Anna overwhelms Oak Hill for D-III state title
COLUMBUS – Anna celebrated the 30th anniversary of its first girls basketball state title in appropriate fashion – it won it’s second. The Rockets, who claimed the Class A state title in 1981, won the Division III state championship Saturday with a 50-32 win over Oak Hill at Ohio State’s Schottenstein Center.
A vocal crowd of 4,962, watched the Rockets pull away in the second half of a game that didn’t live up to it’s offensive billing. Anna and Oak Hill each came in averaging over 67 points per game and both scored their lowest point totals of the season. For Anna (27-1) though, it’s worst scoring output in 28 games, was good enough to win the last.
“I can’t put into words what this means not only for our team but for our community,” Anna senior Megan Fogt said. “Sports is something the entire town of Anna rallies around and this feels incredible. It’s a relief but it really hasn’t hit me yet. I still feel like I have to get back in the gym tomorrow.”
Oak Hill, which lost for the first time this year, failed in its bid to win its first state title and instead finished runner-up for the third time since 2004.
The Lady Oaks (25-1) had no answer for the inside play of Fogt and sophomore Natalie Billing.
Fogt grabbed a game-high 17 rebounds and scored 16 points. Billing scored a game-high 21 points, 11 of which came in the fourth quarter when the Rockets outscored Oak Hill 16-5 to secure the victory. Anna led 34-27 after three quarters.
“At halftime I thought we were OK, but in the second half our inability to make shots really limited us because it didn’t allow us to set up our press,” Oak Hill head coach Doug Hale said. “That changed the complexion of the game.”
Oak Hill shot just 25-percent from the floor (12-of-47) and hit just five of its 28 3-point attempts (17.9-percent). No Oak Hill player reached double-digits. Junior Taylor Hale (nine) and senior Mikie Strite (eight) led the Lady Oaks in scoring.
“We knew we could score this year, but in some games when we got big leads we really stressed to our girls to practice their defense,” Billing said. “Our goal today was to hold them below 40 and we got after it defensively. That’s what one us the game.”
Said Hale: “They are solid all the way around.”
*Player of the Game: Megan Fogt, Sr., Anna – In two state tournament games, Fogt, the Shelby County League Player of the Year, had 30 points and 31 rebounds.
“Fogt willed her way in there today and got her hands on a ton of balls,” Hale said. “She did a great job for them today. She made a difference.”
*Stat of the Game: Five. As in the five points Oak Hill scored in the fourth quarter. The Lady Oaks had just two points until they hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer for the final margin.
Division III JJHuddle All-Tournament Team
Megan Fogt, Sr., Anna (Player of the Tournament)
Carrie Watkins, Sr., Anna
Natalie Billing, So., Anna
Ashley Schuster, Sr., Elyria Catholic
Taylor Hale, Jr., Oak Hill
JJHuddle All-Ohio Teams (Coming the first week of April)
The first annual JJHuddle All-Ohio Girls Basketball Teams will be announced the week of April 4. The teams will feature five-player first, second and third teams and will have a 10-player honorable mention. The teams will encompass all divisions and will be selected by a media panel that includes the best in the business: Tom Jenkins (Ohio Girls Basketball Report), Mark Lewis (ESPN HoopGurlz) and Dan Olson (Collegiate Girls Basketball Report).
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