“I think of my mom and dad first. There’s a lot of heritage there,” Rossi said after his Wildcats topped the Falcons 47-35 in a Division II district semifinal at Lebanon. “Maybe it’s a conflict of interest for a lot of people, but hey, we’ve got a job to do over here and Fenwick happened to be in the way. It was our opportunity to take advantage.”
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Top-seeded Franklin overcame a sluggish start to handle ninth-seeded Fenwick, which didn’t crack the 30-point mark until the final two minutes.
Layne Ferrell wasn’t at full strength, but still nearly had a triple-double with 17 points, 10 rebounds, seven assists and four blocks as the Wildcats improved to 20-4.
“I think there was definitely a lot of emotions in this game,” said Ferrell, who will play for the University of Akron next season. “Fenwick was coming after us. We know they love Rossi, but because he came from there, they definitely wanted to get us. They out-energized us at the beginning, but we brought it back up.”
Second-seeded Valley View defeated No. 4 Bellbrook 46-42 in Monday’s first game at Lebanon, earning a trip to Friday’s district finals at Mason.
Valley View will play Roger Bacon, Franklin will meet Tippecanoe and McNicholas will square off with Carroll at Mason Arena. The starting times are 5, 7 and 9 p.m., though the game order has yet to be announced.
“Survive and advance — that’s all we needed to do,” Rossi said. “We knew Fenwick was going to make it ugly for us. We came out and played a really, really good third quarter to take control of the game, but as well as we played in the third quarter, we played that bad in the fourth quarter. So give Fenwick credit.”
The Falcons made it this far by upsetting Greater Catholic League Coed Division rivals Chaminade Julienne and Badin, but they didn’t have enough offensive effectiveness to stay close to the Wildcats, who led by as many as 18 points in the fourth period.
Hannah Tebbe scored 13 points and Hannah Beckman added 12 for Fenwick (11-14). Emily Adams grabbed 13 rebounds and made five steals, and Beckman chipped in six boards and four steals.
“We didn’t get that spark tonight when we needed it,” Falcons coach Scott Dalton said. “Johnny’s a great coach. He had a great game plan switching defenses, and when they go to that zone, we’ve got to make our shots. We just didn’t make enough of them.”
Jordan Rogers tossed in 15 points and three 3-pointers, all in the middle two quarters, for Franklin. Ferrell was Ferrell, despite missing practice Sunday because she was sick. She played with a sore throat Monday.
“I’ll be OK,” Ferrell said. “School was rough today. Running up and down the court tonight, my throat was burning. I felt like I was thirsty the entire game. But other than that, I was fine.”
Said Rossi, “I think most people would take Layne Ferrell at 50 percent or less. That’s how good she is.”
The Franklin coach also praised Rogers, who had five rebounds and three steals, and Kaylee Harris, who came off the bench and contributed four points, seven boards and three steals.
“Jordan’s just playing so daggone good right now,” Rossi said. “Kaylee, with her energy, she’s just all over the floor. She does all the little things. When we get that kind of performance out of her, we’re really good.”
He said his players have clearly grown up over the last year. The Wildcats were regional semifinalists last season before losing to Bellbrook.
“I’ve got to give our kids credit,” Rossi said. “Last year we won this game and they were ranting and raving. They were very organized and very disciplined in the locker room tonight, like they expected to win this game. They’ve showed a lot of maturation.”
Rossi’s second coaching stint at Fenwick ended in 2017. Dalton, his assistant, then became the head coach. Rossi noted that connection and said current Falcon assistants Abby Jerger and Stormy Harding played for him at Madison.
Dalton is expecting Fenwick to take another step forward next year. He’s only losing four seniors: Tebbe, Brooke Brunner, Elena Daly and Kelsey Daly.
“I think 2013 was the last time we won a sectional game, so we’ve never played in this atmosphere. I think the kids want more of it,” Dalton said. “Getting to this part of the tournament was a credit to the kids. I think it was a great learning experience.
