Girls basketball: Carroll, Franklin rematch set for D-II regional final

Patriots, Wildcats will face off Friday for a berth in state final four

The Carroll High School girls basketball team is one win away from its first state tournament appearance since 2011.

But a familiar opponent stands in its way.

The Patriots beat Bloom-Carroll 46-30 in a Division II regional semifinal on Tuesday night at Springfield High School.

Carroll, the Associated Press D-II state poll co-champions, will play Franklin (22-4) in a D-II regional final at 7:30 p.m. Friday at Springfield.

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The Wildcats beat Southwestern Buckeye League Southwestern Division rival Valley View 47-39 in overtime in the first regional semifinal game.

The winner will advance to the D-II state semifinals at 6 p.m. Thursday, March 14 at Ohio State University’s Jerome Schottenstein Center in Columbus.

Senior guard Elisabeth Bush had a game-high 16 points for Carroll, which improved to 25-2 overall.

“We know it’s going to be a dogfight, but we’re ready,” Bush said. “We’re excited.”

A year ago, Franklin beat Carroll 53-51 in triple overtime in a district final.

“We’ve got our work cut out for us,” said Patriots coach Cecilia Grosselin said. “Last year, we had some problems on the court. Nobody wanted to step in and take charge. That’s kind of a different story this year, at least I hope it is.”

Franklin advanced to the regional final for the first time in school history, a year after losing to Bellbrook in the regional semifinals.

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“It’s surreal,” said Wildcats coach John Rossi. “I give (Steve Dickson) and Valley View a lot of credit. I knew it was going to be a tough game tonight. It’s tough to beat a team three times, there’s no question.”

The Wildcats know they’ve got a tough test ahead against Carroll, Rossi said.

“They’re well-coached, their program is established, they’re very strong and fundamentally sound,” he said. “They’re really, really, really good and they’ve played good competition. … We have a lot of respect for their program.”

Carroll 46, Bloom-Carroll 30: The Patriots jumped out to a 20-11 halftime lead and never trailed the rest of the way. Julia Keller, Allie Stefanek and Ava Lickliter all had eight points for Carroll.

“We kind of got off to a slow start,” Grosselin said. “We weren’t hitting shots early on, not really playing with a lot of heart and hustle, but then they kind of turned it around as the game went on.”

Bulldogs 6-foot-1 senior post player Chloe Davis had 14 points and junior Nikki Bradbury added 12 for Bloom-Carroll (16-11), who lost for the second straight season in the regional semifinals in Springfield.

A basket by Davis pulled the Bulldogs to within six points at 34-28 early in the fourth quarter, but they wouldn’t get any closer.

The Patriots went on a 9-0 run capped by a bucket by Keller, forcing a Bulldogs timeout with about three minutes remaining. Carroll allowed just two points the rest of the way.

“Sometimes it’s all about finding the right defensive combination to make sure all their weapons are covered,” Grosselin said.

Franklin 47, Valley View 39 OT: Layne Ferrell, the D-II Southwest District Player of the Year, scored seven of her game-high 18 points in the overtime as the Wildcats beat the Spartans for the third time this season.

“It was amazing,” Ferrell said after the victory. “We’ve been here and we know what it feels like to go home on the losing side and we didn’t want to let that happen again.”

Back-to-back 3-pointers by Skyler Weir and Ferrell gave Franklin its first lead of the second half at 34-32 with about five minutes remaining. A steal and layup by Ferrell extended the lead to 37-34, but Valley View’s Aubrey Stupp tied the game with a 3-pointer on the Spartans next possession.

The Wildcats stalled in the final minute, setting up a final shot for Ferrell. The senior drove to the lane, but her attempt fell short, sending the game to overtime.

The Spartans struck first in OT on a putback by Legate, but Valley View wouldn’t score again. Ferrell scored seven points to send the Wildcats to the regional final, capping a 10-0 run.

Abigail Dickson had 12 points and Lauren Legate added 10 for the Spartans, who finished its season 19-8. Valley View advanced to the regional semifinal for the first time since 1987.

“We had a lot of miscues at the end of the fourth quarter that killed us,” Steve Dickson said. “We had two wide-open layups that we missed. That takes it from a six-point game to a two-point game. It had nothing to do with the overtime. We didn’t do what we needed to do at the end to win the game and they did.”

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