Marysville knocks off Westerville South 46-38 to advance to OHSAA Division I regional final

WESTERVILLE, Ohio – Ava Wilkerson is grateful that she has the opportunity to continue playing basketball at Baldwin Wallace University later this year.

However, instead of getting distracted by looking ahead at her future destination, the Marysville senior guard has done everything within her power to extend her high school career as long as possible.

Wilkerson continued that trend on Tuesday, when she scored a team-high 12 points and played inspired defense to lead the Monarchs to a 46-38 win over Westerville South in a Division I regional semifinal at Westerville North.

Marysville (25-2) will face Pickerington Central (23-4) in the final 7 p.m. Friday at Otterbein University.

“Our team is so connected and we are like family, so I put it all on the line every game because I don’t want our season to end in any other way than a state championship,” said Wilkerson, whose team is making its regional tournament debut.

Wilkerson helped her squad take another big step toward that ultimate goal by playing stellar one-on-one defense against South senior point guard Tamara Ortiz the majority of the game.

Ortiz scored just 10 points on 4-for-12 shooting from the field with Wilkerson harassing her at every turn.

“I’m happy to guard the other team’s best guard, because I really enjoy playing defense,” Wilkerson said.

After opening the game’s scoring with a 3-pointer, Wilkerson made three consecutive 3-pointers in the second quarter to help Marysville race out to a 22-4 lead with 4:45 remaining before halftime.

“It was really important that we have a fast start against this team, because they are very explosive and we knew we needed to set the tone early, so we would have some wiggle room when they made a run,” Wilkerson said. “Usually, I’m able to make a few (3-pointers) in a row before teams guard me tighter, so I wanted to make those early ones count.”

Leah Brown also scored five of her seven points in the first half, as the Monarchs cruised to a 25-9 halftime advantage.

“Ava can knock down shots, so we want her to be aggressive when she has a good look,” Marysville coach Klarke Ransome said. “Those 3-pointers really settled us in and got our crowd into it.”

Ava Krutowskis made two 3-pointers and was 3-for-3 from the field while scoring all eight of her points in the third quarter, to help Marysville grab a 39-23 advantage at the end of three quarters.

“Ava (Wilkerson) is a great shooter and she was on fire, so we got her the ball a lot early,” Krutowskis said. “I was able to knock down some big shots in the third quarter, so I just did it for my teammates.

“We’re so deep and our bench is great, so it really could have been anyone. I was open and I just made my shots.”

JoJo Eberhart handled the ball well throughout the game and scored six of her 11 points in the second half, including converting a 3-point play to put Marysville ahead 42-27 with 5:48 remaining in the game.

After South cut its deficit to six points, Addy Tweed made two foul shots with 1:08 left and Brown made two free throws with 45 seconds remaining to extend Marysville’s lead to 46-36 and snuff out the Wildcats’ comeback hopes.

Cam Lee also scored six points for the Monarchs.

“Ava Krutowskis made some huge shots in the third quarter right when they were creeping back into it,” Ransome said. “We made so many people contribute, and that’s the strength of our team.”

Playing without freshman guard Arianna Cradle, who was averaging 15 points before injuring a knee earlier in the tournament, South struggled to get good looks at the basket in the first half.

“It’s tough to lose someone like (Cradle) this late in the season, because we didn’t have much time to adjust to playing without her,” said fourth-year South coach Jermaine Guice, whose squad finished 24-3 overall. “We talked about no open looks (for Wilkerson) but she got loose early and made us pay. You can’t spot a team like that 16 points, because they’re so well-coached and disciplined.”

After Lelia Jones scored all eight of her points and Ortiz also had eight points in the first three quarters to give South a glimmer of hope, the Wildcats opened the fourth quarter on a 13-3 run to cut their deficit to six points.

Point guard Zoe Guice sparked South’s comeback by scoring eight unanswered points on her own, before Deziah Dupree made a free throw to cut the Monarchs’ lead down to 42-36 with 1:48 left.

Guice scored 10 of her team-high 12 points in the fourth quarter, while Nelia Guice had five points and Dupree finished with three points.

South forced six turnovers in the fourth quarter, while giving away the ball only once themselves.

“My girls competed hard and got back in the game late,” coach Guice said. “We kept fighting, so I’m proud of them.”

Photo Gallery (photos by Gabe Haferman)