“I’m very proud of the kids and the staff. I had a lot of young kids playing tonight and we’ve got a good class of eighth-graders coming in, so we’re really excited about the future.”
Monday’s opener at Lebanon was a Southwestern Buckeye League Southwestern Division rubber match. Valley View and Bellbrook won on each other’s floors during the regular season.
Bellbrook fell behind 28-16 in the district semifinal, and while the Golden Eagles narrowed the gap to two points on two occasions in the fourth period, they never could get the lead.
“We almost did enough,” Bellbrook coach Jason Tincher said. “Give them credit. Valley View plays with great intensity, which is awesome. I like their kids a lot. They deserved to win the game in their own right for the way they played.
“But I’m proud of our kids too. They’re a gritty group. They’re intense. It was just hard to make our own breaks tonight. We were struggling to just get in a rhythm, fumbling the ball around and missing this and that. But our girls were fighting to get through it.”
Valley View (18-7) got all of its scoring from four players: Chloe Smith (15 points), Lauren Legate (13 points, eight rebounds), Abigail Dickson (10 points, three assists, three steals) and Aubrey Stupp (eight points, seven boards).
The Spartans overcame 23 turnovers.
“We just outlasted them,” Valley View coach Steve Dickson said. “Their defense is pretty good. The turnovers were uncharacteristic of us, but I thought our guards handled the pressure pretty well. I thought the key to beating Monroe was our big girls inside. Today, it was definitely the guards.”
He applauded Smith, the Spartans’ lone senior. She converted a trio of treys.
“I thought our senior stepped it up,” Dickson said. “She wasn’t feeling all that great coming into today, but you couldn’t tell. The best thing is I’m not done coaching Chloe yet. She’s one of those kids that you just want to keep around as long as you can. I’m excited for her to get an opportunity to play for a district championship.”
Valley View last made it to the district finals in 2014-15, losing to Springfield Kenton Ridge 39-37.
Bellbrook (14-11) was led by Kayla Paul’s 10 points and eight rebounds. Maria Mescher scored all eight of her points in the first half for the Golden Eagles, and Bailey Zerby scored all eight of her points after halftime.
Tincher said his team had an excellent second half of the season. Bellbrook was 4-8 in early January.
“We have good tradition. Our girls understand that,” Tincher said. “We went through some adversity, and they came out the other side better for it. They just kept fighting, and that made us better.”
The Golden Eagles advanced to the state semifinals last season, losing to Gates Mills Gilmour Academy when they got there.
Fenwick 6-8-12-9—35
Franklin 7-15-20-5—47
FENWICK (11-14): Hannah Tebbe 5 2 13; Rachel Tebbe 1 0 2; Hannah Beckman 5 2 12; Emily Adams 1 2 4; Megan Neff 1 0 2; Brenna Cromwell 1 0 2. Totals: 14-6-35
FRANKLIN (20-4): Jordan Rogers 6 0 15; Skyler Weir 1 0 3; Layne Ferrell 6 5 17; Brooke Stover 1 2 4; Emily Newton 2 0 4; Kaylee Harris 2 0 4. Totals: 18-7-47
3-pointers: FE 1 (H. Tebbe), FR 4 (Rogers 3, Weir)
Bellbrook 12-4-12-14—42
Valley View 13-7-13-13—46
BELLBROOK (14-11): Maria Mescher 4 0 8; Maren Freudenschuss 3 0 7; Dani Westbrock 1 0 2; Kayla Paul 4 2 10; Olivia Greathouse 1 3 5; Kendall Knisely 1 0 2; Bailey Zerby 2 3 8. Totals: 16-8-42
VALLEY VIEW (18-7): Abigail Dickson 2 5 10; Chloe Smith 6 0 15; Aubrey Stupp 2 3 8; Lauren Legate 5 0 13. Totals: 15-8-46
3-pointers: B 2 (Freudenschuss, Zerby), V 8 (Smith 3, Legate 3, Stupp, Dickson)
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