Ohio Division 3 State Championship: Africentric 51 Waynesville 47

<strong>By Jim Dabbelt</strong> <em>Prep Girls Hoops Ohio</em> &nbsp; It was a game that saw Africentric shoot as poorly as they have all season, and Waynesville control the tempo where they wanted it. Despite only putting up 32 shots in the game, the Spartans battled the top-five nationally ranked Africentric team down to the wire, battling back from a huge fourth quarter deficit before losing to the Nubians 51-47. &nbsp; Africentric held a slim 18-15 lead at the half, before going on a huge third-quarter run where they scored 21 points in the period, pulling out to a 39-24 lead. The Spartans didn't give up in the final eight minutes, but Africentric was too much in the paint on the day, outscoring Waynesville by 10 points in the paint and had 15 second-chance points compared to only four for the Spartans. Waynesville did run off 23 points in the final quarter to make it close. &nbsp; <strong>Underrated Player: Leah Butterbaugh, 5-9 Soph., Waynesville- </strong>I noted this kid earlier in the tournament as being one that was going to make big strides for Waynesville, and she did that again on the biggest stage. Butterbaugh had some big contributions in the game while only scoring seven points, but she came up big at times. She played much more mature than a sophomore, and settled in against the pressure and intensity that Africentric brought. She only had two turnovers in 28 minutes of play while playing with poise the entire game. &nbsp; <strong>Stock Risers: Arianna Smith, 6-0 Soph., Africentric- </strong>On a team led by All-American Jordan Horston and 6-foot-4 post Samika Walker, Smith often gets overlooked for her contributions. She does a good job with her offensive rebounds, and is all over the floor going after loose balls. She always seems to make the little plays for the Nubians, scoring 11 points, and playing well when Horston was slowed by illness. Smith moves well and this team loves to push the ball in transition and Smith is a key part in that. &nbsp; <strong>Shooters mentality: Rachel Murray, 5-7 Sr., Waynesville- </strong>Down the stretch, Murray recovered from a relatively quiet game to lead the Spartans to the near upset. Excellent pure shooter and comes up with clutch shots nearly every game. They were 27-0 and a lot of the reason for that was the solid perimeter play from Murray. She was clutch at the free throw line going 7-7, and hit a pair of threes including late when the Spartans was closing the gap. &nbsp; <strong>Player of the Game: Jordan Horston, 6-2 Sr., Africentric and Marcella Sizer, 6-0 Sr., Waynesville- </strong>The award is shared in this game, as Horston was playing with a fever and was ill at the state tournament, and despite a terrible shooting night of 3-20, she stepped up her game in the other aspects despite the fact she was not near 100%. She added 10 rebounds and 6 assists. Sizer came up big for the Spartans, going for a double-double of 13 points, 11 rebounds. She did not play intimidated against 6-2 Horston and 6-4 Walker. She hit some big shots and connected on 5-8 from the line. Impressive way to end her career with a great game. &nbsp; <strong>Intangibles: </strong>Nobody game Waynesville chance, and it was said in the press conference that people were hoping that Waynesville would just keep it close, and longtime coach Tim Gabbard said they were there to win. They believed they could win, and when the final buzzer sounded, the team from Columbus also realized that the Spartans were there to do more than just keep it close.