LONG RANGE … Hilltop’s Elena VanArsdalen uncorks a three ball in the first half of Saturday’s district final at Bryan High School.
(PHOTOS BY BREANA RELIFORD / THE VILLAGE REPORTER)
CAREER MILESTONE … Alivia Farnham drives into a Hilltop double team in the first half. Farnham reached the 1,000 career point mark in the fourth quarter and led all scorers with 17 on the afternoon.
By: Joe Blystone
THE VILLAGE REPORTER
publisher@thevillagereporter.com
BRYAN (February 22, 2025) – It’s been a long time coming, but after some three decades, Hilltop brought home a girls basketball district title, with a hard-fought and physical, 48-36 win over Edgerton at Bryan High School.
The Cadets continue their season into the Division VII regional tournament with a record of 20-3. Edgerton finishes with a 14-11 mark.
“It’s been 30 plus years since we have won the district,” Cadet coach Troy Grime expressed. “It’s a great feeling, a great thing for the program.”
“This wasn’t a one year thing; this was a building project for seven years. We have been close, but we finally got it accomplished.”
The game changed hands or was tied five times in the first quarter until Alivia Farnham split a pair from the line with 2:24 to go, giving Edgerton a 7-6 lead.
Kennedy Bailey’s curl around the horn gave Hilltop an 8-7 advantage at the 1:42 mark of the first and little did anyone know Edgerton would never lead again.
Three straight Cadet triples starting the second jetted Hilltop up 17-7. Libbie Baker found Eleana VanArsdalen and Molly Dickinson for the first two shots from long range, then Kenley Routt came off the bench to knock home the third with 3:24 left in the half for the 10-point lead.
Edgerton, who hadn’t scored a field goal for 10:12 in the game, got a big one when Casey Everetts hit from way out on the left wing to slice the Bulldog deficit to 17-12, and Ava Swank got Edgerton even closer with a bucket off an up fake after a turnover to make it 17-14 at halftime.
Bailey’s three-pointer was offset by Farnham’s turnaround J, and 2/2 from the stripe to keep the margin at 21-18 but in the short span of 49 seconds, Hilltop took control of the game.
Baker made the first of two from the foul line, but on the miss, Sophia Crossgrove powered in the rebound to double the Hilltop lead.
29 seconds later Dickinson got a bucket plus-one off a Baker feed, then on the ensuing Edgerton possession, Dickinson picked a Bulldog pass and flew solo to the hoop for a 29-18 Hilltop lead.
“I just told our kids, that’s great scoring up there,” Grime explained of the burst that showed his team’s diverse scoring for the day. “15, 12, 7, 5, 6 (point totals on the side scoreboards), that’s how you win basketball games.”
“We talked about it even at half, it’s a game of streaks. We go 8-0, they go 8-0, we just had to get the last one.”
Everetts bomb from the outskirts of Bryan, and Farnham’s bank chopped the lead to 31-23 after the third, but again Hilltop went on a run.
VanArsdalen started a 10-2 burst at the beginning of the fourth with a corner three-ball, Crossgrove scored off a steal, then Baker hit from outside and on a curling drive to blow the game open at 41-25.
Edgerton had one more run. Everetts nailed a 25-footer from the top of the circle, Farnham got one in the key and Elle Huard went 1/2 at the stripe to bring the Bulldogs back to a 42-33 margin but Baker’s basket on a runout and Dickinson’s pair at the foul line, bumped the lead back to double figures.
Farnham’s last basket, another turnaround jumper that marked her 1,000th point in her career, got the Hilltop lead down to 45-36, but Dickinson and Baker went 3/4 from the line late to close it out.
“It was solid,” Grime said of his team’s prowess at the line down the stretch. “Early in the year we shot very well from there, the last 5/6 games we have struggled a little.”
“Obviously we shoot enough free throws, we just need to focus and get the right girls on the line and have them knock it down.”
Hilltop shot 42 percent for the game on 38 tries from the floor, including 5/7 in the fourth quarter. The Cadets also hit 6/10 from the foul line in the final period as Edgerton was forced to foul late.
Edgerton was just 12/50 from the floor. Farnham led all scorers with 17 while Everetts tacked on 11. Baker led the balanced Cadet attack with 15, 10 of those coming in the fourth quarter, and Dickinson added 12.
Hilltop will play at Elida High School on Tuesday night, against highly touted Ottoville, who dispatched Pandora-Gilboa 73-32 in their district final win.
EDGERTON (36) – Huard 1; Farnham 17; Swank 5; Keppeler 2; Everetts 11; Totals: 9-3-9 – 36
HILLTOP (48) – Dickinson 12; Routt 3; Baker 15; Higgins 0; Smith 0; VanArsdalen 7; Bailey 5; Connolly 0; Crossgrove 3; Totals: 11-5-11 – 48
EHS 7 7 9 13 – 36
HHS 8 9 14 17 – 48