State Tourney Session 3- 5 takeaways

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>It's day 2 of the OHSAA state basketball tournament, and today is day two of the semis. It is the Division 3 final four with Africentric vs Wheelersburg and Margaretta vs Doylestown Chippewa. Here are five things I took away from the session this morning.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"fontSize":"medium"} --> <p class="has-medium-font-size"><strong>Early tone was set</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>It didn't take long for Africentric to make their presence felt in their semifinal game vs Wheelersburg. The Nubians came out strong and fast, building a 19-7 lead after first quarter of play. One big takeaway was the 67% field goal shooting Africentric had in the opening eight minutes, holding Wheelersburg to only 13%. They pushed the tempo to set the pace with both teams having 6 turnovers early after one period. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"fontSize":"medium"} --> <p class="has-medium-font-size"><strong>Balanced attack</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Both teams in the opening game finished with balanced scoring. Neither team had a player with more than 11 shots in the game, and Wheelersburg actually put up more shots in the game, finishing with 51 compared to 45 for the Nubians. Africentric had 13 from 2024 5-10 guard [player_tooltip player_id='360842' first='Natiah' last='Nelson'] and 10 from 2026 5-8 guard [player_tooltip player_id='537542' first='Jeniya' last='Bowers'] while Wheelersburg got 10 each from 5-3 2023 guard Kiera Kennard and 5-6 2023 guard Makenna Walker. Lexee Rucker was impressive with her complete game. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"fontSize":"medium"} --> <p class="has-medium-font-size"><strong>Farewell weekend</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>After 38 years as the head coach at Chippewa, legendary coach Dennis Schrock is returning after this weekend. What a better way than to go out with the gold? The Chipps started fast with a trio of threes in the opening period, and the majority of the damage came from [player_tooltip player_id='93555' first='Annabel' last='Rodriguez']. The 5-9 2023 guard lit up the nets with a big opening quarter, with a varsity of moves, long threes and finishing well in the paint. She had 12 in the first half which I believe propelled them to the semifinal win. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"fontSize":"medium"} --> <p class="has-medium-font-size"><strong>Solid guard play for Margaretta</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Polar Bears shoed me good guard play in particular 5-5 2023 [player_tooltip player_id='214498' first='Jaelle' last='Keller'] and 5-5 2024 Lilly Edwards. More on Keller later but the overall guard play did some good things as they battled Chippewa down to the final quarter. [player_tooltip player_id='157706' first='Kylie' last='Leibacher'] was such a huge plus to have back from injury and she showed great leadership out on the floor. I also liked Edwards who is a shifty guard who gets to the rim well. Love her midrange pull-up. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"fontSize":"medium"} --> <p class="has-medium-font-size"><strong>Final Preview</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Can Chippewa handle the pressure from Africentric? Chippewa is a poised team led by Rodriguez, along with 5-8 2023 [player_tooltip player_id='214507' first='Abby' last='Henegar'] and Jaclyn Jundzilo, who you will read about later. They use the floor well and are fundamentally sound. Africentric is a team that will ty to force you to play their tempo. We read about Nelson and Bowers, but 2023 guard [player_tooltip player_id='402619' first='Ariel' last='Grace'] <em>(featured photo above) </em>is another one who can be the factor in this game. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->