DAYTON, Ohio — Winton Woods beat Anthony Wayne 70-55 in the OHSAA Division II girls’ basketball state championship game at UD Arena on Friday and finished its season a perfect 27-0.
The Warriors (27-0) took advantage of winning their first regional championship in school history and went the distance becoming the 47th team in OHSAA girls basketball history to win the state championship while undefeated. The most recent team to do it was New Madison Tri-Village in 2023 and the previous Division II program to do it was Kettering Archbishop Alter in 2015.
“I’m a girl dad, and these kids are like my own kids, so to see them get that kind of attention — and we fight for it,” Winton Woods head coach Carlton Gray said. “We fight to be relevant. We fight to be heard, and just to see all of that support out there that paid off like this today, it’s indescribable right now.”
Both teams shot over 48% from the field in the first half though Winton Woods led for all but 22 seconds and held a 37-33 advantage. Anthony Wayne’s Elise Bender, who was runner-up to Cincinnati Purcell Marian’s Dee Alexander for Ohio Ms. Basketball, made a 3-pointer to flip the score 17-16 in favor of the Lady Generals (24-3) but Strawberry Blankumsee scored a 3-pointer in transition to give the Warriors the lead for good.
“There were a lot of things that we didn’t do well in the first half, especially defensively, and it was a little bit bothersome early but we were making enough plays to stay in front,” Gray said.
“And going into halftime, being up four points, we just said we just need to try to focus on separating (the) first three or four minutes of the third quarter, and, once again, the girls just kept pushing through making enough plays.”
Anthony Wayne’s comeback bid fell short in the second half. Bender made a layup to bring the score to 40-37 with 5:16 left in the third quarter, but Winton Woods went on an 8-0 run and stretched its lead to 11 behind contributions from Daniah Trammell, Blankumsee and Whitley Davis.
Winton Woods forced 19 turnovers and scored 26 points after them. Led by 28 points on 7-for-11 shooting from Blankumsee, the Warriors shot 50% and saw Trammell tally 17 points, Davis add 11 and Niyala Harmon record 10.
“I’m just proud for my teammates, especially Berry for stepping up and taking a big role in this win on the biggest game of our season so far,” Trammell said.Bender led Anthony Wayne with 26 points before fouling out with 14 seconds remaining. Leah Pike contributed 14 points and twin sister Brooke Bender scored 10.
“I’m proud of the kids,” Anthony Wayne head coach Jami Carter said. “It didn’t turn out the way that we had hoped, but it doesn’t take away from their effort. And what can you say? It wasn’t our night.”
Here are photos from all winners and runners up this weekend:
