Girls basketball: Alter wins fifth state championship

Alter beat Thornville Sheridan 54-38 on Saturday at UD Arena to win its fifth state championship and first since 2017.

“I’ve been dreaming about this all four years,” Kernan said. “We’ve probably been talking about it since seventh grade. We wanted this so bad. For me to just take a breath and see it all and have that peace of knowing we made it, we did it. It was an unbelievable feeling and I’ll never forget it.”

Sophomore Riley Smith scored a game-high 13 points and sophomore Elena Thompson and freshman Maddie Moody each scored nine points for the Knights (28-1).

“I thought our defense once again was a factor as it has been throughout the entire tournament,” said Knights co-coach Christina Hart, “and our rebounding. That’s what we talked about coming into the game was going to be key in both those areas, defense and rebounding, for us to be able to come away as state champions. Our kids really bought in and did that. We’re fortunate enough to take home the trophy.”

Senior Bailey Beckstedt scored 11 points for the Generals (23-4).

“They made it difficult on us to get any open looks,” Generals coach J.D. Walters said. “They did a good job staying out on our shooters, making us try to take the ball to the basket one-on-one a lot. It was hard to finish over them.”

The Knights led 8-6 after the first quarter. They went on a 13-0 run to start the second quarter to extend the lead to 15. Alter led 23-14 at the half.

“We knocked in some shots and got some confidence,” said Knights co-coach Kendal Peck. “It gave us some cushion. It’s a lot easier to play when you’re up 12 to 14 points. Each mistake just doesn’t kill you. It makes everybody relax.”

Alter’s pressure defense caused 22 turnovers. Sheridan cut the lead to eight points in the third quarter, but never get any closer.

“We’re pretty athletic across the board and we’re deep,” Hart said. “We come at you in waves. The idea is to wear you down mentally as well as physically. … We hope that it will really start to weigh on you in the third and fourth quarter and I think you saw that throughout the season. It helps them buy into it and it really does give us a big advantage. It’s really hard to simulate our defense in practice.”

Last season, the Knights lost to Valley View in a district final game. The senior class wasn’t going to let it happen again, Kernan said.

“The past four years, we’ve been working really hard,” Alter senior Emma Hansley said. “We’ve had a lot of downs, but we’ve also had a lot of ups. This year, we knew all of our underclassmen were going to help us out big time. We have really good underclassmen, so we knew that this was our year to get the goal we’ve always wanted.”

Alter’s senior class was selfless in its desire to win, Hart said, sacrificing individual stats for the team’s success.

“They knew those young kids were going to help carry us and they led those young kids,” Hart said. “We were a team that played for one another. People on the outside recognized that and acknowledged that. It’s a special thing. Every one of those kids deserve credit. We won it because we’re a team.”

Alter became the eighth program in state history to win five championships.

“This has always been the goal,” said Knights senior Karlie Romer. “Ever since you’re a little girl, you want to get to state. We’ve been playing with each other for so many years. To be able to share this is such an incredible experience.”