Oak Hill vs. Versailles...State Semi-Final

[Keyser_sozeThrice]

Posting this from the home office. Hope it comes out okay. Enjoy.

One more to go!

Oaks overcome odds, Tigers to advance to state final

By PAUL BOGGS
Sports Editor

COLUMBUS — To be the state champion, you have to beat the state champion.

The Oak Hill Lady Oaks did just that on Thursday night in the Division III girls basketball state tournament.

Trailing by five points apiece at the end of the first and third quarters, the Lady Oaks staged not one but two tremendous rallies to dethrone defending state champion Versailles 47-43 at Value City Arena in Columbus.

By limiting Versailles to nine points apiece in the second and fourth quarters, and by scoring at least 16 points themselves, the Lady Oaks overcame a lot of odds to advance to the Division III state championship game on Saturday.

With the win on Thursday night, the Lady Oaks raised their stellar record to 25-1, and tied the school record for most wins in a single season.

The Lady Oaks also amassed 25 victories five years ago, which just happened to be the same season in which they not only appeared in their only other state tournament, but also advanced to the state championship tilt.

And, you guessed it.

The Lady Oaks played for the state championship once again on Saturday, when they faced undefeated South Euclid Regina at 2 p.m. in Value City Arena.

The Regina Royals, with a perfect 26-0 record and ranked second in the final Division III Associated Press statewide poll, were playing for their sixth state championship with the first five occurring and including the year 2000.

So the Lady Oaks had a chance to knock off another state powerhouse on Saturday.

But first, they had to defeat the defending state champion on Thursday.

Versailles, which was making its third straight state appearance, featured a bevy of Final Four experience against the Lady Oaks’ unbelievable youth.

Oak Hill’s top eight players consist of three juniors, three freshmen and two sophomores, all of which were not even in junior high when the Lady Oaks last appeared in the state tournament.

But the Tigers’ advantages in experience and height didn’t faze the Lady Oaks, which overcame a pair of five-point deficits by outscoring Versailles by at least seven points in the final period of each half.

“We really didn’t speak about those things (Tigers’ experience level and height),” said Oak Hill head coach Doug Hale. “And even though we are young, we’ve never looked at it like that. We’ve never addressed it like we play three freshmen, two sophomores and three juniors. We just said that Versailles was the defending state champions and we wanted to come out and really represent Oak Hill. We just never got tight all week. We haven’t been tight throughout the tournament. And we prepared all week like we would win tonight. We had three great practices before we came up here. We needed to be loose and we needed to be confident. That’s the way we’ve handled ourselves all year. Just hammer it out. Whatever we’ve needed to do, we’ve done.”

Oak Hill did just that in the fourth quarter Thursday night.

The Lady Oaks entered the canto trailing 34-29, then regained the lead with a 6-1 run over the first 2:54.

In a game which featured eight ties and 13 total lead changes, the Lady Oaks regained the lead on a three-point play by Rebecca Puckett, which made it 39-37 with four minutes remaining.

It was a lead which they did not relinquish.

With two minutes to play, the Tigers tied the tilt at 41-41 on a pair of free throws by Olivia Leitte.

But little did the 5,326 in attendance at the Schottenstein Center know that Versailles had scored its final points of the game which mattered.

The Lady Oaks, finally at the friendly confines of the free-throw line, put the game away and extended their lead to largest of the night at 47-41 with 22 seconds remaining.

A pair of one-and-one free throws by freshmen Lakin Caudill and Taylor Hale, and a pair by sophomore Mikie Strite, secured a two-possession game which forced the Tigers to rally from deep.

But they couldn’t, as Karen Smith scored a meaningless basket for Versailles with a second-and-a-half to go.

With that, the Lady Oaks made it 2-for-2 in Division III state semifinals, five seasons after smothering Smithville 70-50.

Thursday night’s semifinal, though, wasn’t as easy as that one.

In the game against Smithville — on March 18, 2004 — the Lady Oaks exploded for 30 points in the first period, setting a new Division III state semifinal record for the most points scored by one team in a single quarter.

Interesting enough, Versailles set the new record of 33 last season, and in the semifinal against Regina.

On Thursday night, the Lady Oaks nearly set a new record on the other end of the spectrum — the fewest points in a period.

Oak Hill had just three points in the first, shooting just 1-of-10 from the field and 1-of-4 from the free-throw line.

