Girls State Basketball: Africentric's defense too much for Keystone

DAYTON — If defense wins championships, Africentric is on its way to a repeat. The defending Division III state champion showed off its length and speed Thursday, making life difficult all evening for Keystone as the Nubians advanced to the state title game with a 62-35 semifinal win at the University of Dayton. "We knew that we were going to be outsized," Keystone coach Rocky Houston said. "Our goal was to do everything we could to box out and go get the ball, but they have some really good athletes who are a little bit taller. There were a couple of times where we were able to go get the ball for some putbacks. But the girls competed, that was never an issue. I couldn't be more proud of them not being overwhelmed by the size difference." Keystone (28-1) shot 35 percent from the field while Africentric (26-3) put in 51 percent of its shots and secured 18 offensive rebounds, which matched the Wildcats' total for the game. The Nubians grabbed 38 total rebounds, forced seven steals and recorded eight blocks. Jessica Forthofer had to go toe-to-toe with Africentric's post and held her own for the most part, leading the team with 18 points. The senior also grabbed four rebounds and forced four steals. "They definitely made rebounding a struggle," Forthofer said. "I didn't get as many boards as I would have liked. Just getting the ball down there, I knew I had to make a move or something just to help out my team. Once I did that a couple of times, I knew I could do it." But Africentric's one-two punch of Kamryn Grant — a Dayton commit — and Natiah Nelson proved to be too much overall. Grant led the way with a monster double-double of 22 points and 11 rebounds, both team highs. Nelson added 10 points, seven rebounds and two blocks. Nine of Grant's rebounds came on the offensive end, while Nelson gave Africentric three second-chance opportunities. The Nubians outscored Keystone 38-20 in the paint and 16-6 on second-chance points. "We definitely knew from the start that I'd be able to take advantage of my size," Grant said. "Overall from the jump I knew this would be our game (in the paint)." Keystone trailed Africentric 14-10 after the first quarter, but Africentric's defense clamped down for the next 5:54 during a 9-0 run that effectively broke open the game. The Wildcats shot just 2-of-7 from the field in the second quarter and 1-of-6 from the free throw line. Africentric also got a great game out of its guards, who consistently denied Keystone easy routes to the bucket. Particularly in the second quarter, when Keystone had multiple possessions that lasted more than a minute before it managed to get the ball into the paint. "They defend everyone really well," Houston said. "It's really hard to run a good motion offense because it's hard to get open. You have to beat them off the dribble, and that's where we looked at some matchups." Contact Chris Sweeney at 329-7135 or ctsports@chroniclet.com. Follow him @CSweeney1686 on X.