Pickerington Central’s Wallace, Bloom-Carroll’s Bratton are Ohio Ms. Basketball finalists
Pickerington Central’s Berry Wallace and Bloom-Carroll’s Emily Bratton are two of eight finalists for Ms. Basketball, the Ohio Prep Sportswriters Association announced Wednesday.
Wallace, a 6-foot-1 senior forward who has signed with Illinois, is the Division I district Player of the Year and was selected to play in the McDonald’s All-American Game on April 2 in Houston. She averages 17.1 points, 9.8 rebounds, 3.7 assists and 2.1 steals for Central (24-3), which will play for its second consecutive regional championship Friday against Watterson at Otterbein.
Wallace is ranked among the top 20 seniors in the nation by USA Today and ESPNW HoopGurlz. She has amassed more than 1,400 career points, 900 rebounds and 250 assists.
Bratton, a 5-7 senior guard who has signed with Miami University, led the Bulldogs (20-6) to their first Division II district championship since 2019. The two-time district Player of the Year averaged 23.0 points, 7.1 rebounds, 5.8 assists and 4.7 steals and finished her high school career with 1,771 points.
Bloom-Carroll lost to defending state champion Cincinnati Purcell Marian 77-43 in a regional semifinal Tuesday at Springfield.
Purcell Marian junior Dee Alexander is the reigning Ms. Basketball and is among the finalists, along with Whitehouse Anthony Wayne’s Elise Bender, Shaker Heights Laurel’s Saniyah Hall, Springboro’s Bryn Martin, Berlin Hiland’s Ashley Mullet and Loudonville’s Corri Vermilya.
Hall and Vermilya also were finalists in 2023.
Central Ohio has not had a Ms. Basketball winner since Brookhaven’s Brittany Hunter in 2003. The only other area players to win the award were Pickerington’s LaToya Turner in 1999 and Pickerington’s Beth Ostendorf in 1995.
The winner will be announced at noon March 13.
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Who are the eight finalists for 2024 Ohio Ms. Basketball?
