Carroll, Tipp advance to district finals Friday
A ninepoint NEW CARLISLE — halftime lead felt good, but Carroll girls basketball coach Cecilia Grosselin knew it didn’t mean much against Trotwood-Madison, the state’s fifth-ranked team in Division II.
“We told them at halftime that they’re going to come out and be aggressive and they’re going to be focused and try to turn the game around and we have to have composure,” Grosselin said. “You have to keep going and play confident.”
Trotwood, the No. 2 seed, proved Grosselin right with its full-court pressure to cut fourth-seeded Carroll’s lead to two a minute into the fourth quarter. But the Patriots heeded their coach’s advice to keep going and play confidently. They protected the ball, attacked the basket and made 8 of 9 free throws in the final minutes to hold on for a 52-41 victory in a Division II sectional final.
“We kept our composure and we knew we could pull it out,” said Carroll junior Elisabeth Bush, who scored a game-high 21 points. “We worked really hard to get to this point, and we weren’t going to give up.”
In the second final of the night, top-seeded and fourthranked Tippecanoe also had to survive a late push by fifthseeded Kenton Ridge for a 48-43 victory. KR rallied from 10 down to trail 44-43 with 2:20 left, but Tipp controlled the ball and made free throws to hang on.
“It wasn’t the most pretty game on our end, but when adversity hit us we were able to battle back,” Tipp coach Andy Holderman said. “This was a great test for us, a great tournament atmosphere.”
Carroll (16-9) and Tipp (232) will play in district finals Friday night at Mason High School against two surprise teams. Carroll will face Franklin (18-6), which was seeded fifth in the Lebanon sectional. Tipp will face Goshen (14-11), a No. 6 seed in the Cincinnati sectional.
“We knew exactly what they were going to do and we practiced closing out to contest all the shots,” Trotwood coach Hank Benton said. “You teach and teach and they just do what they want to do sometimes. They didn’t do anything offensively different than what we knew they were going to do.”
Trotwood’s comeback was led by Shaiquel McGruder, who has signed with New Mexico. McGruder, who transferred this past offseason from Wayne, scored 14 points and sparked her team’s defensive effort.
“We just prepared all year, all week to never give up,” Benton said.
West Liberty-Salem 42, Greeneview 38: Alex Burton and Taylor Lauck each scored 12 points as the Tigers defeated their OHC rivals in a D-III sectional final at Trotwood on Tuesday. WL-Salem (19-5) will play Summit Country Day in a D-III district final Saturday at Springfield High School.
Covington 56, Franklin Monroe 44: Jordan Crowell had 20 points in leading the Buccs to a D-IV sectional final win at Brookville on Tuesday. Covington (19-6) will play Legacy Christian (21-3) at 1 p.m. Saturday at Troy in a district final.