Kettering Fairmont beats Twinsburg in historic Ohio girls basketball final

Final seconds. State title on the line. Free throws.

Enter Makayla "Ice" Waterman. The nickname is new.

"Chelsea (Welch) walked up to me before I shot those free throws and said ‘Just make one,'" Waterman said. "That was the only thing in my head. One."

Swish.

Some games don't survive hype. Saturday's Fairmont (Kettering) vs. Twinsburg tilt did.

The first two teams to meet in three straight state finals in Ohio history, the Firebirds and Tigers staged a big school classic between nationally ranked teams for the Division I state title at Ohio State's Schottenstein Center.

Fairmont, ranked No. 5 in the MaxPreps Xcellent 25, outlasted No. 12 Twinsburg 52-48.

Waterman's free throw, with 6 seconds left, secured the victory by pushing the advantage to four.

"I just told her to focus," Welch said. "I told her it was just a free throw that we do in practice. She needed to believe in herself. I'm so proud of her. I'm so proud of my whole team."

Welch should be. Twinsburg had won three straight against the Firebirds (27-1), including the two previous state finals.

It was Fairmont's fourth-straight state tournament appearance. And first state title.

"Sometimes things take a long time to come true," Firebirds coach Tim Cogan said, fighting back emotions. "I'm proud of our kids, our program. That's a great team we just played. Our kids kept their composure through some difficult times and situations. I'm just happy as heck to bring this championship back to Kettering."

Twinsburg has nothing to hang its head about. Led by Ohio Ms. Basketball, Ashley Morrissette, the Tigers (29-1) fell four points shy of a perfect season.

"Our kids knew whose hands the ball needed to be in," Twinsburg coach Julie Solis said. "That last effort by Ashley Morrissette was amazing. She deserved that award. Her ultimate goal was to finish the season 30-0, so I feel bad for her and the other seniors. These kids have nothing to be ashamed of."

See the MaxPreps Ohio girls basketball playoff brackets

Down 50-42 with 51 seconds left, Twinsburg countered a Fairmont free throw with two Morrissette 3-pointers to cut the deficit to 51-48. With 15 seconds left, Fairmont turned the ball over and the Tigers had life. On the inbounds, Fairmont's Alona Skipper deflected the ball off a Twinsburg player. On the ensuing inbounds, Waterman was fouled.

"I had to do something to get the ball back," said Skipper, who added two first-quarter 3s and four fourth-quarter free throws. "(Morrissette) was feeling it and making all her shots and I knew we had to get the ball out of her hands. I saw they were running out of time so I went up and pressured. It was just a lucky reach. I'm glad I made it."

Morrissette finished with a game-high 27 points and closed her career as No. 2 all-time scorer in state tournament history. In six state games, the Purdue recruit racked up 110 points.

Waterman, a junior, finished with a season-high 24 points. Classmate Kathryn Westbeld added a double-double (13 points and 12 rebounds). Both are highly ranked national prospects.

"Their big girls are both high-level division I players," Solis said. "We didn't do a good job defending them."

Waterman made her first 11 free throws.

"I was making them all game and I really had confidence," Waterman said. "That last one?"

She missed.

No one cared.

Division II
Hathaway Brown (Shaker Heights) 56, West Holmes (Millersburg) 44
The Blazers made Ohio history by appearing in a seventh-straight state final and winning a fifth-straight state championship. The contest was a rematch of last year's final that HB won by 12 as well (53-41). Blazers senior Nia Marshall (17 points) set a D-II finals record with 18 rebounds, while senior Vanessa Smith added 11 points. HB capitalized at the line where it hit 20 of 34 free throws. West Holmes was 4-for-6. Senior Rachelle Morrison led the Knights with 13 points.

Division III
Anna 67, Africentric Early College (Columbus) 49
In coach Jack Billing's last game (he told the team in the locker room beforehand), the Rockets extracted revenge for last year's overtime state final loss by beating Africentric in the rematch. The Nubians' lone lead was 2-0. Anna, which led 14-10 after the first quarter and 33-20 at halftime, hit 16 straight free throws during a third- and fourth-quarter stretch that increased its lead from 37-28 to 67-47. Sophomore Cayla Bensman led Anna with 21 points, while seniors Natalie Billing and Erica Huber added 17 and 15, respectively. Africentric stayed alive thanks to offensive rebounding (21) and Cincinnati recruit Marley Hill, who had 19 points, 13 rebounds and eight blocks.

Division IV
Fort Loramie 57, Hiland (Berlin) 42
In a small-school game featuring schools with a combined 20 state tournament appearances and 12 title games, Fort Loramie won its first state championship. It was the second state meeting between the two. Hiland won a 2006 semifinal 49-47. Loramie took the lead for good in the first quarter but had to continually hold off Hiland charges. The Hawks cut it to 43-40 with 4:04 left before Fort Loramie closed with a 14-2 run. Junior Darian Rose led the Redskins with 19 points. She was 8-for-8 from the free throw line in the fourth quarter. Junior Renae Meyer had a double-double (10 points and 11 rebounds). Hiland junior Regina Hochstetler had a game-high 23 points.

And One
* The highest attended final was the smallest division. The D-IV championship drew 4,991.
* Anna and Fort Loramie are both members of the Shelby County League. Anna swept the season series, winning one game in overtime and another by a point.
* Seven of the eight state finalists were making their second-straight appearance. The only newcomer was Fort Loramie in Division IV.

Future Stars
Ohio high school recruits/commits (all levels) who participated in the state tournament:

Taylor Alger, sr., Olentangy Orange, Indiana
Natalie Billing, sr., Anna, Northern Ohio
Jenna Burdette, jr., Reedsville Eastern, Dayton
Amanda Cahill, jr., Clyde, Indiana
Deidra Combs, sr., Fort Frye, Fairmont State (WV)
Chardell Dunnigan, sr., Twinsburg, George Mason
Marley Hill, sr., Africentric, Cincinnati
Erica Huber, sr., Anna, Ursuline College (Ohio)
Nia Marshall, sr., Hathaway Brown, Cornell
Ashley Morrissette, sr., Twinsburg, Purdue
Natalie Nickol, sr., Berlin Hiland, Ursuline College (Ohio)
Hannah Plybon, sr., Orrville, Akron
Stephanie Poland, sr., Hathaway Brown, Colgate
Abby Siefker, sr., Ottoville, Bowling Green
Vanessa Smith, sr., Hathaway Brown, Princeton
Brooke Thompson-Smith, sr., Twinsburg, Cleveland State
Chelsea Welch, sr., Fairmont, Duquesne
Krista White, sr., Chaminade Julienne, Kent State