DAYTON, Ohio — Cincinnati Purcell Marian became the fourth team to win four consecutive state championships beating Avon Lake 72-44 in the OHSAA Division III girls’ basketball state championship game at UD Arena on Friday.
Purcell Marian head coach Jamar Mosley led the Cavaliers (23-6) in his eighth season to join Shaker Heights Hathaway Brown in 2012, Cincinnati Mount Notre Dame in 2009 and South Euclid Regina in 2003 as the only teams to win four-consecutive state championships. The Cavaliers have reached the regional final in the state tournament six years running and made the Final Four in each of the past five.
“We talked about our non-negotiables,” Mosley said. “We just said, for 32 minutes we go out there and do everything that we’ve been doing this entire season. We’re going to put ourself in the position to win the basketball game, and for 32 minutes, they did everything that we’ve worked on all season.”
Ms. Basketball winner Dee Alexander, a Cincinnati signee who earned the honor for a third time in her career on Wednesday, joining LeBron James and Kierstan Bell as the only players to do so, led all scorers with 27 points. Alexander added to her OHSAA state basketball tournament girls record scoring total, finishing her career with 184 points in state tournament games.
Purcell Marian forced five turnovers in the first three minutes of the game and Alexander ended the opening quarter by driving toward the basket for a layup with nine seconds left to help the Cavaliers lead 23-8.
Purcell Marian led by as many as 38 points in the third quarter after Alexander finished a five-point run with another layup as 2:33 remained in the period.
Alexander, Cy’Aira Miller, Ky’Aira Miller and Trinity Small were on Purcell Marian’s roster all four years. They are among 14 girls who have appeared in eight state tournament games in their careers.
“On the bus ride up here, I was getting a little sad because obviously it’s my last high school game ever playing in a Purcell Marian jersey, so you know it was kind of sad,” Alexander said. “But it’s like, I had no reason but to give my all this last game. Empty my tank out. I kept saying that to everybody on the bench: empty our tanks out. It was just coming into this game just knowing this is what we really wanted.”
Avon Lake (23-6) made its first appearance in the state championship game since winning in 1994. Olivia Miller led the Shoregals with 12 points and Izzie Polinko added 11.
“We wanted to invite their pressure, and I think we had the opportunity to make some moments to attack it,” Avon Lake head coach Paul Appel said. “But until you play them in person and really see some of their length, athleticism and quickness, it bothered us a little bit.”
Here are photos from this weekend's winners and runners up:
