State Girls Basketball Roundup: Laurel wins thriller, takes Division IV title

DAYTON — Medina County produced a champion at the state girls basketball tournament Friday. For Brunswick resident Reese Grammes and her Laurel teammates, their "Revenge Tour" featured a grand finale for the ages. In what can be considered the greatest all-around thriller since the tournament moved to the University of Dayton Arena in 2021, the Gators pulled off a second straight stunner of a defending champion as UNLV recruit Tristan Williams nailed two free throws with four seconds remaining to edge undefeated Bellevue, 60-58, in the Division IV title game. Laurel (22-4) was fewer than 24 hours removed from knocking off four-time defending D-II/III champion Cincinnati Purcell Marian. The underdog Gators then snapped the 45-game winning streak of the Redmen (29-1), who won D-IV a year ago. Laurel ousted Elyria Catholic in a regional semifinal. Once a ball girl when her sister, Maci, played for Brunswick, Grammes was a defensive star whose impact was far greater than zero points, four rebounds and two assists. The 5-foot-7 junior had three steals, including two against 6-foot-3 center Kaitlyn Turinsky, and forced a critical traveling violation with 1:09 left and the Gators trailing, 56-55. Laurel's Jordyn Meyer made her sixth 3-pointer on the next possession, but Bellevue calmly tied when Turinsky pivoted and scored from the right block. The Gators burned two timeouts to set up the winning sequence in which Williams shook a defender atop the arc, drove the left side of the paint, was tripped and made the free throws. Meyer had a game-high 25 points, while Williams, who hit a baby hook with one second left to beat Purcell Marian, added 19 points, five rebounds, eight assists and five steals. Bellevue got 20 points, eight rebounds and three assists from quick-footed freshman guard Ava Jakubcin-Theis, 14 points and 10 rebounds from Turinsky and 15 points from Carrington Savage. The game was incredible drama with 13 lead changes and 14 ties. Chaminade-Julienne 49, St. Vincent-St. Mary 40 Highland officially lost to the D-III state runner-up, as a late push by the Fighting Irish (22-6) fell short against the Eagles (24-4) in the afternoon game at UD Arena. St. Vincent-St. Mary, which edged the Hornets 47-39 in the regional semifinals, trailed by 16 points with 5:05 left in the third quarter, but point guard Melania Cornute came alive and helped cut the deficit all the way to 37-34 after four-star sophomore Sydney Ferguson scored with 5:37 left. Chaminade-Julienne responded, however, and the Fighting Irish never had a chance to tie or take the lead. Janae Cain led the Eagles, who rallied in the final minute to stun Copley on Friday, with 17 points, while lightning-quick freshman Mychael Hanson added 15. St. Vincent-St. Mary, which trailed 18-6 after one quarter, was paced by 13 points, six rebounds and six assists from Cornute and 12 from Tatum Smith but shot 15-for-47 from the floor (.319) and 7-for-27 from 3-point land (.259). St. Henry 53, Canton Central Catholic 34The D-VI championship didn't have much drama, as the Redskins (27-1) led 26-13 at halftime and never looked back against the upstart Crusaders (23-6). Addy Homan led all players with 20 points, while Karlee Buscher added 11. Central Catholic, which shot 11-for-35, got 12 points from Sarah Belden. Contact Albert Grindle at (330) 721-4043 or agrindle@medina-gazette.com.