LOUDONVILLE — She was runner-up in Ohio Ms. Basketball voting, but the award Corri Vermilya most covets won’t be handed out until Saturday afternoon.
Vermilya, Loudonville’s record-setting senior, finished second in Ohio’s Ms. Basketball balloting as decided by members of the Ohio Prep Sportswriters Association. That distinction comes on the heels of leading the Redbirds to the second regional championship in program history, and first since 1992.
Loudonville (26-2) will play Waterford (23-3) in a Division IV state semifinal game at 11 a.m. Thursday at the University of Dayton Arena. A win would send the Redbirds into Saturday’s state championship game against either Fort Loramie (26-2) or Convoy Crestview (26-2). Those teams meet in the second Division IV semifinal game at 1 p.m. Thursday.
A 5-foot-9 swing player, Vermilya will go down as one of the most versatile players in state history. She ranks 10th in career scoring (2,394 points), 13th in rebounding (1,242) and seventh in steals (548). What’s more, Loudonville is 89-15 during her four-year varsity career.
This is the second straight year Vermilya was a finalist for the state’s highest individual honor. She finished third in Ms. Basketball voting last year.
Cincinnati Purcell Marian junior Dee Alexander was selected Ohio’s Ms. Basketball for a second straight year. Alexander is the seventh player to win the award at least twice and could join Canton McKinley’s Kiersten Bell (2017-2019) as the only three-time winner next year.
Pickerington Central senior Berry Wallace finished third. Shaker Heights Laurel sophomore Saniyah Hall finished fourth.
Ms. Basketball has been awarded since 1988.
Past Ohio Ms. Basketball winners
2024 – Dee Alexander, Cincinnati Purcell Marian, junior
2023 – Dee Alexander, Cincinnati Purcell Marian, sophomore
2022 – KK Bransford, Cincinnati Mount Notre Dame, senior
2021 – KK Bransford, Cincinnati Mount Notre Dame, junior
2020 – Madeline Westbeld, Kettering Fairmont, senior
2019 – Kierstan Bell, Canton McKinley, senior
2018 – Kierstan Bell, Canton McKinley, junior
2017 – Kierstan Bell, Canton McKinley, sophomore
2016 – Jensen Caretti, Hannibal River, senior
2015 – Hallie Thome, Chagrin Falls, senior
2014 – Kelsey Mitchell, Cin. Princeton, senior
2013 – Ashley Morrissette, Twinsburg, senior
2012 – Ameryst Alston, Canton McKinley, senior
2011 – Ameryst Alston, Canton McKinley, junior
2010 – Natasha Howard, Tol. Waite, senior
2009 – Kendall Hackney, Cin. Mount Notre Dame, senior
2008 – Amber Gray, West Chester Lakota West, senior
2007 – Jantel Lavender, Cleveland Central Catholic, senior
2006 – Tyra Grant, Youngstown Ursuline, senior
2005 – Maria Getty, Dayton Chaminade-Julienne, senior
2004 – Mel Thomas, Cincinnati Mount Notre Dame, senior
2003 – Brittany Hunter, Columbus Brookhaven, senior
2002 – Barbara Turner, Cleveland East Tech, senior
2001 – Michelle Munoz, Mason, senior
2000 – Michelle Munoz, Mason, junior
1999 – (TIE) Kaayla Chones, Eastlake North, senior; LaToya Turner, Pickerington, senior
1998 – Tamika Williams, Dayton Chaminade-Julienne, senior
1997 – Semeka Randall, Garfield Hts. Trinity, senior
1996 – Semeka Randall, Garfield Hts. Trinity, junior
1995 – Beth Ostendorf, Pickerington, senior
1994 – Na’Sheema Hillmon, Garfield Hts. Trinity, senior
1993 – Marlene Stollings, Beaver Eastern, senior
1992 – Katie Smith, Logan, senior
1991 – Vonda Ward, Garfield Hts. Trinity, senior
1990 – Vonda Ward, Garfield Hts. Trinity, junior
1989 – Carol Madsen, Reading, senior
1988 – Janet Haneberg, Cincinnati Seton, senior
Notable
- Three-time winner: Kierstan Bell, Canton McKinley (2017, 2018, 2019)
- Won as junior (7): Vonda Ward, Garfield Heights. Trinity (1990, 1991); Semeka Randall, Garfield Heights Trinity (1996, 1997); Michelle Munoz, Mason (2000, 2001), Ameryst Alston, Canton McKinley (2011, 2012), Kierstan Bell, Canton McKinley (2017, 2018, 2019), KK Bransford, Cincinnati Mount Notre Dame (2021), Dee Alexander, Cincinnati Purcell Maria (2024).
- Won as sophomore (2): Kierstan Bell, Canton McKinley (2017); Dee Alexander, Cincinnati Purcell Marian (2023)
- Co-winners (1): 1999 – Kaayla Chones, Eastlake North and LaToya Turner, Pickerington