MCDONALD STATE TITLE RUN COMES UP SHORT

DAYTON, OH – The day everyone in the McDonald family has dreamt of for years is finally here! Head coach Tony Matisi, assistant coaches Mike Kollar and Sara Joseph, and the entire Lady Blue Devils basketball team has worked hard for countless hours all year for this moment. The Lady Blue Devils took the floor at 10:45am on Saturday morning against the #1 AP ranked, Fort Loramie Redskins in the division four state championship game.

From the opening tip Fort Loramie jumped out quick on the Lady Blue Devils as they went up 17-2 at the end of the first as they turned McDonald over 8 times in the quarter. Molly Howard was able to connect for McDonald’s basket as Ava Sholtis and Dana Rose both had 4 points in the quarter for Fort Loramie.

The second quarter saw Fort Loramie turn up their fast break as they were able to get out and run the floor on McDonald as they increased their lead to 30-12. The Lady Blue Devils however saw some of their shots begin to fall which was able to give them some confidence and optimism going into the halftime break. Fort Loramie shot. 61% form the field and 66.9% from three in the first half. McDonald shot 35.7% from the field, 0% from beyond the arc, and 66.7% from the free throw line. Fort Loramie led the turnover battle in the first half as they forced 11 turnovers compared to McDonald forcing 5.

Fort Loramie was led by Dana Rose with 9 points and Ava Sholtis with 6 points and 4 rebounds. The McDonald Lady Blue Devils scoring was broken up by Molly Howard with 4 points, Taylor Tuchek with 4 points, Maddy Howard with 2 points, and Sophia Costantino with 2 points and 2 rebounds.

Coming out of the halftime intermission, McDonald gave it everything they had but unfortunately, Fort Loramie was just too strong on both sides of the floor. The Redskins picked up the intensity as they went on to win the quarter 19-9 en route to a 28 point lead at the end of the third quarter. At the end of the third quarter, Fort Loramie was shooting 64% from the field and 80% from three, whereas, McDonald was shooting 31% from the field. Taylor Tuchek led the Lady Blue Devils in scoring with 9 points. Fort Loramie was led by Dana Rose with 12 points and Kenzie Hoelscher with 10 points.

The final quarter saw the Lady Blue Devils fight until the final horn sounded as they never gave up and pieced a little run of they own together before ultimately falling 60-26 to the Fort Loramie Redskins.

The McDonald Lady Blue Devils were led by Molly Howard with 10 points and 4 rebounds. Taylor Tuchek added 9 points and 2 rebounds, Maddy Howard ended up having 4 points, and Sophia Costantino finished the game with 2 points.

Fort Loramie was led by Dana Rose with 13 points and Kenzie Hoelscher with 12 points.

The McDonald Lady Blue Devils finished the season at 24-3 as Division 4 State Runners Up!