Waterford starts on a 9-0 run and finishes even stronger to beat New Knoxville for the Division IV state title

By Ryan Isley | Photos by Ben Jackson

DAYTON, Ohio — Start strong, finish even stronger.

That’s what led Waterford (26-3) to its first state title since 2016 as the Wildcats defeated New Knoxville 35-26 for the OHSAA Division IV girls basketball state championship.

The Wildcats played a nearly perfect fourth quarter, limiting New Knoxville to just two field goals after the Rangers hit their first shot of the quarter to cut the Waterford lead to 21-20.

Less than a minute later, senior Mackenzie Suprano answered when she drained a 3-pointer, her second of the game. But she didn’t even think it was going in, as she thought she left it well short.

“The first thought that went through my head was I thought I air-balled it,” Suprano said. “Then it went in. It pushed our lead out to four and so it was kind of a nice little cushion, but we had to keep attacking.”

Avery Wagner did just that, converting on a layup on the next possession. After a free throw by New Knoxville, senior Lilly Franchino hit a 3-pointer to make it an eight-point game with 4:57 left, and the momentum was clearly back with the Wildcats.

“I thought the girls made the right play at the right time, and when they got close, we hit a shot,” Waterford coach Jerry Close said. “That’s what good teams do.”

Waterford made five of its eight shot attempts in the fourth quarter, including two of its four 3-point attempts.

“Once we started hitting our shots, we got a few fast breaks down the court,” senior guard Cara Taylor said. “You could feel the momentum go to us, to our crowd and on the bench.”

Meanwhile, New Knoxville went almost six minutes scoring only three points.

During that final quarter, Close kept telling his girls what they had to do and for how long they had to do it to become state champs.

“I kept reminding them of how hard they had worked all season long and how much time was left of their season,” Close said. “What they had to do and how much time they had to continue to fight to win.”

As well as the defense played in the fourth quarter, it was even better to start the game. The Wildcats held New Knoxville scoreless and had a 9-0 lead after one quarter.

“I think we got off to a decent start, obviously, with the 9-0 run,” Close said. “Defensively, that’s what we expect.”

Freshman Kendall Sury led the Wildcats with eight points, while Taylor had seven and Franchino and Suprano chipped in with six each.

After losing in the state semifinals a year ago, the feeling going into this game was one the Wildcats had not felt before because they knew their season was over when the final horn sounded, win or lose.

“Before the game, it was kind of different,” Suprano said. “We have never had the feeling of this is the last game because we can’t advance any farther.”

More than a half-hour after receiving their state championship trophy, the feeling still hadn’t hit the Waterford players that they were making the three-hour bus ride home as state champions.

“It definitely hasn’t sunk in yet,” Suprano said.

But the Wildcats have plenty of time to let it sink in and celebrate.

“Cara already said we’re pulling an all-nighter,” Suprano said.

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