DAYTON, Ohio — Alivia Grothause and Katie Kaufman had 10 points apiece and Ottawa-Glandorf fought off Portsmouth 47-40 in the OHSAA Division IV girls’ basketball state semifinal at UD Arena on Thursday.
Ottawa-Glandorf (26-2) led by as many as 13 points in the fourth quarter but Portsmouth drew within five after Keke Woods made a pair of free throws with 2:49 left to play.
The Lady Titans strung together a 5-0 run after Grothause and Kaufman made layups to extend their lead to 41-32 with 1:50 left.
Both teams traded transition layups before Portsmouth’s Sienna Allen dropped in a 3, bringing the game to 44-37. After a Trojans (22-6) timeout, Karsyn Erford swished free throws extending Ottawa-Glandorf’s lead back to nine with less than a minute remaining.
Allen made one more 3-pointer to make the game 46-40, but it was as close as the Trojans would get. Portsmouth went 0-of-2 in the final 24 seconds and the Lady Titans sealed the win.
“I just think the girls played a great game,” Ottawa-Glandorf head coach Troy Yant said. “Defensively, they were locked in. We got the points when we needed them. I think maybe Kaitlyn Kimmet’s three early in the game really kind of maybe opened things up for us not so much because we really piled on the points, but playing down here, it’s always a big moment.”
Grothause shot a team-best 66% from the field while Kaufman added 14 rebounds to secure her double-double. Ottawa-Glandorf shot 39% and went 12-of-19 at the free throw line. The Lady Titans scored 30 points in the paint.
“I think our offense is something that comes naturally,” Kaufman said. “When we get going, it just goes into place. We see open people and I think that we have a trust with everyone that when someone gets the ball, we trust them to either go to the rim and score or get it to someone who can.”
Allen led the Trojans with 12 points while Daysha Reid followed with 10 points. Portsmouth was out-rebounded 39-23 and called for 20 fouls versus nine from Ottawa-Glandorf.
“The girls have put in a lot of hard work and the community has really supported them,” Portsmouth head coach Amy Hughes said. “I think the whole town was here and the girls have worked really hard and they’ve really earned all they’ve brought to the community. They’ve earned all the support they’ve received this season.”
Ottawa-Glandorf will face Columbus Africentric Early College (27-2) in the Division III final on Saturday at 2 p.m.