Girls basketball: Alter falls to Badin in regional semifinals

SPRINGFIELD — The Alter girls won’t repeat as Division II state basketball champions. But the coaches wouldn’t want a do-over on the season.

Speaking for longtime co-head coach Kendall Peck and herself, Chris Hart said, of course, Tuesday night’s 49-47 regional semifinal loss to Hamilton Badin was disappointing. But the coaches were not disappointed with their team.

“They’ve lived up to this year,” Hart said. “We played the toughest regular-season schedule of any Division II team in the entire state, and we finished 19-3. So they’ve lived up to being ready every night.”

The Knights (23-4) were ready to win another one after suffering through a difficult shooting performance and trailing most of the game. A 42-38 lead that appeared to put them in control evaporated quickly, but there was hope and a plan at the end.

Junior Riley Smith got open on a double screen and made a 3-pointer from the left wing with 14 seconds left to tie the score 47-47. Badin advanced the ball and called time out with 5.7 seconds left. The Knights needed one more stop to force overtime.

The Rams (24-2) called a play for their best player, freshman Braelyn Even. A inbounds pass from the baseline to near the top of the key to Lauren Grawe, then to a posting-up Even on the left block set it up. The right-handed Even turned and scored with her left hand for a two-point lead.

“We had some young players make that last play,” Badin coach Tom Sunderman said. “Lauren Grawe threw a great pass and Braelyn kept her poise and went up and finished it.”

Alter called timeout with 1.5 seconds left. Then just before they were ready to go the length of the floor, the officials put 2.2 seconds on the clock, and Badin had to call timeout to reset its defensive strategy. Eventually, a long inbounds pass to Maddie Moody and a quick timeout gave the Knights the ball on the right sideline in front of their bench with 1.4 seconds left.

The pass into Moody just below the foul line was knocked away by Badin right to Hannah Mayse. She fired up a quick 3-pointer, the official gave the signal to count it, but the shot bounced off the front of the rim and Badin celebrated.

“You get to this point and every game is going to be difficult and a challenge,” Hart said. “We make one more play we win. Last year we made one more play against Granville and we won.”

Alter rallied in the second half last year to defeat Granville 39-36 in the semifinals, then beat Badin 45-35 in the regional final.

The Knights could well be back in the same situation next year. They return four starters, including the top three scorers Tuesday in Smith (14), Mayse (13) and Moody (10).

Badin’s second straight trip to the regional final will be their second straight game against a defending state champion. The Rams play Cincinnati Purcell Marian (24-2), last year’s Division III champ, at 7 p.m. Friday at Springfield High School. The Cavaliers are led by 6-foot-1 sophomore forward Dee Alexander, who averages 26 points, and is the top college prospect in Ohio regardless of year. The Cavaliers defeated Bexley 63-24 with a suffocating defense and 14 3-pointers.

“We told the girls today there’s no pressure on us — go out and play and have fun,” Sunderman said. “They’re the No. 1 team in the state and the defending champion. And now all everybody’s talking about is Purcell, and nobody’s talked about Badin all year. We love that.”

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