State Tournament Session 1: 5 takeaways

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>It is time for the Ohio State basketball tournament this weekend here at the University of Dayton Arena. 16 teams playing for 4 state titles, and it all begins this morning with Session 1, the Division 2 state semis. Purcell Marian, Bryan, Northwest and Fairland suiting up for a trip to the finals.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Prep Girls Hoops will be here all weekend and bring you the action. First a look at the 5 points of note to take away from in Session 1.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"fontSize":"medium"} --> <p class="has-medium-font-size"><strong>Bombs away</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Bryan stuck around in the opening half of the game by connecting on 5-6 three's in the first 16 minutes, and built an 11-point lead behind the shooting of 5-10 2023 Ella Ran, along with 5-9 2023 Blayze Langenderfer and 5-8 2023 [player_tooltip player_id='93543' first='Reese' last='Grothaus']. They set the tone and allowed Bryan to come out playing not intimidated against the defending state champions. After Purcell Marian seemed to take control in the third period, Bryan started to connect again to cut the deficit to five points in the final minute of the third period. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"fontSize":"medium"} --> <p class="has-medium-font-size"><strong>Ms. Basketball strikes again</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>It seemed like anytime she wanted to take the game over, she did. Purcell Marian 2025 #1 ranked [player_tooltip player_id='360697' first='Darriana' last='Alexander'] <em>(feature photo above)</em> got to the rim and finished through contact, and was so much more athletic than any of her opponents there was really nothing. She scored 19 of the teams 26 points in the first half and kept up the pace in the second half of action. She finished the game with 34.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"fontSize":"medium"} --> <p class="has-medium-font-size"><strong>Northwest stepping up</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>When their top player went out early in the game with foul trouble, Northwest showed some very good balance. [player_tooltip player_id='360800' first='Lily' last='Bottomley'] is a key 2023 who picked up her second foul with 5:30 left in the first quarter but her team didn't let it phase them. They continued to follow the gameplay and others stepped up to maintain their intensity. It was a solid half from 2024 5-8 Delaney Carmany and 2023 5-10 Ashley Cudnik to give Northwest a 29-18 lead at the half of game 2 against Fairland.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"fontSize":"medium"} --> <p class="has-medium-font-size"><strong>Future iooks bright</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>For Fairland, they will lose some key seniors but also will return some outstanding younger players Two of them are key freshman in their run this season with 5-8 2026 [player_tooltip player_id='481371' first='Bailey' last='Russell'] and 5-11 2026 [player_tooltip player_id='481365' first='Addison' last='Godby'], both players with bright futures ahead of them. Godby came off the bench and did a great job creating plays for her team and I loved her court awareness. She has a good head on her shoulders. Russell plays downhill well and can get the ball strong to the rim. She hit a couple of clutch of clutch shots.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"fontSize":"medium"} --> <p class="has-medium-font-size"><strong>State Finals Outlook</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Northwest put everyone on notice with the win over the unbeaten Dragons in convincing fashion. Their style of poise and a good court presence will be a challenge for the Purcell Marian Cavaliers. They have several kids who can step up and contribute, but the question is do they have anyone to contain Alexander. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->