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3 takeaways from Columbus girls basketball OHSAA regional semifinals
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- 3 takeaways from Columbus girls basketball OHSAA regional semifinals
Six central Ohio girls basketball teams played in as many regional semifinals March 3, and four moved to within one win of the state tournament.
Two of them, OCC-Capital rivals Big Walnut and Worthington Kilbourne , will meet in a Division II regional final at 7 p.m. March 6 at Morral Ridgedale. Big Walnut (22-4) stormed back from an eight-point halftime deficit to beat Teays Valley 49-44, after Kilbourne (22-4) defeated Toledo Start 46-34 in the first semifinal.
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Big Walnut swept two regular-season meetings from Kilbourne.
In Division IV, Circleville (22-4) beat Millersburg West Holmes 46-34 to advance to a regional final at 7 p.m. March 6 at Zanesville against Wintersville Indian Creek (21-5), which knocked off Buckeye Valley 44-39. Addison Edgington scored 17 of her game-high 24 points in the second half for Circleville, which outscored West Holmes 29-11 after halftime.
Here are three takeaways from the Division I regional semifinals, in which Olentangy overwhelmed Berea-Midpark 77-42 and Kettering Fairmont eliminated Newark 64-39:
Olentangy girls basketball coach Klarke Ransome, left, watches play develop while his players cheer during the first quarter of a Division I regional semifinal against Berea-Midpark on March 3 at Taft Coliseum.
Olentangy takes charge early against Berea-Midpark
The second Region 2 semifinal at Taft Coliseum ultimately came down to which team solved the opposing defense in the first half, and Olentangy won that facet time and again in advancing to its second consecutive regional final.
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Behind 15 points from senior guard Whitney Stafford, 13 of which came in the first half, and 13 points from senior forward Mia Kirtley, the Braves (22-3) thrived in transition and converted a handful of turnovers into baskets in a rout of Berea-Midpark.
Eleven players scored for Olentangy, which is in its third straight regional.
Junior guard Regan Braaten had 25 points for Berea-Midpark.
"Braaten is a really good guard and we did a really good job of making it difficult," Olentangy coach Klarke Ransome said. "She is capable of putting the ball in the basket and doing it in bunches. I just felt like if we made her earn it, it would be a huge benefit.
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"Our press was really good and we slowed them down, then we capitalized on some advantageous turnovers and turned them into good shots, whether we made them or not."
Olentangy will seek its first regional championship at 6 p.m. March 6 at Taft Coliseum against Kettering Fairmont (25-0), which handled Newark in the first semifinal. Fairmont was ranked second in the final USA Today Co. Ohio high school girls basketball Super 25 poll .
The Braves held Berea-Midpark scoreless for almost eight minutes spanning the first and second quarters and led 38-17 at halftime.
"We got on them really quickly and I feel like everything comes from defense," Kirtley said. "On offense, we were getting different types of looks. We were driving, [getting] kick-out 3s and then we were driving to get layups as well."
Olentangy's Payton Kolberg (14) and Kareena Agrawal (5) await the tip-off of a Division I regional semifinal against Berea-Midpark on March 3 at Taft Coliseum.
Olentangy gets regional final rematch with Fairmont
The Braves' second consecutive regional final will be against a Thunderbirds team to which it lost 50-32 on Dec. 27 at Trent Arena, Fairmont's home facility that also annually hosts the prestigious Flyin' to the Hoop showcase.
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Olentangy led 21-18 at halftime before being outscored 20-4 in the third quarter and 32-11 in the second half.
"They're really talented … and extremely connected," Ransome said. "But it's the [regional final], so you're going to play really good teams. I think we're pretty good, too. We're excited. Our group has earned the opportunity to be here. Now it's about knowing personnel, knowing the other group, their tendencies and what they're really good [at doing].
"They are long and they are athletic. They cover up a lot in their zone. It's going to take a great effort, but we're looking forward to it."
The Olentangy-Fairmont winner will face the champion of Region 3, which is entirely comprised of Columbus-area teams in Dublin Coffman, Marysville, New Albany and Pickerington Central, in a state semifinal March 12.
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Newark struggles with zone, shooting against Fairmont
Appearing in their first regional since 2021, the Wildcats (17-8) gave up runs of 7-0 and 9-0 in the first half and trailed by as many as 30 points in the second half.
Junior guard Calli Geller and sophomore guard Leah Eckenrode each had 15 points for Newark, which trailed just 17-10 after the first quarter but was down 40-18 at halftime. Newark was held to 12-of-40 shooting (30%) from the floor.
"Their zone gave us issues. We didn't attack it like we planned on attacking it, but I give them the credit," Wildcats coach Jack Purtell said. "They're long, they rebound really well and they get lots of run-outs. We wanted to try to avoid them getting a bunch of run-outs and they still got them. I bet they had 20 points that way. ... We would have had to play our best game to beat these guys."
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Junior guard Emma Quackenbush had 13 points, two assists and two blocks for Newark, which loses only two seniors in guard Alaina Hann and forward Charlotte Redman.
Janiyah Hargraves' 23 points led three scorers in double figures for Fairmont. Nico Cornett had 14 points and Maliyah Bailey added 10.
High school sports reporter Dave Purpura can be reached at dpurpura@dispatch.com and at @dp_dispatch on X.
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Olentangy to play Fairmont for OHSAA girls basketball regional title
