Badin senior Jada Pohlen scored on a layup off a steal to give the Rams a 42-40 lead with 4:52 left in the game and they went on to hold off Valley View for a 49-47 win on Tuesday in a Division II girls basketball district semifinal on Middletown’s Jerry Lucas Court at Paul Walker Gym in Wade E. Miller Arena.
Pohlen’s only steal of the game made up for her committing six of Badin’s 19 turnovers.
“Me, personally, I had a lot of turnovers,” said Pohlen, who finished with 13 points and a game-high 14 rebounds while playing the full 32 minutes. “That wasn’t a good job on my part, but my teammates always pick me up and tell me I’ve still got it.”
Senior Mahya Lindesmith scored 14 points to lead second-seeded Badin (19-6), which is scheduled to play either Trotwood-Madison or Tippecanoe in a district championship game on Feb. 25 at Mason High School.
Those four teams played district quarterfinal games at New Carlisle on Thursday. Badin coach Tom Sunderman will get a chance to watch the two survivors in their district semifinal game on Monday
“We’ll give them a couple of days off and start preparing on Tuesday, but we’ll make it more about Badin,” Sunderman said. “We’re going to concentrate on Badin.”
Senior Claire Henson played all but 19 seconds while scoring a game-high 22 points, grabbing 10 rebounds and coming up with three steals for third-seeded Valley View (18-7).
“She’s an incredible player,” Valley View coach Steve Dickson said. “She’s hurting right now, but she’s going on to bigger and better things at Long Island University. That will be a new adventure for her.”
“Henson is an unbelievable player, but we knew that,” Sunderman said.
Junior Ellie Reed added 15 points for the Spartans, who had won four straight and 12 of 13 going into the game.
“We had so many opportunities,” Dickson said. “Hats off to Badin. They’re moving on and we’re not. When you play a team of that caliber, it’s tough. They’re a good team. They shoot well and move the ball well. They attack the basket.
In the first game between the two teams since February 1989, according to Badin scorekeeper Dirk Allen, the Rams avoided a scoreless first quarter when Pohlen connected on an eight-foot jump shot from the left baseline with two seconds. By then, Valley View had forced six turnovers and gotten eight points from Henson while opening the game with a 12-0 run.
The Rams, who reached the regional championship game last season, embarked on their own 10-0 run to open the second quarter, tying the score Lindesmith’s 3-pointer with 5:30 left before halftime. The Spartans regrouped to regain a five-point lead before settling for a 24-20 halftime advantage.
Badin committed 12 turnovers in the first half while coping with Valley View’s 2-3 zone.
“We just talked about that,” Sunderman said. “We just kept it all positive. We told them to have fun. Down 12, we told them to relax and stay the course.
“We were impatient,” Sunderman added. “We had seen their zone on film. Steve does a good job preparing his girls. We made some adjustments down the stretch. We probably should have done that earlier.”
Rams’ freshman Gracie Cosgrove had to be carried off the court at halftime. She was on the Badin bench in the second half.
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