Harrison Central once again played host to the OVAC Girls’ Basketball Championships. And what a great host site it is. With the sun gazing into the gym through the windows that dawn the top of the arena and ample but cozy seating for all of the fans make this a great site indeed. Add to this the spacious parking lot and you have a perfect setting for a championship Saturday.
A great Saturday of basketball started with the 2A Championship game between the River Pilots and the Wheeling Central Maroon Knights. One in which the Pilots were able to gain the 57-46 victory. The game was nip and tuck into the 2nd quarter until River started an 18-point run that lasted into the 3rd quarter, giving them a 19-point lead.
Early on the Knights were able to beat the Pilots press and get a couple run out baskets. This led to River playing half court D the rest of the way. River’s 19-point advantage was due in part to the play of floor general Kelsey Harlan and Rylee Knight. Harlan ended the game with 19 points, while Harlan finished off a double double with 21 points and 21 rebounds.
The Pilot defense was on point as well, holding Centrals leading scorer Brooke Edge to just 9 points. Wheeling Central was able to get 12 from Lily Vogrin, 10 from Reagan Olejasz, and 8 from Valerie Downing to go with Edge’s 9. It was not enough though as the River Pilots are the 2022-23 OVAC 2A Champions. Rylee Knight’s Day ended with an extra award as she was named the John Howell Memorial MVP winner for the game.
Next up on the day was the 3A matchup featuring the Fort Frye Cadets and the Union Local Jets. The Jets were looking to make it 3 straight championships, yet in a unique fashion. They won based on the standings in 2021 (Covid), they won 4A in 2022 on the floor, and now look for the 3A in 2023.
Using their suffocating defense and some hot shooting, the Jets built a 23-6 lead after 1 and went on to win 49-34. For the game Torre Kildow, an OU volleyball commit, was held scoreless, but still contributed with 6 rebounds and 3 assists. This allowed other players to get into the offensive action. Including Lauren Miller, who hit 4 treys on her way to 14 points. Emmy Kellaway was able to score 7. These performances were key early seeing that Fort Frye was able to hold Reagan Vinskovich down for the better part of the first half. The Cadets weren’t able to keep her at bay the entire game though, as Vinskovich finished with the game with 22 points on her way to earning the John Howell Memorial MVP award.
Fort Frye, who stuck around and wouldn’t go away for the game were led by Emma Duskey’s 12 and Kianna O’Brien’s 9. This sets up a big game this week as Wheeling Park will be visiting Union Local on Wednesday evening.
The Oak Glen Golden Bears and Indian Creek Redskins matchup in the 4A game was the 3rd Championship determined on the day. This was a tight defensive matchup the entire 1st half as the game was just 16-15 at the break. Creek came out of halftime much more offensive minded along with their continued stout defensive effort. The Redskins were able to hold the Golden Bears to just 5 points in the 3rd, while hitting some shots they weren’t able to put down in the 1st half and took a 30-20 lead into the final stanza.
Offense was key to the Redskins early in the 4th as their shots were dropping as they broke open a big lead and ran out the last 2 minutes of the clock. As the clock hit 0:00 the Redskins came away with a 42-26 victory and a 4A OVAC Championship.
Leading the way for Indian Creek was John Howell Memorial MVP McKenna Scott, who pumped in 10 points for the Redskins. Kylie Anderson led the scoring column for Creek with 14. Tori Robertson added 11 for the champion Redskins. The Golden Bears’ Kami Ward led the team with 12.
An evening game that saw Morgantown matched up with Wheeling Park, was probably the most anticipated game of the day. On the season the Park Patriots were 2-0 against the Mohigans, both games were hotly contested. The winner of this game would be the 5A OVAC Champion. Morgantown started hot from the field and on defense early in the first period. Park was able to stay in the game based on the 3 3’s by LaLa Woods, who finished the game with 22.
Morgantown continued to play great defense and efficient offense in the 2nd quarter. Basket cuts and off ball screens were giving layups to the Mohigans during the quarter. Along with Lily Jordan, who led Morgantown with 15 points/14 boards, being a force for the Mohigans in the quarter scoring and rebounding underneath in leading the way for Morgantown to build a 33-22 lead at the half. Wheeling Park would not go away during the 2nd frame and came within back to within 3, but the continued Morgantown motion offense built the lead back to 11.
The Patriots wouldn’t go away and turned to their vaunted pressure defense during the 3rd quarter to force some turnovers and try to control the pace of the game. This along with some key stops in the half court allowed the Patriots to take a short-lived lead during the quarter. Going into the 4th the Mohigans led the Patriots by 2.
Morgantown was able to defeat the Park pressure in the 4th and hold off any rally that may have been in the Patriots. The 4th quarter was all Mia Henkins, whose dad used to coach Morgantown, she knocked down 3 treys in the period to put the game out of reach. For Henkins 4th quarter performance and 14 points for the game, was named John Howell Memorial MVP. This game had even more top performers as Morgantown’s Sofie Wassick poured in 11, along with Kate Hawkins 9 points and 8 rebounds. Wheeling Park who will be looking to get back in the win column next Wednesday at Union Local got support from Alexis Bordas’s 11 points and 6 boards, Sophie Abraham’s 8 points, and Seneca Heller’s 6 rebounds.
The night cap was the OVAC 1A Championship game pitting the Cameron Dragons and the Frontier Cougars. Cameron was looking to go back-to-back on 1A championships. To do this they had to take down the number 1 seed Cougars. The Dragons were able to accomplish this task with a 47-36 victory over a Cougars team that wouldn’t go away.
Both teams started cold on the offensive side of the ball as the shots were not falling for either team. The first ended in an 8-8 tie, as each team was looking for some consistency on offense. Or at least for a couple shots to fall.
Cameron began to settle down in the 2nd quarter and hit some shots with Gracie Carter and Emilee Dobbs, who completed the game with 8, each hitting a bonus ball. Frontier was only able to manage to match their 1st quarter output of 8 in the 2nd quarter giving them 16 for the half. The Cougar defense though was playing tough and managed to only give up 23 in the half to the often-high scoring Dragons.
The Dragons went on a run in the 3rd to put them up double digits. Frontier wouldn’t go away with some timely defensive stops and by knocking down some shots before the end of the 3rd. And were able to pull within 7 (35-28) going into the 4th quarter.
Going into the 4th frame the Cougars were able to hold Ashlynn VanTassell to an average game by her standards. Though, VanTassell kept working and working and was able to put together a 4th quarter that saw her score 8 points to extend the Dragon lead and put the game away. VanTassell ended the game with 22 points and 16 boards, a performance good enough to be named John Howell Memorial MVP. She was helped out by Kenzie Clutter’s stat line of 6 points, 7 boards, and 6 assists. Frontier was led by Kara Ramsey and her 14 points, Grace Knowlton 8 points and 4 boards.
Congratulations to all of our OVAC Champions and to all the John Howell Memorial MVP recipients. A great job again goes out to the OVAC for putting on an event that showcases the hard work that all the student athletes and coaches put into their seasons. Good luck to all the teams in their upcoming playoffs in both Ohio and West Virginia.
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