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Hartley edges Granville in OHSAA girls basketball tournament thriller
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- Hartley edges Granville in OHSAA girls basketball tournament thriller
Two girls basketball regional semifinals involving central Ohio teams March 5 were remarkably different in terms of drama and suspense.
In Division III at Ohio Dominican, Hartley made a 3-pointer in the final seconds of overtime to knock off Granville 36-35.
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Fisher Catholic, the top seed in the district in Division VII, ran into a buzz saw at Logan and fell to Strasburg-Franklin 51-15.
Here are observations from Division III action:
Hartley's Adyson Standard (30) boxes out Granville's Elle Mortimer (42) during the first quarter of a Division III regional semifinal March 5 at Ohio Dominican.
Smith's late shot sends Hartley to regional final
With the Hawks' top scorers – sophomore guards Naomie "Pinky" Burnett and Meira Mullins – held in check for most of the night and on what turned out to be the team's final offensive possession, junior forward Miah Smith saw her chance to shine.
A bench player who had been held to just one second-half basket, Smith calmly drained a 3-pointer from high on the right with 3 seconds left in overtime for the winning basket, sending Hartley (19-6) into its first regional final since 2022.
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Smith also intercepted Granville's last-second inbound pass to end it.
"When I was told I was going to be the one shooting I was a little nervous, but once I caught it I knew it was either win or go home," she said. "My coach and my teammates believed in me. That's what really gave me the confidence. Our coaches do a great job at giving us all our opportunities to be great and when she told me I was shooting it, I had to believe in myself."
Coach Shannon Payer said the play was executed perfectly, capping a 6-1 run to end the game.
"That's all on [assistant coach] Jackie Russell. She has run our offense all year and done an incredible job," Payer said. "[This game was] chaos. All season, we knew there would be a point where they would take our top two scorers out and we would have to depend on our teammates."
Hartley's Meira Mullins prepares to shoot a free throw in the first quarter of a Division III regional semifinal against Granville on March 5 at Ohio Dominican.
Mullins had 14 points and assisted Smith's winning shot, and Burnett was held to four points.
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Hartley, which got out to a 7-0 lead and led 14-12 at halftime, will face Chillicothe Unioto at 1:30 p.m. March 7 at Ohio Dominican. The Hawks are seeking their ninth regional title and first in four years.
"We've been preparing for Unioto all week," Payer said. "We had to get past this first, but it will be a great matchup."
Granville coach Kellon Thomas watches play develop during the first quarter of a Division III regional semifinal against Hartley on March 5 at Ohio Dominican.
Granville sees overtime lead slip away
Top seeded in the district tournament and within two wins of their first state tournament in 32 years, the Blue Aces (23-3) overcame more than 30 turnovers to take their first lead in the final minute of regulation and led by four halfway through overtime.
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Junior guard Davynn Miller's putback of her own miss with 16.9 seconds left in regulation gave Granville a 30-29 lead before Hartley junior forward Zakhari Harrison made one of two free throws at the other end to force overtime.
Miller and junior forward Elle Mortimer had baskets in the first two minutes of overtime to put the Blue Aces ahead 34-30.
"The way their style of play is, their guards are really good and for about 80% of the game, I thought we did what our scouting report said," coach Kellon Thomas said. "If you told me before this game that we would hold them to 36 points, I would be really happy. Our defensive intensity was there. At the end of the game, they just made more plays than we did."
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: Hartley girls basketball to play for OHSAA state tournament berth
