O-G gives 'every ounce of energy' but falls in championship game

DAYTON – Ottawa-Glandorf needed a perfect game to complete a perfect season on Saturday.Cat-quick KeKe Woods and the Portsmouth Trojans kept O-G from having both.Woods slithered and sliced her way through the defense for 26 points and Portsmouth survived one last Ottawa-Glandorf rally in the fourth quarter to beat the Titans 53-48 and win the OHSAA Division V girls championship at the University of Dayton Arena."I just wanted to play to my full potential," said Wood, a 5-foot-6 junior guard who also led Portsmouth with eight rebounds and five steals."I wanted to make sure I hustled on every play for my team."Saturday's win capped a 24-4 season and earned Portsmouth its second straight Division V girls basketball title."It's tougher to win back-to-back (titles) than it is to win the first one," Portsmouth coach Amy Hughes said after the Trojans did just that."We've been talking about this since these girls were little. They're tough, they're fighters and they're winners in everything they do, from Homecoming to grades to basketball."O-G entered the game a perfect 28-0 and ranked No. 1 in the final Division V prep polls. The Titans were state runners-up for the fifth time in their seven trips to the Final Four."It's always tough getting all the way down here and coming up a little short," said Troy Yant, who has guided O-G to 13 consecutive 20-win seasons, compiled a 333-46 overall record and taken the Titans to those seven state tournament appearances in his 14 years as head coach."I thought our girls gave every ounce of energy they had. We just did not have an answer for KeKe Woods. She kind of slaughtered us at times and three, four plays in a close game, they matter."Portsmouth led 31-24 at the half and padded its cushion a bit more when Woods scored on a drive, was fouled and completed the and-one 3-point play with 2:54 left in the third quarter. Gracie Lammers answered with a clutch 3-pointer for O-G, though, and free throws by Karsyn Erford and Madison McKee trimmed that deficit to 39-37 by the end of the period.Two free throws by Hayden Cater and another Woods drive to the basket restored a six-point Portsmouth edge, 43-37, a minute into the fourth quarter.O-G responded with one of its grittier rallies of the day.Alivia Grothause, whose own ability to drive and score had been so crucial a day earlier in O-G's semifinal win over Fairland, scooped in a lay-up to start the rally. Erford, fouled on a drive of her own, then hit two free throws and Savannah Recker converted on a give-and-go play.When Lammers, camped in the left corner, asked for the ball, got it and rattled home a 3-pointer, O-G was within a point – 47-46 – with 4:02 to play.O-G got the ball back when Portsmouth's KK Mays was called for travel, but Erford had the ball stripped away on another drive, Sienna Allen was fouled and the 6-foot senior converted both free throws with 3:16 on the clock.In a rough and tumble game that got drag-down physical at times, Portsmouth regained possession on an offensive foul call. Carter was fouled on the opposite end and the junior post, who was 6-for-6 from the line, made both to boost the Trojans lead to 51-46.Erford made a foul-line jumper to get O-G back within three, but Allen, a 6-foot senior guard who finished with 13 points, countered that with two free throws with 52.3 remaining.Portsmouth's defense did the rest, denying O-G any open looks from the outside. The Titans did get off two 3-point attempts in the closing seconds, but both were well off target.Woods drove to the basket 11 times and made all 11 of her assorted scoops, banks, flips and acrobatic lay-ups. The Trojans were an efficient 18-of -29 (62.1 percent) from the floor, 15-of-19 from the line.O-G was 4-of-13 on 3-point attempts, 17-of-42 overall (40.5 percent) and 10-of-15 from the line.Erford, who will likely see her name on the all-Ohio list for the fourth time in her career when those results are released later this week, led O-G with 18 points."We set high standards because we know we can reach them," said Erford, O-G's career scoring leader and the lone returning full time starter from a team that went 25-1 in 2024-25."We like to push ourselves. That gives us something to strive for. We came up just short this time, but we gave everything we had."McKee had 16 points and 10 rebounds, her second double-double in two state tournament games. The 6-2 junior post scored 10 of her 16 points in helping O-G go up 15-14 at the end of the first quarter."Madison, at times, was able to establish herself in the paint," Yant said. "But it wasn't really the kind of game we wanted it to be where we could get up and down the floor a little bit, catch them in transition."Portsmouth did a really good job in their half-court defense, taking us out of what we were trying to do. We were never able to get that three or four possession ride on the offensive end."As a somewhat subdued O-G team – another silver, not gold, trophy in hand – walked out into a UD Arena parking lot still packed with supportive fans, Yant was hoping it was another ride his charges would remember."You know, sometimes you forget to enjoy the ride," Yant said."Now that the season is over I can self-reflect. We graduated four girls last year that had won 15 varsity letters between them. I didn't get these girls until about the third week of November (several played on O-G's girls soccer team that made the state semifinals), we hadn't had a preseason, we would have one or two scrimmages and we couldn't delay anything because we had to get the season started on, like, Nov. 26."When the girls came in, I asked her (Erford) and the other seniors what they wanted to do. They said they wanted to go undefeated and they wanted to go to state."Could the breaks have gone a little different?"Yeah. "If I can give them anything to take away from this, hopefully they can look back and say, 'Wow. That's awesome.'"It's tough to walk out of here now feeling that way."Down the road, the accomplishments of this season, all the victories, all the awards …. The more important things are the times with the players and coaches, all the goofy moments."Whether we cut down the nets or cry in the locker room, those are the memories I want them to remember."PORTSMOUTH (24-4)Si. Allen 4-9 5-6 13, Sa. Allen 0-1 0-0 0, Woods 11-11 4-7 26, Carter 1-4 6-6 8, Mays 0-0 0-0 0, Shannon 2-4 0-0 6. TOTALS: 18-29 15-19—53.O-GLANDORF (28-1)Grothause 3-6 0-0 6, McKee 6-11 4-7 16, Erford 5-10 6-8 18, Lammers 2-4 0-0 6, Recker 0-4 0-0 0, Kuhlman 1-7 0-0 2, Brinkman 0-0 0-0 0. TOTALS: 17-42 10-15—48.Portsmouth 14 17 8 14—53O-Glandorf 15 9 13 11—483-POINT GOALS: Ottawa-Glandorf 4-13 (Erford 2-5, Lammers 2-3, Recker 0-2, Kuhlman 0-3); Portsmouth 2-5 (Sa. Allen 0-1, Shannon 2-4).REBOUNDS: Ottawa-Glandorf 22 (McKee 10, Grothause 4; Portsmouth 19 (Woods 8).TURNOVERS: Ottawa-Glandorf 12; Fairland 14.