in the Division IV final last year, Fort Loramie and Waterford will face-off again, this time in the newly created Division VII.
The Redskins won a year ago, 42-29, and in the 2015 state championship game, 55-48. Fort Loramie is pursuing a fifth state title, all since 2013. Carla Siegel’s program became the first in the state in girls’ basketball to reach 1,000 all-time wins a few weeks ago. .
Defense is the calling card, keeping 17 of 28 opponents to 30 or fewer points in the season.
Whether it’s heading to Columbus or Dayton, Waterford doesn’t need a map this time of year. The Wildcats are in their eighth state tournament in the last 11 seasons, winning it all in 2022 and 2016.
Avery Wagner and Kendall Sury lead a small group of three seniors who have thought about getting back to this stage since the loss to Fort Loramie a year ago.
Head coach Jerry Close has an impressive 427-87 record in 20 seasons at the school.
Division I State Championship: Princeton (21-6) vs. Pickerington Central (24-3); Saturday at 8:30 p.m.
Spectrum News 1 or WATCH HERE
Finally, in Division I, when Princeton gets to the state tournament, the Vikings don’t lose. Three appearances, 1987, 2014 and 2023, three state titles, and a win in this year’s state semifinal over Springboro.
Mary Gerton is the leading scorer, at over 17 points a game, and will play at Florida State next season. She was a sophomore on the 2023 state champs.
It took some time for Dee Davis’ team to gel, also factoring in a challenging schedule. Princeton brings a 14-game winning streak into the championship after a 7-6 mark to start the season.
Meanwhile, Pickerington Central is at the state tournament for a third straight year, and for the fifth time in eight years. After guiding the Tigers to a state semifinal appearance last year, Chris Wallace stepped down to travel and watch his kids play in college.
Replacing him was the man Wallace replaced, Johnathan Hedgepeth, who coached Pick Central to its most recent state championship in 2018. Hedgepeth, who has been involved with both girls and boys programs at the school, ironically stepped down himself following the 2020-21 season to watch his kids play.
One player on Hedgepeth’s active roster is junior Blossom Wallace, Chris Wallace's daughter.
All-time, only Africentric (9) and Mount Notre Dame (8) have more championships than the Tigers’ seven.
After the girls champions are crowned, we’ll look ahead to next weekend, when the championship games are played in boys' basketball.
Friday, March 21
1 p.m. – Division III
4:15 p.m. – Division IV
7:30 p.m. – Division II
Saturday, March 22
10:45 a.m. – Division V
2 p.m. – Division VI
5:15 p.m. – Division VII
8:30 p.m. – Division I
Each game will be preceded by OHSAA Championship Gameday 15 minutes prior, and will recap the events following game coverage on Spectrum News 1.
