Erin Riccardi’s two-out single in the bottom of the tenth inning scored McKenna Russ from second base, giving North Canton Hoover a 1-0 victory in a classic Division I state softball championship Saturday evening at Akron Firestone Stadium. The two teams, behind their star pitchers and exceptional defense, battled toe-to-toe before Riccardi finally was able to deliver the clutch hit both teams looked for all game. Hoover rode the right arm of senior standout Jessica Simpson, who entered the game with a sparkling 30-2 record and 0.25 earned run average. Elyria countered with hard-tossing Tess Sito, who had a dominant 27-1 record and 0.19 ERA entering the game. After nine-and-a-half grueling innings, Riccardi finally was able to break through. She lined a Sito pitch to left and Russ raced home, easily beating the tag from the catcher and sending Hoover home with the title. The two terrific pitchers exerted their ...

The St. Edward Eagles became known for their double-digit comebacks during their run to the Division I state championship game. They did everything they could to make sure they'd need to do the same Saturday night against Newark.Unfortunately for the Eagles, Greg Avery had a different idea.Behind 19 first half points from their star forward, the Wildcats built a double digit lead and took a 33-25 lead into halftime in a game where St. Edward was unable to find little first half offense and senior center Tom Pritchard didn't even record an official field goal attempt until the 7:17 mark of the third quarter. The lone bright spot for the Eagles in the first half was senior guard Mike Hartnett who scored 10 points 4-of-6 shooting.Avery finished the game with 33 points and 11 rebounds and seemed to have an answer every time St. Edward got momentum.Examples: Tom Pritchard scores ...

Ottawa-Glandorf jumped out to an early lead and never looked back, rolling to a 62-44 victory over Garaway in the Division III State Championship at Ohio State's Value City Arena. The state title was the second in school history for the Titans (23-5), who captured the Division II crown in 2004. But this year's team wasn't expected to duplicate the feat. They were ranked tied for 13th in the state and were forced to beat two of the top three ranked teams in Anna and Garaway on back-to-back nights to accomplish the task. No problem. "I'm kinda numb right now," said Ottawa-Glandorf Head Coach Josh Leslie at a post game press conference. "I've been renting a home in Ottawa and now maybe I can buy one." Garaway (24-4) dug themselves a hole early, turning the ball over six times in the first four minutes of the game. Ottawa-Glandorf took advantage ...

Tony Meyer knew Saturday afternoon would be special."Tony said he could drop a couple [threes], so I said 'Go ahead,'" said New Knoxville coach Dan Hegemier.Meyer shot 4-for-6 on three-pointers, including 3-for-3 in the first quarter, as New Knoxville used the three-pointer early then attacked Worthington Christian inside in the second half on their way to capturing the Division IV state championship Saturday afternoon, 74-52, over Worthington Christian."When they just kept dropping for me I was like, 'I just gotta keep shooting,'" said Meyer.The Rangers shot 7-for-12 from behind the three-point line in the first half but shot just four three-pointers in the second half en route to the school's first state championship.The Rangers shot 5-for-6 on three-pointers in the first quarter.But it wasn't just shooting for New Knoxville. The Rangers held Worthington Christian junior Brian Becker to just six points on 2-for-8 shooting. The Warriors shot 37.5% in the ...

A crowd of 14,498 collectively held their breath as the ball hung on the rim and the buzzer pierced the deafening silence. Ray Chambers' layup with under a second to play in overtime gave Chillicothe an improbable 70-69 victory over Toledo Libbey in the Division II State Championship at Ohio State's Value City Arena. In a back-and-forth affair, it took an extra session and the full 36 minutes to determine a winner. After Toledo Libbey's Julius Wells calmly sank two free thows with 5.1 seconds left to stake the Cowboys to a 69-68 lead, it was the heroics of Chambers and fellow senior standout Anthony Hitchens on the final memorable play. Hitchens took a short inbound pass from under the Chillicothe basket and blazed his way down the court, weaving around Libbey defenders. At the Libbey free throw line, he delivered a perfect bounce pass to Chambers, whose lay-in bounced ...

Toledo Whitmer did their best to keep things interesting, but Cody Dennison was too much for the Panthers in the second Division I semifinal of the night. Dennison scored 22 points along with 5 rebounds and 4 assists and hounded Whitmer gunner Ryne Smith on the defensive end in Newark's 63-44 win. The Wildcats will play Lakewood St. Edward in the Division I championship game Saturday night.Whitmer, down by as many as 21 early in the third quarter, fought back to within 9 thanks to an Antwan Willis and one with 7:47 to play in the game, but Dennison, a 5'10" junior, used a mix of jump shots and drives to keep Whitmer at bay.Newark pulled away from the Panthers in the second quarter when they outscored Whitmer 13-3 in the final 3:06 of the first half. Dennison scored 10 of his points in the frame, while senior Greg Avery ...

There couldn't have been two points sweeter to Tom Pritchard. Battling frustration, jawing from anyone on the floor wearing blue and a raucous St. Xavier student section, Pritchard scored 26 points, the exclamation point a fast break dunk with 1:32 to play in the ballgame and a shout for Xavier's Walt Gibler upon landing. "I wanted to throw it down," said Pritchard, "get my team some energy to finish the game." Walt Gibler scored 24 points for St. Xavier, but it wasn't enough as the Eagles advance to play the winner of Toledo Whitmer vs. Newark in Saturday night's Division I state championship game following their 68-59 state semifinal victory. Pritchard and the Eagles turned a 35-25 first half deficit on its head in the third quarter thanks to a 13-0 run behind the play of Pritchard (14 rebounds) and Frankie Dobbs (16 points, 5 assists) in continuing their improbable tournament run. St. Ed ...

Despite being an underdog on paper, Ottawa-Glandorf wasn't going to let records, rankings, or stats tell the story. Justin Schomaeker scored 26 points and Jake Meyer chipped in with 13 crucial second-half tallies to lead the Titans to a 65-57 victory over Anna in the second Division III semifinal game at OSU's Value City Arena. Anna, which entered the game boasting a 25-1 record and ranked second in the state, fell behind early and wasn't able to dig its way out of the hole. Ottawa-Glandorf started out the game on fire, hitting five of their first eight shots and jumping out to an early 10-0 lead 3:23 into the contest. Meanwhile, Anna found the rims uninviting, missing their first ten shots and failing to score until the 3:58 mark of the first quarter. The Rockets then settled down, hitting five of their next six shots and knotting the game at ...