LOUDONVILLE – The Redbirds ran out of time for revenge.
Facing Smithville in the postseason for the third time in the last four years, the Loudonville girls basketball team forced overtime Tuesday in its Division VI district semifinal at The Cage.
But despite not trailing by more than four points in the game’s final 14 minutes, the Redbirds never led after halftime in dropping a 46-44 heartbreaker.
(Photos by Doug Haidet)
The Smithies had the ball out of bounds with less than 5 seconds remaining and Loudonville standout Addi Wolford came up with a steal.
But the senior guard was forced to rush her breakaway layup try with the clock nearing zeroes, and a shot that would have sent the game into a second overtime clanged off the rim at the buzzer.
“I knew there were like 3 seconds left and we had to get a steal and get something quick,” Wolford said. “It was just quick down the floor. … I looked up and there were like 1.6 seconds left, so it just wasn’t much time and I just biffed it at the end.
“This one really stings,” she said. “Smithville’s beaten us three out of my four years in the tournament, so I really wanted this one and I know everyone else did. We just couldn’t get ahead there (late in the game).”
The 13th-seeded Smithies (14-10), who advanced to play top-seeded Rootstown (20-3) on Saturday at Norwayne High School, beat Loudonville (16-8) in last year’s district final and now have ended LHS’s season four times since 2020.
The Smithies will play the same Rootstown team that they lost to in the regional finals with just a few seconds left a year ago.
“I’m just happy for our kids,” said SHS head coach Eric Nickles, whose squad also lost at the buzzer two years ago to Chippewa in the district finals. “I think the last couple years, with how we’ve lost in the tournament, this one kinda helps that a little bit.”
Wolford and the Redbirds tried to scratch and claw their way to a third consecutive district final despite missing their second-leading scorer, Elly Hensel.
The 5-foot-10 junior, averaging 9.2 points and 6.9 rebounds per game, suffered a knee injury in the first quarter of Loudonville’s 58-30 sectional final rout of Mogadore.
But the Redbirds never let Smithville get comfortable.
After the Smithies scored the game’s first seven points, Wolford buried three 3-pointers and had 11 of her team-high 20 points in the first quarter to help tie it up at 13-13.
The teams then swapped the lead four times in the second period to send the game into intermission with Smithville narrowly leading, 22-21.
“The girls’ effort and their grit was very impressive tonight. They played their hearts out,” Loudonville head coach Daryl Young said. “We told them before the game, ‘If you’ve got anything in you, you’ve got to give it tonight.’ And they took that to heart.”
Smithies senior guard and top scorer Leah Keib tweaked her ankle early in the third period, but without her on the floor, the visitors still managed to build a 29-21 lead behind Caylee Zimmerly (seven points).
Loudonville missed its first nine shots in the third quarter before sophomore Jordyn Johnson (eight points) finally hit one with 3:53 showing.
Wolford then drilled a step-back trey after drawing a charge at the other end, and sophomore Sylvia Spangler (nine points) dropped in a putback to cut it to 29-28.
From there, though, the Redbirds simply couldn’t capitalize on their offensive opportunities.
Johnson, Spangler and senior Abby Eikleberry all pulled down big offensive rebounds – and many of those led to trips to the free-throw line – but Loudonville had a variety of close shots roll off the rim down the stretch.
The Redbirds made just one field goal in the final 11 minutes of the game after Spangler scored off an assist from Wolford with 7:15 left in the fourth to cut it to 33-32.
They were 12-of-16 from the free-throw line, with nearly all of that coming after the third quarter. But Keib netted eight of her game-high 24 points in the fourth to carry the Smithville offense.
“We ask her to do so much – handle the ball, post up, guard the other team’s best players,” Nickles said, “so I’m really happy the way she’s ending her senior year.
“Scoring 24, she kinda willed us to that victory.”
It was just three points off Keib’s career-high total of 27, as she entered the night as the only Smithie averaging more than 8.0 points per game (16.8).
“We knew they played good defense and we knew Leah was going to be a good scorer,” Wolford said. “We needed to shut her down and we lacked in that area.”
Wolford hit a pair of free throws with 27 seconds left in the fourth to tie it at 41-41, then rebounded a blocked shot by Spangler that helped send it into overtime.
But the Redbirds managed just three points from the free-throw line in the extra period and some late turnovers proved costly.
“Their motion offense is really good and they made us work like crazy in the first half,” Nickles said. “That was a tough, physical game both ways.”
Loudonville finished with 16 wins for the second consecutive season – the 10th time in a row the program has reached at least that many victories.
The Redbirds were able to split the title in the Knox Morrow Athletic Conference with Centerburg despite losing their best scorer – junior Mya Vermilya – to a knee injury after just eight games.
Young was named KMAC Coach of the Year and Wolford was a first-team all-league pick.
“We did our best to replace Mya’s offense, which was very hard to do,” Young said. “Then to take Mya and Elly – to replace all that offense – at some point you just can’t keep replacing it.
“The girls gave it everything they had and Addison Wolford was just a great senior competitor tonight and led with her guts and her skill and her 3-point shooting. It just hurts to see these seniors having to stomach this when it could have gone the other way.”
Eikleberry and Kylar Staten were the other seniors for Loudonville, which is just two years removed from a run to the Final Four.
Wolford was a key contributor on that squad and carried her leadership all the way to the finish line.
“This year has been a heck of a ride,” she said. “… It just means a lot to play Loudonville basketball; the program and having all the supporters here means a lot.”