Puckett, with the field goal just 36 seconds in and the free throw with 36 seconds remaining, were the only Oak Hill points.

Oak Hill trailed 8-3 after the first, as Puckett said it was simply a matter of making shots.

“We couldn’t get a shot to fall in the beginning,” she said. “But they were playing tough defense and they were so physical. Every time I went through the lane, they were shoving me and I had to keep my balance. They had a body on us every time we went up to shoot. We just had to find the shooter when we went inside to make the pass.”

That shooter that did it was the Butler — as in freshman shooting guard Breanna Butler.

“Breanna was feeling it, so we got it out to her,” said Puckett.

Indeed.

Butler bagged a team-high 18 points, drilling three deuces and four treys, including all three twos in the second.

But her first three was easily her biggest shot.

Butler buried a triple with time winding down in the first half, giving the Lady Oaks a 19-17 halftime advantage.

“We practice that play every day,” said Butler of the buzzer-beater. “I was ready for the pass from Mikie (Strite), which was a great pass. It fired us up for the second half.”

Her second three broke a 21-21 tie in the third, as her fourth gave the Lady Oaks the lead again at 27-25.

Her fourth and final trifecta, at the 5:57 mark of the fourth, inched the Oaks to within one at 35-34.

“We knew we had to come out in the second half and hit some shots,” said Butler. “We didn’t have a very good first half. We were ready.”

Matching Butler bomb-for-bomb was Versailles senior Emily Frey, who poured in a team-high 20 points on four field goals and 9-of-10 free throws.

Frey’s first three broke a 12-12 tie, as her two threes in the third put the Lady Tigers ahead at 20-19 and 28-27.

Versailles also got some help from the foul line, attempting 23 free throws in the game and making 18, compared to just 12 total attempts for the Oaks.

The greatest benefit was in the third frame, when Versailles shot 11 foul shots and sank seven, while Oak Hill was whistled for nine of its dozen second-half fouls.

Hale said the poor first-period shooting, and the heavy third-quarter fouling, were just two of the many obstacles his team had to overcome.

The smaller Lady Oaks were also outrebounded 34-22.

And, despite a game-high six assists, the Lady Oaks’ leading scorer — Karissa Adkins at 14.2 points per game — scored just three points on a three-ball which gave the Lady Oaks their first lead at 10-8.

“I just challenged the kids,” Hale said simply. “We’ve been in tough spots throughout games all season. If we can overcome those, we can overcome things in this game too. We knew Versailles was a tough defensive team, but alot of it for us was a matter of finishing. Not just making shots, but finishing in the transition game. We would get a couple of steals, but didn’t make the right pass or missed the running layup. We came out and were 1-of-10 in the first quarter tonight, but it’s just something you battle through and we did that.”

The Tigers, on a basket by Frey, an old-fashioned three-point play by Smith and an end-of-the-quarter free throw by Megan Campbell, staked a 34-29 advantage heading into the fourth.

But that lead did not last, like so many for both teams in the first three quarters.

After Butler’s fourth three, Strite drove the lane for a 36-35 lead, then cut the lane again for a 41-37 cushion with three minutes remaining.

Following the go-ahead free throws by Caudill, with 1:09 to play, Strite stole the ball from Susan Berger before Hale hit her free throws followed by the pair form Strite.

Strite — who added a field goal in the third quarter — scored eight points along with Puckett, as both made three field goals and 2-of-2 free throws.

“In the fourth quarter, we finally got to the free-throw line and made them,” said Coach Hale.

Strite stole the ball a game-high five times, and dished out five assists.

Coach Hale praised the play of his sophomore point guard.

“Mikie took the ball to the rim a few times, which is something we’ve been asking her to do all year,” he said. “She got to the rim, and had some nice finishes. She showed super confidence.”

Hale’s daughter, Taylor, joined her sister Whitney in winning a state semifinal as a member of the Lady Oaks.

Whitney Hale was a standout senior center on the 2004 Oak Hill team.

Taylor Hale and Caudill, in their first of what could be as many as eight state tournament tilts, scored four and six points respectively.

Hale had a third-quarter field goal, and Caudill canned two field goals in the second quarter which cut the Oaks’ deficit to one both times (8-7 and 15-14).

Hale and Puckett tied for a team-high in rebounds with five.

