Versailles nips O-G for D-III state title

Published 9:52 pm Saturday, March 21, 2015

COLUMBUS (AP) — Versailles forward Taylor Winner had simple objectives when she saw Ottawa-Glandorf race down the court after a turnover with a chance to tie the Division III title game in the waning moments.

“I had to try and catch her,” Winner said.

Winner was able to block a layup by Danielle Schroeder with eight seconds left.

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“I knew I couldn’t touch her,” Winner said. “I tried to get all ball.”

After that block, Winner also blocked a shot by Elissa Ellerbrock with 4.4 seconds left on the next play. Teammate Lauren Bruns grabbed the ball and was fouled.

Bruns made the last of her 16 points on a free throw to seal a 49-46 victory Saturday at Ohio State’s Value City Arena.

Ottawa-Glandorf (26-3) had one final shot after Bruns missed her second foul shot but a three-pointer from 30 feet by Schroeder was off target.

Ellerbrock led Ottawa-Glandorf, in its first state appearance, with 12 points.

“I’m extremely proud of our girls, but obviously a little disappointed,” Ottawa-Glandorf coach Troy Yant said.

Ellerbrock made a layup with 25 seconds left in the game to bring the Lady Titans to within 48-46 after Versailles had built a 43-34 advantage with four minutes to play.

“We rushed a lot of shots early in the game,” Yant said.

“We settled down but we put ourselves in a little bit of a hole.”

Bruns scored Versailles’ final three points from the foul line, including the one that forced Ottawa-Glandorf to go for three to tie.

“That’s what the team needed, that extra point,” Bruns said. “I had a focus.”

It meant redemption for Versailles (25-4), who lost the 2014 championship game to Africentric. The Tigers’ previous title was in 2008.

“Before the game we talked about taking care of the basketball and rebounding,” Versailles coach Jacki Stonebraker said. “We didn’t do either but we played as a team and made plays.”