DaytonDailyNews.com

VANDALIA — The Versailles High School girls basketball team finished seventh in the Midwest Athletic Conference.

When it comes to the Southwest District, though, there's no one better.

Versailles won its second straight Division III regional title with a second-half surge to beat Middletown Madison 43-31 at Vandalia Butler's Student Activity Center on Saturday, March 14. Versailles — the D-III defending state champion — plays in the state semifinals 8 p.m. Thursday at Ohio State University's Schottenstein Center.

Madison — making its first regional appearance — grabbed its largest lead (17-11) on Shelby Roe's 3-pointer to start the second half. After that, it was all Versailles.

The Tigers rattled off a 15-3 run to end the quarter. And after the Mohawks pulled to 28-25 early in the fourth, the Tigers responded with a 15-4 game-ending run.

"I can't give enough thanks and credit to the teams in the MAC," said Versailles' Emily Frey, who finished with 13 points. "We got beat up. We had things done to us we didn't even know would happen in a game. ... We lost, but we learned something from every game."

On Saturday, the Tigers (18-8) learned they better score.

Both teams combined to miss their first 13 shots to start the game, and Madison (20-6) went the first 7:10 without a basket. Still, the Mohawks led 14-11 at the half and took the second-half momentum with Roe's 3-pointer.

But a minute later Ally Malott, the D-III Southwest District player of the year, picked up her third foul. Versailles took advantage inside with Megan Campbell (15 points) and Emily Eilerman (seven points).

Eilerman's defense also helped limit Malott to six points.

"Eilerman is the core to our defense," Versailles coach Jacki Stonebraker said. "And if she can stop Malott, she can stop anybody. Malott is 10 times the player our team has."

The Tigers outrebounded the Mohawks 36-20, including a 12-2 advantage offensively. Karen Smith, a 5-foot-6 guard, led the Tigers with 10 rebounds.

"Don't take anything away from last year, they had an extreme amount of pressure on them," Stonebraker said of state title expectations, "but this time I didn't feel there was any pressure. Just go out and play and whatever happens, happens."

Contact this reporter at (937) 225-2400, ext. 6991, or gbilling@DaytonDailyNews.com.