Girls tourney: Carroll, Valley View, Franklin win district finals

First Franklin, then Valley View made strong Southwestern Buckeye League statements in a Division II girls high school basketball district final tripleheader at Mason High School on Friday night.

That left it up to Carroll to make it a sweep in the finale, and the No. 1 Patriots delivered.

Franklin struck first, overcoming a nine-point, fourth-quarter deficit to stun Tippecanoe, 49-39. Then it was on Valley View and the Spartans responded with a 69-58 knockout of Cincinnati Roger Bacon. Carroll made it an area sweep by sending Cincinnati McNicholas packing with a 47-37 victory in the finale.

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“I’m so proud of these girls,” Carroll coach Cecilia Grosselin said. “We had some players who really stepped up and played awesome and together as a team. We had to play with heart and hustle and they did.”

All three winners advance to Tuesday’s D-II regional semifinals at Springfield High School. It’ll be a rematch between Southwestern Buckeye League rivals Franklin (21-4) and Valley View (19-7) in Tuesday’s 6:15 p.m. opener. Franklin swept the regular-season series from Valley View.

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Carroll (24-2) will play Carroll Bloom-Carroll (17-9) in the 8 p.m. Tuesday nightcap. Bloom-Carroll eliminated Jonathan Alder 69-57 in a Westerville district final on Friday. The regional semi winners advance to next Friday’s regional final also at Springfield, with a berth in the D-II state final four at stake.

Julia Keller led Carroll’s balanced attack with 11 points. Elisabeth Bush added 10 points and Sarah Ochs and Megan Leraas nine each. Ochs, an emerging freshman sub, converted seven fourth-quarter free throws after McNick (14-12) closed within three.

“It’s nice having a good player coming off the bench and she brings a spark to the whole team,” said Grosselin.

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Layne Ferrell, who earlier Friday was named the D-II Southwest District player of the year, tallied a game-high 31 points for Franklin. The senior fueled the comeback with 21 points in the final quarter when she hit 15 of 17 free throws.

“Once we got the lead, I just kept shaking my head like, ‘How in the heck did that happen?’ ” Franklin coach John Rossi said. “I do know that Layne took over in the fourth quarter. That’s what player of the year-caliber players do. They put the team on their back and lead you to victory, and that’s what she did.”

Jordan Rogers added 10 points for Franklin. Kendall Clodfelter led Tipp (19-6) with 12 points and Ashleigh Mader added 11.

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Valley View senior Chloe Smith hit six 3-pointers and led the hot-shooting Spartans with 24 points.

“This means everything,” said Smith, Valley View’s only senior. “This is what we’ve been waiting for. I have a lot of responsibility to lead my team and that’s what I did.”

Abigail Dickson added 15 points for Valley View, Aubrey Stupp 12 and Claire Henson 11, including three 3-pointers. Valley View was 12 of 23 in 3-point shots.

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“These girls have worked hard since October to be here,” said Valley View coach Steve Dickson, in his 17th season as the Spartans’ coach. “We knew we were decent.”

Roger Bacon (20-5) was the Greater Catholic League Co-Ed Central champ.

A third SWBL team, unbeaten Waynesville (23-0), was scheduled to play Bethel-Tate in a D-III district final at 1 p.m. Saturday at Springfield.

Northridge boys 65, Ben Logan 34: The Polar Bears mounted a 21-point lead in the first half and won a D-II sectional at Springfield. Northridge (17-7) will play the Taft/Hughes winner in a district final at the University of Dayton Arena on Thursday.

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Franklin Monroe boys 58, Newton 52: Ethan Conley scored 24 points and the Jets overcame a double-digit deficit in the fourth quarter to win a D-IV sectional title at Troy on Friday. Franklin Monroe (15-9) will play the Russia/Jackson Center winner in a district final on Friday at UD Arena. Ryan Mollette had 19 points for Newton (8-16).

Fort Loramie boys 33, Ansonia 23: Eli Rosengarten scored 12 points as the Redskins won a D-IV sectional at Piqua. Loramie (18-7) will play the Miami Valley Christian Academy/Cincinnati Christian winner in a D-IV district final at UD Arena on Friday.

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Minster boys 67, Fort Recovery 60: Jack Heitbrink had 17 points and Mike Ketner 16 in a sectional final.

St. Henry boys 64, Ada 47: Zach Niekamp had 27 points as the Redskins won another D-IV sectional title.

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