Tri-Village jumped out to a 15-6 first quarter lead it would never relinquish, beating the Irish 62-32 in a Division IV district semifinal game on Monday night at Brookville High School.
Junior Abbigail Peterson scored 12 points for the Irish, which finished its season 17-8. Catholic Central beat Covington and Yellow Springs in the first two rounds to advance to the district semifinals for the first time since the 2000 season.
“We knew coming into the game that this was going to be one of our toughest tests of the season,” said Catholic Central coach Brandon Peterson said. “They played extremely hard. (Tri-Village) is stateranked. We knew what we were going to be facing, but we never gave up. I’m extremely proud of them and of the season.”
Patriots freshman Morgan Hunt scored a game-high 27 points, senior Lissa Siler had 15 and senior Maddie Downing added 11 as Tri-Village improved to 23-1 overall. The Patriots will play Legacy Christian in a D-IV district final game at 1 p.m. Saturday at Troy High School. The Tri-Village senior class is seeking its fourth straight district championship.
The Patriots picked up the pace in the second quarter, scoring a majority of its 20 points in transition. Tri-Village led 35-14 at the half and cruised the rest of the way.
“It’s still the youth,” Brandon Peterson said. “It’s been almost 20 years since we got to the sectional final. Early on I think we allowed them to speed us up. I think once we got settled in we started getting into the rhythm we needed to.”
The Irish will graduate three seniors — Jenna Skeens, Madison Rice and Trish McConnell — but will return all five starters from a team that’s won 34 games in the last two seasons.
“We’re looking towards next year now,” Brandon Peterson said. “We just told them that June is going to be here in two-and-a-half months. We get a little bit of a break and we’ll be back in the gym in a month and we’ll be ready to go.”
Next season, Catholic Central will be seeking its first Ohio Heritage Conference since joining the league in 2001. They finished second to Greenon this winter, falling to the Knights in an overtime thriller earlier this month.
The Irish were also the lone girls basketball team in Clark County to win two postseason games and advance to the district semifinals.
“I told them winning is not easy,” Brandon Peterson said. “For them to put two 17-win seasons together in a row and still be a young group, the sky’s the limit. I’m super, super proud of them. … I’m proud to represent Clark County and the OHC. I look at the crowd that came to support us and that’s really huge for us.”
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