ASHLAND – The Ashland girls basketball team was in search of its first tournament win in five seasons Saturday at Arrow Arena and even had a lead late in the third quarter.
But visiting Wapakoneta, a No. 13 seed which knocked off 12th-seeded Springfield in the first round, held off the 10th-seeded Arrows in their Division I matchup, 55-47.
It was a rough landing but a big turnaround season for Ashland (9-14), which started four underclassmen and had hopes of winning its first sectional crown since 2013.
“I know a lot of times, with a long season and getting into a little bit of nicer weather, that changes some girls’ outlooks and they’re ready for their spring sports,” fourth-year Arrows head coach Renee Holt said.
“It seemed like everybody still wanted to be there and wanted to move onto the next round, so it was a tough loss, especially on our home floor.”
Perhaps the most crucial advantage on the day for Wapakoneta (12-12) was from the perimeter, where it hit seven 3-pointers and held AHS to just one – a 21-3 scoring difference.
The visitors got five of those treys and 35 of their 55 total points from guards Elisabeth Good (game-high 19 points) and Audrey Welsch (16 points).
Holt said Wapakoneta had solid post players who did a good job of loading up the paint and limiting top scoring threats Kennedy Lacey (11 points) and Camryn Cox (7 points).
“Our outside shooters, it was just a cold night for us,” Holt said. “For us to only hit one 3, that’s not usual. We couldn’t really get into our groove.”
Madison Hoffman led AHS with 12 points, surpassing 200 points for the season as a sophomore.
Ashland trailed just 40-37 entering the fourth quarter but was outscored 15-10 in the final 8 minutes.
Plenty of the game was spent at the free-throw line. Holt said her team’s 20-for-27 effort at the stripe was one of its best performances of the season, while Wapakoneta was 16-for-29.
Lacey, a starting freshman who entered the day averaging 16.0 points, 7.3 rebounds and 2.1 steals per game, finished her season with 362 total points – easily the most for the Arrows since Alyssa Steury had 446 in 2018-19.
It’s a scoring pace that puts Lacey on a path to potentially become the program’s all-time leading scorer (Kylie Radebaugh is the current career leader with 1,150).
“For her being a freshman and putting up numbers like that, the one word I would give her is just consistency,” Holt said of Lacey. “She’s coming out and going 100 percent every day in games, practices, sprints, drills. It’s cool that she’s on my team.”
Expectations will certainly be bigger next season. Ashland was 9-6 for a 15-game stretch this winter, representing the most wins the team has had in a season since 2017-18. The Arrows had been 11-52 in the previous three seasons combined, but finished in third place in the Ohio Cardinal Conference – tied for their best league finish since 1995.
“I’m excited for the future and I think they are, too,” Holt said. “They know this offseason is huge for us to take that next step.
“In the locker room after the game we talked about (being) at that mountain – we were at the bottom the past three years and we’re starting to climb up that steepest part. The toughest part is getting over that edge.”
Saturday’s game also was the last for Ashland seniors Alex Huckleberry (7 points) and Gabby Carver.
“I’m proud of their leadership, their voice, their heart for the game,” Holt said. “I’m just proud they believed in me and stuck with me for my first four years of coaching.”
Photos below were provided by Dillon Carr.