The Lady Oaks held a 17-11 advantage in total field goals, a nine-percent shooting edge (39.5-30.6), and turned the ball over just 16 times compared to 26 for the Tigers.

In fact, the 17 first-half turnovers — and the five in the fourth — were a big reason why Versailles suffered a defeat.

Under constant pressure from the Lady Oaks’ full-court press, the Tigers endured a first-half scoring drought of exactly 6:50.

“When people think of us, they think of the press,” said Puckett. “We just did what we had to do to force turnovers, especially with the way our shots weren’t falling early.”

Only five players scored for Versailles, including three Tigers with four, which consisted of Campbell, Liette, and Emily Eilermore.

Smith followed Frey in double figures, scoring three field goals and 5-of-5 field goals for 11 markers.

Smith, from the point guard spot, nearly notched a double-double with nine rebounds, as she also collected two assists and made off with four steals.

The Lady Oaks, which averaged 68 points per game in the regular season, won just their third game of the year by scoring 49 or fewer points.

However, it was their biggest win of the season to date, and on the biggest stage.

* * *

Versailles 8 9 17 9 — 43

Oak Hill 3 16 10 18 — 47

VERSAILLES 43 (18-9)

Karen Smith 3 5-5 11, Laura Schlater 0 0-0 0, Susan Berger 0 0-0 0, Olivia Liette 1 2-2 4, Emily Frey 4 9-10 20, Emily Eilermore 2 0-0 4, Tara Winner 0 0-0 0, Bethany Ahrens 0 0-0 0, Megan Campbell 1 2-6 4; TOTALS 11 18-23 43; Three-point goals: 3 (Emily Frey 3)

OAK HILL 75 (23-1)

Kelsey Burton 0 0-0 0, Taylor Hale 1 2-2 4, Breanna Butler 7 0-1 18, Taylor Butler 0 0-0 0, Rebecca Puckett 3 2-3 8, Mikie Strite 3 2-2 8, Karissa Adkins 1 0-0 3, Lakin Caudill 2 2-4 6; TOTALS 17 8-12 47; Three-point goals: 5 (Breanna Butler 4, Karissa Adkins 1)

TEAM STATISTICS/INDIVIDUAL LEADERS

Field goals — Versailles 11-36 (.306), 3-point 3-7 (.429); Oak Hill 17-43 (.395), 3-point 5-15 (.333); Free throws — Versailles 18-23 (.783), Oak Hill 8-12 (.750); Rebounds — Versailles 34 (Karen Smith 9), Oak Hill 22 (Taylor Hale and Rebecca Puckett 5); Assists — Versailles 3 (Karen Smith 2), Oak Hill 12 (Karissa Adkins 6, Mikie Strite 5); Steals — Versailles 9 (Karen Smith 4), Oak Hill 13 (Mikie Strite 5); Blocks — Versailles 1, Oak Hill 0; Turnovers —Versailles 26, Oak Hill 16; Team fouls — Versailles 13, Oak Hill 20

sports@timesjournal.com

[fbbacker]

Good luck Oaks. Bring it home for Oak Hill, Jackson County, the SOC and Southern Ohio!!!

[yabbadabbadoo]

Good luck Lady Oaks tomorrow against the University of Euclid Regina. Oops, did I just say that?


Looks like Oak Hill is going to be loaded. Lot of young players on the team that really stepped up last night. Was able to watch the game live on the net and really enjoyed it. Was a really entertaining game. Was no clear winner until about 20 seconds to go.

[ohbuckeye2]

If you missed the game you can go to http://www.ohiohssports.com
and watch it, it is archived. You can watch Reginas game also.

[kcarth305]

Good luck to the Oak Hill Lady Oaks against Regina in the State Championship!!! Way to pull out the win against Versailles, you've made all of SEO proud of you.

[kcarth305]

Good luck to the Oak Hill Lady Oaks against Regina in the State Championship!!! Way to pull out the win against Versailles, you've made all of SEO proud.

[The Exciting One]

Very Exciting!

[CINCY OAK FAN]

Had a little down time last night and re-watched the game on OHSSA and I am truly amazed at the play of the Oak Hill team considering their youth. The freshman were the biggest surprise but what a game they played.

Congrats to all the girls. Hope next year is your year to win the state. You can do it with team work and perserverance.