After thrilling win over Africentric, O-G gets Fairland in state semis

OTTAWA – Ottawa-Glandorf may be the new kid on the Division V girls state tournament block this season. When it comes to Final Four experience, though, the Titans can stack their historical scorebooks up against anyone's.O-G will be making its seventh Final Four appearance on Friday when the Titans, 27-0 and ranked No, 1 in the final Division girls poll, take on Proctorville Fairland (23-4) at 5 p.m. at the Nutter Center on the Wright State University campus. Creston Norwayne (24-2) and Portsmouth (22-4), square off Friday at 7 p.m., with the winners returning at 2 p.m. Saturday for the Division V state championship game at UD Arena.Karsyn Erford headlines a deep and balanced Ottawa-Glandorf lineup. The 5-foot-10 senior guard, already a three-time all-Ohio selection, averaged 18.8 points a game in becoming the school's career scoring leader in girls basketball. She also averaged 4.5 rebounds and 4,1 assists in earning Western Buckeye League and District 8 Player of the Years recognition for the second straight year.Erford has been especially productive in pivotal post-season play, scoring 29 points in a regional semifinal win over Gahanna Academy, then 26 in a 54-42 win over a Columbus Africentric team that had been a tournament nemesis for O-G, beating the Titans once in a state championship game (2024), once in the semifinals (2018) and twice in the regional finals (2025, 2020). "We knew coming out, if we pick each other up, went play by play, got a stop, there was no way they could beat us," Erford, a University of Findlay commit, said after O-G's regional final win over Africentric."Everyone got involved. Our fans, our bench, coaches. Everyone bought in and then it kind of went from there."Madison McKee, a 6-2 junior who joined Erford on the all-WBL and all-District 8 first team, averages 12.6 points and 7.8 rebounds for O-G. Allison Kuhlman, a sophomore guard, averages 8.3 points and 4.8 boards.Senior guard Alivia Grothause (7.1 ppg), junior guard Gracie Lammers (3.6 ppg), senior wing Greta Liebecht (2.3 ppg) sophomore forward Rilee Brinkman, senior guard Savannah Recker (2.4 ppg) and junior Calvarie Fox (1.6 ppg) have been steady contributors as well.Fairland is led by District 13 Player of the Year Bailey Russell (17.7 ppg), the school's career scoring leader, and Addison Godby (11.6 ppg, 6.2 rpg). Seniors Isa Taliferro (9.4 ppg), Addyson Cornell (9 ppg) and Taegan Leep (3.6) were also on the Dragons team that lost to Portsmouth in last year's state semifinal.The OHSAA could have saved some money when it came to printing the state tournament programs, at least in Division V. Except for a few name changes, things are exactly the same with Portsmouth, Fairland and Creston Norwayne back in the fold.Portsmouth beat Fairland 63-40 in last year's semifinals, then downed Norwayne 53-38 in the championship game.Portsmouth and Fairland not only come from the same district (Southeast) but are also in the same league, the Ohio Valley Athletic Conference. The Dragons and Trojans split their head-to-head league games this season, and ended up sharing the OVAC title with matching 13-1 records.