STATE SEMIFINALS … Bryan guard Marah Smith gets ready to take the ball up the floor for the Golden Bears in Thursday’s Division II state semifinal game at the University of Dayton Arena. (PHOTO BY JACOB KESSLER, STAFF)
By: Nate Calvin
DAYTON – The Bryan Lady Bears faced a monumental challenge in their first-ever strip to the state final four as they squared off with Cincinnati Purcell Marian, who was last year’s state champion in Division III.
Bryan showed they were up to the challenge by building an 11-point lead in the first half before the Cavaliers pressure defense and the play of 2023 Ohio Ms. Basketball Dee Alexander proved to be too much as Purcell Marian rallied for the 61-47 win.
“There’s a lot of tears in that locker room because they believed they could play with anybody in state”, said Bryan head coach Todd Grosjean.
“We executed our game plan. Obviously, Alexander got hers, but we didn’t want their other kids to step up.”
After some early turnovers, Bryan caught fire from long range with Reese Grothaus and Blayze Langenderfer knocking down triples to give the Bears their first lead of the game at 8-5.
Alexander responded for Purcell Marian with five straight points before Ella Rau buried Bryan’s third trey of the first quarter to regain the lead 11-10.
Alexander though ended the quarter with a runner in the lane to give the Cavaliers a 14-13 lead as she had 11 points in the opening frame on her way to a 34-point night.
Kailee Thiel scored inside to start the second for Bryan to begin what would be a 12-0 scoring run for the Bears as Rau added a pair of triples from the corner during that stretch as the lead grew to 25-14.
Purcell Marian answered with a 12-0 run of their own to end the half with Alexander scoring eight points to give them a 26-25 lead at halftime.
The 19 points by Alexander in the opening half helped offset a 9/14 shooting half by Bryan including 5/6 from three-point range.
“We made some shots in that second quarter, and it became contagious. Ella Rau really stepped up when we needed her to,” commented Grosjean on Bryan’s big second quarter run.
Bryan’s Ella Voigt tied the game 27-27 in the opening moments of the third quarter, but a 10-1 surge by the Cavaliers gave them their largest lead of the day to that point at 37-28.
Bryan would hang around though with Grothaus hitting triples from each wing and Voigt added a bucket to trim the Bryan deficit to 41-36 entering the fourth quarter.
Trinity Small scored along the baseline for Purcell Marian (26-2) to start the final frame before a triple by Voigt and an inside bucket from Thiel kept Bryan within striking distance at 46-41.
The Cavaliers stopped the Bryan momentum with a 7-0 run as Alexander had back-to-back hoops and Jayda Mosley added a conventional three-point play after grabbing a weakside rebound to make the score 53-41 with 5:17 to go.
Voigt and Thiel recorded field goals for Bryan to stop the Cavaliers run, but a rebound bucket by Alexander made it 55-45 with 2:49 to go as Purcell Marian closed out their scoring at the foul line.
For the game, the Cavaliers were 21/27 at the charity stripe, including 14/19 in the second half.
Rau and Voigt each had 11 and Grothaus netted 10 for Bryan (25-3), who will return four starters next season.
“It’s been a magic ride and they have rose to every challenge, I couldn’t be prouder of these kids”, added Grosjean.
BRYAN (47) – Thiel 9; Voigt 11; Grothaus 10; Rau 11; Smith 0; Zimmerman 0; Mossburg 0; Arnold 0; Langenderfer 5; Alspaugh 1; Totals: 17-8-5 – 47
PURCELL MARIAN (61) – C. Miller 5; Alexander 34; K. Miller 4; Dicks 0; Mosley 5; Small 5; Acoff 1; Parker 0; Jones 7; Totals: 19-2-21 – 61
GAME STATISTICS – BRYAN: FG – 17/41 (42%); FT – 5/10 (50%); Rebounds – 25 (9 offensive); Turnovers – 16; PURCELL MARIAN: FG – 19/41 (46%); FT – 21/27 (78%); Rebounds – 26 (10 offensive); Turnovers – 10
BRYAN 13 12 11 11 – 47
PURCELL MARIAN 14 12 15 20 – 61
Nate can be reached at sports@thevillagereporter.com