Smith, Horston lead Nubians to sixth state title
It was an afternoon for selfies for the Africentric girls as they posed, and posed some more, smiling with their gold medals as the Queen song “We Are The Champions’’ tested their eardrums in Value City Arena.
As for coach Will McKinney, he might have been looking for a dry dress shirt after a grinding Division III championship game that had him sweating until the final seconds.
Sophomore guard Alexia Smith scored 22 points and Jordan Horston had 13 points, eight rebounds, two blocked shots and two steals in the Nubians’ 53-47 victory over Versailles before 3,572.
Africentric (27-3) won its sixth championship to tie Cincinnati Mount Notre Dame and South Euclid Regina for the second-most titles in the 43-year history of the tournament.
“We’ve been here nine times, and this is our sixth win, but I don’t ever remember coming in here looking like this,’’ McKinney said, pointing to his shirt. “When you have a lot of youth on your team, it is unexpected.’’
The Nubians’ greatest test came in a 61-60 overtime victory over Berlin Hiland in a regional final. In the final four, they defeated OttawaGlandorf and top-ranked Versailles.
Africentric’s resilience showed after Versailles (28-2) took a 43-42 lead with 4:58 remaining on a basket by Lindsey Winner.
Two plays helped Africentric pull out the game.
First, sophomore guard Nyam Thornton grabbed a deflected pass 30 feet from the basket as the Nubians were holding the ball with a 46-44 lead, and she fed Smith for a layup with 56.8 seconds left.
The pass came with some risk.
“In games like these, you have to know where the open person is," Thornton said. “I knew there had to be somebody open, and I can pass. I have to be a risky player in that situation. I knew she would make the basket. I love this feeling. We came up short last year and didn’t want that to happen again."
Smith ran approximately 20 feet from the left side straight to the basket for the pass.
“I was thinking, ‘Just get to the basket,’" she said. “I tried to do what I do best, and that’s running up and down the court, going to the basket and getting scores."
The second crucial play occurred after Smith, fouled as she made the shot, missed the free throw. Horston got the rebound, dribbled to the perimeter, was fouled and made one of two free throws to make the score 49-44 with 56.8 seconds left.
“I had to fight for my team. I took my time and dug for the rebound. I had to do a little figure eight around the girls," Horston said. “I really wanted it. It was in my heart. I wanted the ball. We stayed together. We stayed positive, and we stayed calm. We knew they would make runs."
With 28.7 seconds, Horston made it a twopossession game again left by making both ends of a one-and-one free-throw situation for a 51-47 lead.