Times Reporter
COLUMBUS — In a battle of Ohio Division III heavyweights, Hiland had defending champion Africentric on the ropes, but the Nubians responded in true champion style to deliver the knockout blow Thursday.
After Brynn Mullet stroked three consecutive triples to pull Hiland even at 35-35 early in the third quarter, the Nubians amped up their defense and closed the third period on a 5-0 run that extended into the final frame en route to a 61-48 triumph in the high school girls basketball state championship semifinal at the Schottenstein Center on the campus of The Ohio State University.
The win advances Africentric (27-0) into the championship game Saturday morning against Waynesville, a 41-39 overtime winner over Chippewa Thursday.
Hiland bows out at 26-3.
"Africentric is a physically demanding team," Hiland head coach Dave Schlabach said. "We played well. We had them on the ropes once or twice there in the third quarter. We just couldn't quite get over the hump. This was the game we wanted. (Morgan Yoder and Brynn Mullet) played the way I thought they would on the big stage.
"(Jordan) Horston is a premier defender," Schlabach continued. "We had good shots and we got opportunities to get to the rim. They're just relentless. We needed to get the lead and maybe change the game a little bit, but we just couldn't quite get there."
The game seemed to speed up on the Hawks early, thanks in large part to the pace played by Africentric. Morgan Yoder and Aila Miller scored inside for the Hawks, who began the game by hitting only three of 12 shots from the field and turned the ball over three times.
Alexia Smith swished her second deep triple to give the Nubians a 14-7 lead, which increased to 18-7 after layups by Nyam Thornton and Terra Cook.
Shelby Miller swished a pair of free throws and Morgan Yoder drilled a buzzer beating 3-pointer from the corner to pull Hiland back to 19-14 after one quarter.
Yoder canned another to open the second quarter and trim the deficit to two, but Jordan Horston answered with a triple.
A Hiland turnover and an Arianna Smith jumper pushed the lead back out to seven. A Horston free throw and an Alexia Smith jumper made it 27-17.
But back came the Hawks.
Yoder stroked a 3-pointer and Krista Troyer scored inside to cut the deficit in half.
Africentric's Maliyah Johnson got knocked to the floor fighting for a rebound, drawing a foul, but the sophomore bounced up looking to retaliate and was whistled for a technical foul.
Yoder swished the resulting free throws and Hiland trailed by three, with the ball.
But Africentric forced a turnover and Horston scored inside to push the lead to 29-24. It was 31-26 at the break.
Mullet's three triples in the third quarter tied the game at 35, but from that point on, Hiland had a hard time scoring, managing only one field goal over the next seven minutes as the Nubians slowly and methodically pulled away.
Hiland trailed 40-35 after three, and a three-point play by Horston helped Africentric open up a 12-point lead early in the final frame.
Yoder, the lone Hiland player in double-figures with 21, finally scored inside the six-minute mark, but Alexia Smith continued to pour it on for the Nubians. The junior paced the winners with 19 points. Horston, a future Tennessee Volunteer, finished with 15 points and 10 rebounds.
Hiland finished the game making good on 16 of 53 shots from the field, including 6 of 20 from 3-point range. Mullet finished with nine points for Hiland. Africentric connected on 23 of 49, with three triples.
"We didn't have any success getting to the rim, so we had to take points where we could get them," Schlabach said. "We're really proud of our kids. We never let our youth be an excuse this year. We coach tough kids.
"We had all intentions of winning this game, but they've got players. They've got seven Division I college players on that team. We'll walk out of here with our heads held high. It hurts. We're a program that demands so much and expects so much out of our kids, unless you come out of here with the trophy at the end, it's going to hurt."
Africentric head coach Will McKinney said it was a great game, as he expected.
"People talk about how big we are and how fast we play, but it was our defense that was the difference," McKinney said. "Berlin Hiland is a team that is always going to play hard.
"They are extremely well-coached with very skilled shooters," the coach continued. "They were able to keep the game close, because every time we had a breakdown, they took advantage of it."
Horston added that she and her teammates talked more defensively after Hiland tied things up, and that was the key to their victory.
"Every time we got knocked down, we were able to get back up," Horston said.
