What a magical season for area teams, individuals
Lancaster Eagle Gazette
What a season! Individual state titles, district championships, 1,000-point scorers and records broken were all part of what took place in the last month of the winter high school sports season.
The success area teams and individuals had over the course of the last four weeks is the best I've seen in a long time and I was lucky to have a front row seat for all of it. There are so many great stories to tell and I was trying to figure out which one stuck out the most to me.
Again, they were some incredible accomplishments, so it wasn't easy, but the performance that Amanda-junior Alyssa Evans put on during a district semifinal game against No. 2-seeded Cardington, was nothing short of amazing.
The Aces were huge underdogs heading into the game, and the Pirates were on the verge of blowing the game wide open in the third quarter. They led by 16 points with only two minutes left in the third quarter, but Evans basically put the team on her back the rest of the way. She refused to go down without a fight.
Evans scored the final eight points of the third quarter to get the Aces within striking distance, and Amanda-Clearcreek kept chipping away in the fourth quarter. Down by a point, Evans was fouled with 13 seconds remaining and her two free throws gave the Aces the lead. After Cardington missed two shots, it was over. The Aces, behind Evans' career-high 35 points, including seven 3-pointers and three assists, had pulled off the upset.
Amanda-Clearcreek would go on to defeat Pleasant to win a Division III district title, the school's first since 2009. They lost a heartbreaker in the regional semifinal with Evans scoring 20 of the team's 30 points. The Aces should be in the thick of things again next season with Evans returning, as well as Courtney Young, who scored a career-high 19 points in the district final win.
Evans' performance against Cardington, and the whole season, for that matter, is one of the best I have seen in my 20-plus years as a sports writer. She had a magical season, scoring 576 points, which is the most in a single season in school history. She also topped 1,000 career points late in the year.
Again, there were some great accomplishments by area athletes and teams, but what Evans did on that Tuesday night at Gahanna High School, was magical and something I will always remember.
It was a banner year in girls' basketball in Fairfield County. Not only did the Aces win a district title, but Bloom-Carroll knocked off to-seeded London in the first game of the tournament, and the Bulldogs carried that momentum all the way to their first-ever district championship. They were led by second-team All-Ohio selection Chloe Davis, a junior, who has improved each year. With four starters returning, including Makenzee Mason, Nikki Bradford and Maddy Wyant, look for Bloom-Carroll to make some noise again next season.
Fairfield Christian Academy had another outstanding season by winning their third consecutive district title, as well as going undefeated in the Mid-State League-Cardinal Division for the third straight season. Led by first team All-Ohio guard Celeste Mershimer, FCA took the N0. 1-ranked team in the state, Waterford, to the brink before losing 47-42 in the regional final. With four starters returning, including Hope Custer, Sophia Sterling and Janae Grabans, the Knights will be one of the favorites to reach the state tournament in Division IV next season.
Berne Union, led by freshman Bella Kline, who was named second team All-Ohio, won 21 games and reached the district final for the first time since 1990.
Lancaster won a pair of tournament games and reached the Division I district semifinal. The Lady Gales won 14 games and hosted a tournament game for the first time, and they also won their first tournament game since 2007.
When talking boys' area teams, I have to start with Fairfield Christian. The Knights were an afterthought when the tournament began. With only eight wins, the Knights got hot at the right time, knocking to-seeded Fisher Catholic in a district semifinal and Tree of Life in the final to reach the Sweet 16.
Fairfield Union reached the district final for the third consecutive year, as well winning its third straight MSL-Buckeye Division title. The Falcons had to-seeded Fairland on the ropes before falling in overtime in the district final. Bloom-Carroll went into the tournament with a sub .500 record, but the Bulldogs were able to knock off a pair of higher-seeded teams to reach a Division II district final.
There were also two boys' players that scored their 1,000th career point this season, and they were Millersport's Zane Purvis and Fairfield Union's Lucas Thompson. The Falcons' Colin Woodside became Fairfield Union's all-time scoring leader with 1,397 points, breaking Brian Young's 31-year record.
The Lancaster wrestling team won their first-ever Division I district championship, and in the process, sent a school-record seven wrestlers to the state tournament. Sophomore Logan Agin, who placed fourth in the state as a freshman, placed third this year.
Last, but not least, Lancaster senior Olivia Schmelzer, a four-time state-placer, went out in style by winning a state title in the 100 freestyle, and Liberty Union sophomore Logan Lawhorn won her second consecutive state title in the 50 freestyle.
What a magical winter season, one that should be celebrated. I know I won't forget this season because it kept me busy and on the road covering games on a nightly basis for the two-plus weeks and I enjoyed every second of it. Congrats to all the athletes and coaches for giving their communities something to be proud of.
twilson@lancastereaglegazette.com
Twitter: @twil2323