About seven rows up at center court a Providence Academy fan held a sign saying, “Lions Gave Up Losing for Lent,” and one seat over a fan held up a smaller sign that simply said “Again.”
They aptly sum up Saturday’s Class 2A girls’ basketball championship and the past few years.
Tight for a while, the quickness of Providence Academy took over en route to the Lions topping Crosby-Ironton 81-63 at Williams Arena. The 32-0 Lions are the first team in tournament history to win four straight crowns.
Maddyn Greenway led Providence Academy with 40 points, her fifth game this season with at least that many. Hope Counts had 23 points and 15 rebounds.
“It really comes down to the chemistry we have,” Counts said of the Lions starting five, who played all but the final 68 seconds. “… You can have a bunch of stars, but it’s how they play together.”
Greenway said this game was “really personal.”
The Lions are aware of criticism on social media, from opposing fans and people saying it’s not team wins. But they let their collective performance be the response.
“It’s just that breath of fresh air at the end that no matter what people say about us, no one else in the gym wanted us to win besides us. I mean, we had a small group of people that wanted us to succeed, and, honestly for us that’s the best. … We handle the disrespect very well.”
Playing for its first title, Crosby-Ironton (32-1) was led by Tori Oehrlein who scored 17 points to go with 15 rebounds. The junior, future Gopher and state’s all-time leading rebounder, had double-digit boards in all but two games this season.
Providence Academy coach Conner Goetz calls eighth-grader Beckett Greenway and sophomore Emma Millerbernd two of the best defenders in the state. Greenway took a couple key charges and Millerbernd was largely on Oehrlein, who averaged 30.3 points per game.
“She’s really physical, so it was just staying aggressive,” Millerbernd said.
“An incredibly admirable effort, and shouldn’t go unnoticed,” added Goetz.
Providence Academy thrives on speed and possessing the ball in a way opponents cannot match. They outscored Crosby-Ironton 33-9 on the fast break and scored 28 points off 18 Ranger turnovers.
“They can get downhill in a hurry. Maddyn is one of the fastest players I’ve ever seen with the basketball on any level,” said Crosby-Ironton coach Pete Vukelich.
He had a great view of just that when, after 11 lead changes in the first 11 minutes, Greenway went on a 14-0 run over a 3 minute, 28 second span to create breathing room for Providence Academy.
The junior and University of Kentucky commit scored on a jumper, another jumper just five seconds after a defensive rebound by Counts, and a steal and layup leading to a Crosby-Ironton time out.
It didn’t slow down Greenway who scored on a steal and layup, a drive three seconds after grabbing a defensive rebound, a 3-pointer and a free throw for a 37-24 Lions lead.
“I knew their punch at the beginning of the game was the best that they had and we were just getting started,” Greenway said.
The Rangers got within 10 early in the second half, but Providence Academy pushed it back to 17 with five points in a 20-second span.
It started with Counts, who’ll play next season at Division I Lipscomb University, blocking Sammie Hachey on a layup. With the Rangers faithful boisterously disagreeing with the no-call, Greenway quickly sank a 3-popinter at the other end. Going back on defense she looked toward the Crosby-Ironton fans and put her index finger to her lips. A steal and layup by Mckenna Schaefer made it 60-43.
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