'They fed off each other': Africentric girls basketball repeats as OHSAA state champs
DAYTON – Through a plodding, if not occasionally ugly, first half of Saturday’s Division III girls basketball state final, Africentric maintained an inner patience.
The Nubians went scoreless for the final 4:34 but held Ottawa-Glandorf without a point for the last 3:50 and eventually, they reasoned, the game would come to them.
When it did, the pace picked up and Africentric's defense continued to frustrate the Titans.
“We had the mindset of just coming in and playing our game, taking them out (of their plan) from the start,” senior forward Kamryn Grant said. “Once we got the lead and got more comfortable with ourselves, that helped the flow of the game.”
After a second quarter in which the teams combined for 11 points, with Africentric outscoring Ottawa-Glandorf 6-5 for a 21-15 halftime lead, both exceeded that point total in the third. The Nubians put together runs of 4-0 and 6-0 to lead by as much as 13 and held off the Titans 58-47 for their second consecutive championship and state-record ninth.
“Our versatility and our ability to just work together worked in our favor,” coach Janicia Anderson said. “They fed off each other. Kam, Nat (Nelson) and Sam (Thompson) got going. Shaunie Little set the tempo. Jeniya Bowers off the bench let us become more aggressive.
“We like to run. We didn’t run as much as we wanted to in the first half. … We needed to wear them out. We wanted to continue to apply pressure with our feet.”
Twelve points from Nelson, 12 points and six rebounds from Thompson and 10 points each from Bowers and Grant powered Africentric (28-2), which won its final 21 games to successfully defend its title.
The Nubians also won back-to-back championships in 2018 and 2019.
Africentric outrebounded Ottawa-Glandorf 34-25, overcoming 19 turnovers, and made 13 of 14 free throws.
“Our defense is what won us this game,” Nelson, a DePaul signee, said while fighting back tears. “We have the two best defenders in the state, Shaunie Little and Ashtan Winfrey. They get us started defensively and offensively. Most of our points come from transition, so when we get defensive stops, we’re going to score.”
The Nubians’ eight titles entering the weekend had been tied with Cincinnati Mount Notre Dame.
Africentric’s 11th final appearance is tied for the most all-time with Berlin Hiland.
“This is extremely hard,” said Grant, who will play college basketball at Dayton. “You have a target on your back. Everybody expects your best every day. We managed to pull it out, and that comes from heart.”
Ottawa-Glandorf (26-3) got the score to within 48-42 with 4:48 to go before two layups from Thompson and another from Nelson pushed the Africentric lead to 54-42 with 3:13 left.
The Nubians won their eight postseason games by an average of 32.5 points. Only one was decided by fewer than 11 points, a 49-46 win over Kettering Alter in the regional final.
Karsyn Erford’s 18 points and five rebounds and 10 points from Carlie Brinkman led Ottawa-Glandorf, which fell to 0-3 in state finals. All of the Titans’ six state tournament appearances have come since 2015.
“Every time we made a mini-run, we didn’t get the break,” Ottawa-Glandorf coach Troy Yant said. “We either ended up with a foul, (then) they made two shots, and then there’s a loose ball and we have to scramble and they end up picking it up, throwing it inside and they get a layup.”
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Africentric girls basketball earns OHSAA Division III title repeat
