Brock Netter, Staff Writer
Southern Ohio Sports Authority is presented by OhioHealth.
DOVER — Knock, knock.
It’s Waterford at the door and the Wildcats are heading back to a state championship game for the third time in four seasons.
Behind a dominant second quarter showing and a defensive effort that held Mogadore to just 12 percent shooting in the first half, the Wildcats (26-1) scored a 48-34 victory on Friday in a Division VII state semifinal.
CREDIT: Derrick Webb/SOSA
“It was a bit of a hectic start, but we really settled in during the second quarter and that make all of the difference,” Waterford coach Jerry Close said. “Mogadore deserves a lot of credit, their speed and physicality had us off sorts all night, but we had enough and figured it out in the end to have more one game this season.”
Avery Wagner started the game with three straight points, which was followed by a triple from Kendall Sury. When Wagner followed that sequence with a jumper, Waterford had an early 8-1 lead.
Mogadore (23-5) then gained some steam as Julie Tompkins led a personal 5-1 run to end the frame, cutting the deficit to 9-6.
But when the Wildcats pressed on the gas to open the second, Mogadore had no answers.
After back-to-back buckets from Ava Hurley, Elsie Malec connected on back-to-back triples for a 10-0 run that pushed the lead to 19-6.
“We kept telling the girls to move the ball around and we’ll get a good shot,” Close said. “In the first quarter, we were rushing too many shots. But Elsie got her feet set and when she does that, she’s a really good shooter. Also, Avery Smithberger played a heck of a first half with her rebounding and finding the open player. It’s what she does.”
More impressive than the run was the Wildcats’ defense, which held Mogadore without a field goal until the final 30 seconds of the frame.
After outscoring Mogadore by a 14-3 margin, Waterford took a commanding 23-9 advantage into the break.
Not much changed in the second half, either.
Determined to close the show early, Waterford opened the third on a 9-2 run behind Wagner, Malec and Sury to extend the lead to 32-11.
From there, it was smooth sailing, all the way to Dayton.
“Mogadore did a really nice job keeping us out of an offense late in the fourth as they made a small run, but credit to our girls to staying together and knocking down free throws,” Close said. “We knew what we were getting into and the girls did a nice job of holding them off in the end.”
Wagner finished with 13 points and eight rebounds for Waterford while Malec added 12 points to the team’s totals.
The Wildcats return to action at 5:15 p.m., next Saturday at the University of Dayton Arena in the Division VII state championship against Fort Laramie, who defeated Ottoville to advance.
It was the Redskins who knocked off the Wildcats in the state championship last season, so they won’t be lacking any motivation this time around.
“This is what they’ve wanted and worked towards all season long, one more shot at winning a state championship,” Close said. “There’s still some things we have to work on between now and then, but I’m so happy for our kids.”
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