Sophomore Jayda Mosley scored 19 points, hitting five 3-pointers as the Cavaliers (25-1) advanced to play East Clinton (21-5) in a D-III regional final game at 1 p.m. Saturday at Springfield. The Astros beat Marion Pleasant 50-46 in the other regional semifinal game.
The Spartans led 15-6 after the first quarter, hitting three 3-pointers as the Cavaliers struggled from the field.
In the second quarter, however, the Cavaliers went on a 16-1 run, capped by a 3-pointer by Mosley, to give Purcell Marian a 22-16 halftime lead.
“We just got shook there when they made their comeback,” said Spartans coach Tim Gabbard. “We knew (Alexander) was going to score, but weren’t supposed to let the other ones score. They got open and they can hit threes. We knew Mosley could hit threes. We were hoping to hold Alexander to 25 and hold everybody else down and obviously we forgot to guard someone.”
Alexander and Mosley combined for all 22 of the Cavaliers points in the third quarter, extending their lead to 20 points at 44-22. They led by as many as 25 points in the fourth quarter.
“(Alexander) is a good player,” Gabbard said. “We didn’t guard her outside in the first quarter, especially when we got that lead. We let her go and tried to guard everybody else because she can’t shoot threes. (Purcell Marian coach Jamar Mosley) made the adjustment to put her inside and we just couldn’t handle it.”
Senior Emma Whitaker scored nine points for Waynesville, which finished 21-5.
A year ago, the Spartans lost to Worthington Christian 52-40 in a regional semifinal game in Springfield.
This season, Waynesville beat several district-level teams, including Eaton, Fayetteville Perry and East Clinton. They finished runner-up in the Southwestern Buckeye League East Division to D-I district finalist Bellbrook.
“We’re happy,” Gabbard said. “We had a good season. 21 wins — a lot of people would want that.”
Waynesville will graduate three seniors — Whitaker, Alexei VanSchaik and Wright State commit Isabella Cassoni — who helped the program win back-to-back district titles.
“They’re going to be hard to replace,” Gabbard said.
The young Spartans are expected to return 11 varsity players from this year’s roster, Gabbard said.
“We plan on being back (to Springfield),” he said. “We’re going to reload. We’ve got young kids coming up and we’ve got all summer to work with them.”
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