O-G drives to the brink of a state title

DAYTON – Alivia Grothause went for a drive Friday afternoon.Actually, she went for several of them.The destination was today's Division V girls state championship game, and Grothause knew just how to get herself and her Ottawa-Glandorf teammates there."Mr. Yant (O-G coach Troy) told me before the game they might play off of me because I'm not really that big of a shooter," Grothause said. "So I was really surprised when they were guarding me so tightly. I decided to take advantage of it and finish strong at the rim."Quick and aggressive off the dribble, Grothause, a senior guard who averaged 7.1 points a game this season, scored 17 points as O-G held off Proctorville Fairland 54-48 in a Division V state semifinal at the Nutter Center on the Wright State University campus.Grothause scored 13 points in the third quarter when O-G turned a 28-27 halftime deficit into a 44-30 lead. All six of her baskets in the period came on driving lay-ups, either right down the lane or from the wing."It was so good to see Liv ice and dice, get to the hole and create some situations that worked to our advantage," Yant said."We're not really a dribble-drive team, but it's nice to have that secret tool in the toolbox, and let Liv go to town. Liv is an athlete, and athletes take advantage of situations. She did a great job of recognizing the situation, she made her lay-ups and really broke us free."Ranked No. 1 in the final Division V state poll, Ottawa-Glandorf ran its perfect record to 28-0. The Titans, making their seventh Final Four appearance and still looking for their first state title, will try to complete a perfect season today when they face Portsmouth (23-4) in a 2 p.m. final.Portsmouth, the reigning Division V state champion, advanced by beating Creston Norwayne 40-37 in Friday's second semifinal at Wright State.Senior guard Karsyn Erford scored 16 points for O-G. The District 8 Player of the Year converted 5-of-6 free throws in the final minutes after Fairland nearly erased a 16-point deficit fourth-quarter deficit."When it got to be a two-point game, we kind of looked at each other and it was like, 'There's still more time on the clock, so we have got to go,'" Erford said."Even though they (Fairland) came back they used all of their energy and I think we still had more in us. After that we kicked it into gear and hit some foul shots."Madison McKee, a 6-2 junior, had a 13-point, 10-rebound-double for O-G.District 13 Player of the Year Bailey Russell led Fairland with 19 points. Addison Godby added 14 points for the Dragons (23-5).O-G's third quarter rally was its biggest of the game, but not its first … or even its second.Godby had a big first quarter in powering Fairland to a 12-6 lead. Erford answered with six points of her own, though, including a buzzer-beating basket that put O-G up 16-14.Fairland surged ahead again in the second period, going up 23-16 on a 3-pointer by Isa Taliaferro and put-back basket by Russell. McKee banked in a short jumper and completed an and-one 3-point play, Erford went coast to coast with a steal and Gracie Lammers converted two free throws, getting O-G within a point (28-27) at the half."They knew how to defend us and they were physical," Erford said."We knew it was going to be back and forth."Yant had a simple message for his team at the half."We kind of challenged them," he said."We didn't think we played our best ball in the first half (15-29 shooting, some costly turnovers, five 3-pointers by Fairland)."We challenge the girls to get me a lead in the third (quarter). I think I said 12, because when we get 12 points up it's pretty hard to beat us."With Grothause as a "driving" force, O-G did better than Yant's 12-point prediction.Grothause's second driving lay-up of the third quarter gave O-G a 31-30 lead – its first since it was 4-2 right out of the gate. The Titans ran off the next 13 points to lead 44-30 at the end of the period, and took their biggest lead (44-30) when Grothause fed McKee on a back-door basket to start the fourth quarter.The Dragons still had some fire in them, though.Rylee Russell nailed a 3-pointer and Bailey Russel hit a basket, a 3-pointer and two free throws during a 7-0 run that cut O-G's lead to 46-40 with five minutes left.Erford put-back an offensive rebound to end O-G's drought, but Godby drove for two scores and Bailey Russell powered in another. With three minutes still left in the game, Ottawa-Glandorf led just 48-46.O-G was able to beat Fairland's press with poise and execution, though, and got to the line.Erford's two free throws with 2:04 on the clock nudged the lead back to 50-46. She would add two more with 26.3 left or the final margin."The girls did a great job. They weathered the storm," Yant said."And when we brought the storm, I thought our storm lasted longer than theirs did."And the forecast?"We need to let them rest," Yant said of the Titans, who will have less that a 24-hour window between Friday's semifinal and today's championship game."Right now we put it all on the coaching staff. Tomorrow we'll come together and tell them what we need them to do, and hopefully that can do it again." FAIRLAND (23-5)Leep 0-0 0-0 0, Conell 1-3 2-2 4, Taliaferro 2-6 0-0 6, Godby 6-13 0-3 14, B. Russell 6-15 5-6 19, Donahue 1-3 0-2 2, R. Russell 0-2 0-0 0, Whitley 1-1 0-0 3, Miller 0-0 0-2 0. TOTALS: 17-43 7-15—48.O-GLANDORF (28-0)Grothause 8-11 1-5 17, McKee 6-9 1-3 13, Erford 5-10 6-9 16, Lammers 0-2 2-2 2, Recker 0-0 2-2 2, Kuhlman 2-6 0-2 4, Liebrecht 0-0 0-0 0. TOTALS; 21-38 12-21—54.Fairland 14 14 2 18—48O-Glandorf 16 11 17 10—543-POINT GOALS: Ottawa-Glandorf 0-10 (Grothause 0-3, McKee 0-2, Erford 0-3, Kuhlman 0-2); Fairland 7-25 (Cornell 0-1, Talieferro 2-5, Godby 2-5, B. Russell 2-9, Donahue 0-2, R. Russell 0-2, Whitley 1-1).REBOUNDS: Ottawa-Glandorf 24 (McKee 10, Erford 5); Fairland 23 (B. Russell 6, Godby 5).TURNOVERS: Ottawa-Glandorf 10; Fairland 10.