Alter, Versailles, Jackson Center on girls title drive

Jacki Stonebraker of Versailles neatly summed up how coaches of high-profile basketball teams prepare for the all-important second seasons.

“Every year we say the first 22 games are just practice to get ready for these last eight (games),” Stonebraker said earlier this week during a statewide media conference.

To the uninitiated, the regular season consists of 22 games and the postseason lasts a maximum of eight games.

Alter (Division II), Versallies (D-III) and Jackson Center (D-IV) all will be in pursuit of state championships this week at Ohio State University’s Schottenstein Center in Columbus.

Alter (26-2) is up first in the semifinals at 1 p.m. today in an intriguing matchup against unbeaten Ottawa-Glandorf (27-0). It’s the third straight season the Western Buckeye League champs have advanced to the final four. Last season Alter walloped Glandorf 74-48 in the state title game to run away with its second consecutive state championship.

Alter senior Libby Bazelak and Braxtin Miller were named first team All-Ohio D-II this week, as was Glandorf junior Kadie Hempfling (13.1). Glandorf’s leading scorer, Hempfling left last year’s title game in the third quarter with a dislocated finger and Alter’s rout was on. Miller hit 13 of 18 shots for 33 points to go with 10 rebounds and was named the D-II finals MVP.

“Obviously, it went from a close game at the time to a catastrophic blowout at the end,” Glandorf coach Troy Yant said. “I think that might motivate (Hempfling) more this week than during the regular season.”

Jackson Center (23-4) plays Waterford (24-3) in the D-IV opener at 6 p.m. today. Waterford is the defending champ and is in its third straight final four. Jackson Center beat both Tri-Village and Minster in a rugged regional. The Tigers of the Shelby County League also were a final four team last season, but first-year coach Jeff Reese inherited just two players from that squad.

Junior Olivia Clark, 6-2, and senior Cassie Meyer, 5-11, provide a great height advantage for Jackson Center. Versailles defeated Jackson Center in the regular season, 40-28.

Versailles (25-3) gets Toledo Notre Dame Academy (25-3) in the D-III second game at 3 p.m. Friday. It’s the eighth state final four season for Versailles, which placed second to Minster in the Midwest Athletic Conference. Versailles won state titles in 2015 and ’08 and was state runner-up in ’14.

Led by third team All-Ohioan Kami McEldowney, a 5-6 junior (14.0 points), Versailles overwhelmed previously unbeaten and top-ranked Cincinnati Summit Country Day 55-38 in a regional final at Springfield.

The Versailles boys played in a D-III regional semifinal on Wednesday night at Fairmont’s Trent Arena.

“It’s been awesome,” Stonebraker said of the response to both Versailles programs. “It’s so neat to see people wrapping their arms around the basketball teams in this community. We’re in the MAC and football is usually No. 1, but the crowds for basketball games are right there with the football games. It’s just a great time of the year.”

• All the semifinal winners advance to Saturday’s state finals. Spectrum Sports, formerly Time Warner Cable, will televise the four championship games live. In Southwest Ohio, that’s cable channels 1311 (HD), 311 and 99.

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