The victory earned Brookville (20-5) a spot in a regional semifinal matchup against Alter, which beat Indian Hill 40-29 in the first district final on Saturday in Troy. Bethel and Oakwood lost to Cincinnati McNicholas and Purcell Marian, respectively, in the third and fourth district finals.
CHCA (17-7) scored five straight points to take a 33-29 lead over Brookville late in the third quarter in what had been largely a 3-point shooting contest.
Gudorf was a little frustrated. Shortly after talking with coach Josh Kummer and assistant coach Dan Gudorf while another player was shooting free throws, the Blue Devils started attacking the post more.
Credit: Bryant Billing
Credit: Bryant Billing
“We had went on a run where we were struggling to score, and we just talked through things,” Jolie Gudorf said. “I love talking to Coach, I’m very coachable. When we’re in a rut, he knows what to do.”
The Blue Devils went on an 11-0 run late in the third quarter to take a 40-33 lead. Gudorf, who is listed at 6-foot-1, started working the ball to 6-2 freshman forward Lucy Hoover. She scored four points during the run and finished the day with 11.
“We’re good shooters, but when we’re not hitting the 3-point shot, I think it’s very important to attack their lane, attack their top foot,” Gudorf said.
CHCA hit a late 3 to pull within four points, but Gudorf, Hoover and Kinley Kummer, who finished with 10, continued to score inside the post. The Eagles started turning it over against Brookville’s press, rushed shots and couldn’t get offensive rebounds.
Credit: Bryant Billing
Credit: Bryant Billing
“We kept telling them that (CHCA) is not going to be able to sustain the grind the whole 32 minutes, so we just have to be able to keep going and keep pushing through,” Josh Kummer said. “We finally broke through.”
Gudorf, who is closing in on 1,000 career points, was named the Southwestern Buckeye League player of the year. She’s averaging 20 points, six rebounds, five assists and five steals per game.
“She’s able to draw so much pressure,” Kummer said. “With us having a six-foot freshman that’s aggressive down low, we’re able to punish teams that try to double and triple team Jo. The great thing is everybody’s willing to make the extra pass. That’s what we preach. Make the extra pass, if you’re open, shoot it.”
Credit: Bryant Billing
Credit: Bryant Billing
Gudorf is also a standout volleyball player and said it’s been a fun time for the city the last two years. Aside from other sports’ successes, both the volleyball and girls basketball teams have won two consecutive district titles.
“Brookville’s a great place to be, great community, always shows up,” Gudorf said.
They’ll be expecting it to show up on Tuesday, when both the school’s boys and girls teams face Alter in tournament games. The regional semifinal for the girls squads is scheduled to tip at 6 p.m. at Vandalia-Butler, and the boys will face off in a D-IV district semi in Xenia at 7:30
“We’ve got to play hard, play together, be supportive, believe in ourselves, and what we’ve put in this whole year,” Gudorf said. “It should be a great matchup. Alter is a great team.”
Slow start doesn’t stop Alter from winning 5th straight district title
Credit: Bryant Billing
It’s no secret for Alter’s players what the expectations are. When the program is coached by someone who ranks in the top 10 for wins in state history, it’s no mystery that success has been constant.
Senior guard Alina Overman may be even more aware, with her mother Irina having played for coach Christana Hart, who is in her 39th season.
“It’s definitely a legacy thing here,” Alina Overman said.
With the Knights playing for their fifth consecutive district title on Saturday, Overman and the squad’s other six seniors didn’t want the streak to end.
Cincinnati Indian Hill didn’t make it easy, but the Knights (19-6) overcame a slow start and pulled away late for a 40-29 victory.
Credit: Bryant Billing
Credit: Bryant Billing
Alter finished the first quarter on an 8-2 run to pull within 15-12 of Indian Hill (14-11), then dominated a physical second quarter to take a 26-19 halftime lead. They quickly pushed the gap over eight points in the third, and it stayed around that until the final minutes.
“We work hard every day in practice against guys, so we’re used to physical, physical play,” Hart said. “I think there was probably a little bit of nerves. Give Indian Hill credit, they came out and kind of punched us in the face. But we settled down, and I think we wore them down a bit.”
The Knights made 22-of-26 foul shot attempts, including 9-of-10 in the second quarter when they took control.
“We’ve been struggling with that the last couple weeks,” Hart said. “Part of our struggle the last couple of weeks is maybe not being as focused. I think we started to focus a little bit more the last couple of days, and that showed today.”
Credit: Bryant Billing
Credit: Bryant Billing
Overman led the squad with 11 points and made 9-of-10 free throws. Izzie Arcuri scored nine, including a key late basket in the fourth to help seal it. Alison Link and Da’Shai Shephard each scored eight points.
Alter finished as D-IV state runner-up last year. Overman said the team prepared for another deep tournament run with a stout nonconference schedule this year.
“We’ve just got to continue to work together as a team,” Overman said. “I love this group of girls, and I think we can do great things coming up.”
Bethel, Oakwood fall in district finals
Bethel and Oakwood both made runs in the second half against McNicholas and Purcell Marian, but each couldn’t overcome large early deficits.
The Bees lost 49-42. They trailed McNicholas 29-17 at halftime, and the gap stayed at double digits until they rallied late in the fourth to pull within two before McNicholas scored the last five points.
Kaitlyn Jefferson led Bethel (21-4) with 14 points. The squad will lose three seniors to graduation.
The Lumberjacks lost 51-39 to Purcell Marian. After a close first quarter, the Cavaliers pushed their lead to 25-16 at halftime and led by double digits for most of the second half, though the Lumberjacks pulled close early in the fourth.
Lydia Woeste and Caroline Roelle each scored 10 points for Oakwood, which finishes 19-6 overall. The Lumberjacks will lose eight seniors to graduation.
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