Titans returning to state semis

MANSFIELD – Ottawa-Glandorf had not played a great half of basketball.Facing Columbus Africentric at the Division V regional final at Mansfield Senior Saturday, the Titans had turned the ball over 10 times over the first two quarters. Worse than that, O-G missed its last eight field goal attempts, and had gone scoreless over the last 4:09 before the break.And yet, the Titans still held the lead, albeit a small one. As they walked to the locker room, they were up on the Nubians, 17-16.After seeing its last two seasons end at the hands of Africentric, that was something to build on."We were extremely upset that we weren't scoring," said Ottawa-Glandorf coach Troy Yant. "The message at halftime was, 'We're not playing real well, but we've still got the lead.' Where, in the past, maybe we didn't play real well and we were chasing them. So, that was the only real advantage.""We knew we didn't play our best basketball in the first half," said Karsyn Erford, an O-G senior and northwest district Player of the Year. "You have those games; you have those quarters."But the third quarter made all the difference.The Titans made 9 of their first 12 shots, grabbed a 14-point lead, and went on to defeat Africentric 54-42.Erford, a finalist for Ms. Basketball, finished the game with 26 points and eight rebounds.The Titans won their seventh regional title. They will play in the state semifinal at 5 p.m. Friday against Proctorville Fairland at the Nutter Center in Dayton.O-G last made the semis two years ago, falling to Africentric in Dayton."A couple of these girls played down at state a couple years ago," Yant said. "We had big hopes of getting down here last year. I think the big thing right now is just get some rest. The last two games have been pressure-cooker games. They've been tight, they've been physical. We need a day off."O-G has certainly earned it, especially after that third quarter.The Titans grabbed a 21-18 lead after an Erford layup less than two minutes into the period. Africentric's Jeniya Bowers answered with a jumper to make it 22-20.Then O-G got rolling. Erford buried a 3 from the wing. Teammate Allison Kuhlman followed with a layup, and then drove to the basket and was fouled for a three-play.Kuhlman's free throw put the Titans up 29-21 with 4:42 left in the third.The Nubians called a timeout.To Yant – who said his team was dragging a little after a tough game Wednesday against Columbus Academy – it wasn't a moment too soon."That was great that they took the timeout, because we needed it," he said.And once the Titans got back on the court, they picked up right where they left off. A 3 by Gracie Lammers was followed by back-to-back layups by Madison McKee, which pushed O-G's lead to 36-25.When Erford hit another 3 from the wing to put the Titans ahead by 14, the crowd – which appeared to be at least 3-to-1 for Ottawa-Glandorf – erupted. Africentric called another timeout."You could feel it when we started to make that run, the energy from the crowd, especially 'The Blue Crew (O-G student section),'" Yant said. "Karsyn feeds off that, the seniors feed off that. Their friends are out there cheering for them.""I think everyone feels it, on the court, on the bench," said O-G senior Savannah Recker. "It lights us up and it makes us want to do better, because it's loud and we know that everyone's cheering us on and no matter what they'll be there for us."O-G led 41-29 at the end of the third quarter, and in the fourth – despite some impressive shots from Bowers and Jae'Vonna Brown-- maintained at least a 10-point lead the rest of the way.Brown led Africentric with 23 points; Bowers scored 15. "It's amazing to me how good their players are," Yant said of Africentric. "We chased (Bowers) the whole game, and she continued to hit rainbow shots. We ran different people at (Brown) and she continued to make everything she shot, so they're great players. It's a testament to our girls that we came out on top."Africentric has been a thorn in the side of O-G over the years. In 2024, the Nubians beat the Titans in the Division III state championship game, 58-47.Last year, Africentric stopped O-G in the D-V regional final at Ridgedale, 53-38."We were very motivated," said McKee, a junior who scored 13 points and grabbed a game-high 13 boards. "This morning in practice, we even went through last year's loss, just replaying it in our minds, knowing that we didn't want that again."Now, O-G will turn its attention to Fairland.After a day off."We haven't looked that far," Erford said. "It's one game at a time, one practice at a time."It's worked so far. OTTAWA-GLANDORF (27-0)Grothause 1-0—2; K. Erford 10-4—26; Kuhlman 3-1—7; Lammers 1-0—3; Recker 1-1—3; McKee 6-1—13. TOTALS: 22-48—7-11--54.COLUMBUS AFRICENTRIC (22-5)Bowers 5-3—15; Brown 9-5—23; Johnson 1-0—2; Thomas 1-0—2. TOTALS: 16-39—8-18--42Ottawa-Glandorf 11 6 24 13 –54Columbus Africentric 8 8 13 13 – 423-POINT GOALS: Ottawa-Glandorf 3-8 (Erford 2, Lammers); Columbus Africentric 2-9 (Bowers 2).REBOUNDS: Ottawa-Glandorf 37 (McKee 12, Erford 8); Columbus Africentric 23.TURNOVERS: Ottawa-Glandorf 14; Columbus Africentric 10.