ASHLAND – After absolutely dominating during an explosive 11-0 start, the first half of the regular season kept coming up roses for the Ashland girls basketball team.
But facing a red-hot Waynedale squad Saturday at home to kick off the second half, the Arrows were handed a thorny setback that will test their mettle down the home stretch.
Ashland guard Madison Hoffman suffered a leg injury with 6:07 to play that left the gym in pin-drop silence, and the Arrows couldn’t overcome it, falling 43-42 to the Golden Bears.
Ashland (11-1) saw both its perfect start to the season and its 11-game home win streak come to an end, as Waynedale (12-3) collected its eighth win in a row despite hitting just one shot in the game’s final 6:40.
But much more distressing for AHS was the loss of Hoffman, a senior averaging nearly 16 points per game. Her leg buckled awkwardly before she took a charge with Ashland trailing 40-39 – its first deficit since early in the first quarter.
Hoffman was carried off the floor to the locker room and was on crutches when she returned. It was not immediately known how much time she might miss, but the impact of losing one of the best shooters in program history will loom large.
“It was just a big mood change when she went down – a kid that is just the heart and soul of our team,” Ashland head coach Renee Holt said. “It was tough and you could see that on everyone’s faces.”
“Maddie’s the type of kid that it’s all about the team, every day it’s all team. Even in the fourth quarter she wanted to come back out and get on the bench and get in her teammates’ ears.”
Hoffman, committed to NCAA Division III Mount Union to play both softball and basketball, had six points in the game and is tied for 13th on the program’s all-time scoring list (740 points). She’s also hit the second-most 3-point shots in Arrow history (96).
Ashland managed to make just one of its final seven shots from the field after losing the senior, as the Golden Bears forced multiple late turnovers and improved to 7-0 on the road.
Waynedale didn’t allow AHS to attempt a single shot after star junior Kennedy Lacey banked in a bucket with 1:45 to play for the game’s final points.
“There’s a lot to learn, but that’s a great Wayne County team that just knocked off Norwayne (11-1), so they’re rolling at the right time,” Holt said.
The Golden Bears came roaring into Ashland for the non-conference meeting. On Thursday, they handed the Bobcats (ranked No. 3 in Division V by MaxPreps) their first loss of the year, simultaneously snapping Norwayne’s 23-game regular-season win streak.
Guided by eighth-year head coach Rick Geiser, who formerly led the Crestview and Waynedale boys programs for a combined 12 seasons, the Golden Bears might just be off to the best start to 2026 of any girls team in Ohio.
“Those two wins, in a matter of three days, have to be way, way at the top of my list (of back-to-back wins as a coach),” said Geiser, who has coached over 450 games and led Waynedale to the Final Four in both 2021 and 2022. “Both teams were undefeated, both teams are gonna make deep tournament runs.
“I’m really proud of the girls, they were really resilient today – especially after being down by 13 in the first half (25-12) and seven at halftime (28-21).”
Geiser’s daughter, senior Kylie Geiser, was the catalyst to the win over Ashland. The guard finished with 17 points and 10 rebounds while assisting on all three Waynedale field goals in the tight fourth quarter.
Her back-to-back 3-pointers late in the second quarter might very well have saved the game for the Golden Bears.
Ashland had built a 25-12 lead after a bucket from Lacey with 2:35 to go before the half, at which point WHS had yet to make a 3-pointer.
But Geiser followed with two from the perimeter and junior guard Audrey Troyer (10 points) rattled home another trey just before the buzzer to cut it to 28-21 at intermission.
Those nine points within 90 seconds seemed to give the Golden Bears new life.
“That was a huge swing in momentum because we were really struggling to score,” coach Geiser said. “Their pressure was really good and it made things really hard.”
The Arrows had built their comfy advantage early behind Lacey, who had 13 of her game-high 21 points at the break.
The junior was the big storyline entering Saturday, needing 32 points to become Ashland’s fifth 1,000-point scorer.
Lacey now has 989 and is nearing 450 career rebounds as well after adding seven boards Saturday, but Holt said the All-Ohio forward was frustrated she couldn’t lead the Arrows to a comeback against Waynedale.
“She’ll wear this game heavy on her shoulders, but the cool thing is that you learn more from a loss than you do a win,” Holt said of Lacey, averaging 22.6 points per game. “She’ll watch this film probably 15 times.”
Also playing big for Ashland was senior Camryn Cox, who finished with eight points, six rebounds and two blocks.
In the second quarter, the 6-foot-1 post converted a pair of three-point plays and had a pair of assists as well.
“We have all the confidence in the world in her, it’s just her believing in herself,” Holt said. “I think she’ll really step up from here on out.”
Unfortunately, the Arrows couldn’t get their offense rolling in the second half.
After scoring the first four points of the third quarter, Ashland was outscored 22-10 the rest of the way.
Waynedale sent it into the fourth quarter tied at 36-36 after a driving layup from Geiser.
Arrows junior guard Cici Steury sank a 3-ball off a cross-court assist from Hoffman to open the scoring in the fourth, but Ashland missed its final six tries from downtown after that.
Coach Geiser said the absence of Hoffman weighed heavily on the game’s home stretch. After her injury, he said his squad was able to sag off the perimeter on defense to focus a bit more on Lacey’s drives and Cox’s post-ups.
“(Hoffman) is such a threat that you can’t cheat off of her like you would with other matchups against other kids that don’t score it like her,” Geiser said.
“I feel really bad for her because that’s such a tough thing and I just hate that moment, especially for a senior,” he added. “I hope she’s OK; my prayers go out for her that it’s not as bad as what it could be.”
Ashland won’t have much time to sort out its way forward. The Arrows have their biggest game of the season to date Wednesday when they travel to New Philadelphia.
The Quakers are 12-1 and just a game behind AHS in the Ohio Cardinal Conference standings (7-1). They also spoiled what would have been a perfect OCC record for Ashland last year when they squeezed past the Arrows, 45-43.
“(The Waynedale loss) is a tough one, but it’s good for us,” Holt said. “Our goal is still there.
“I know that zero (in the loss column) is not on the board anymore, but it’s one game at a time. We see a conference team next and we want that OCC crown again.”
