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The
first basketball tournament for girls was held in 1976,
but the history of girls interscholastic basketball in
Ohio begins long before that. Ohio�s high school girls
have been playing organized basketball since at least
the early 1920s. However, it was a major question of
that day as to whether or not any kind of
interscholastic athletic activity was good for our young
ladies. Some saw it as simply unlady-like. Others had
a sincere fear for the safety of the girls.
In 1937
the OHSAA sent out a questionnaire to its member
schools, part of which dealt with the participation of
girls in interscholastic basketball. As regards to both
interscholastic and intramural basketball for girls, 563
schools (55%) said that they did provide this activity
for their girl students. However, when asked �Do you
favor dropping girls� basketball as an interscholastic
sport?� just over half of the schools, 519, responded
that they were in favor of discontinuing this activity.
In September of 1939 a referendum was submitted to the
schools to decide whether or not basketball would be
continued as a girls sport. By a margin of 2-1, the
voting schools opted to discontinue interscholastic
basketball for girls as of September 1, 1940. This, in
turn, led to the discontinuation of all interscholastic
athletics for girls in Ohio.
It
would be another 25 years before interscholastic
athletics for girls would begin their return, and 10
years beyond that before the girls would start getting
their own state tournaments. (Oddly enough, there are
now a total of 22 state tournaments, 11 for the boys and
11 for the girls.)
When
the OHSAA girls basketball tournament began, the schools
were divided into three classes, AAA-AA-A, with AAA
representing the schools with the largest population of
girls, down to A, those with the smallest. In 1988 the
classification was renamed �Division,� and was further
divided into four categories, with Division I being for
the largest schools, down to Division IV for the
smallest. Except for 1986, the tournament has always
been held in Columbus, at either St. John Arena or the
Schottenstein Center. In 1986 it was held at Rhodes
Arena in Akron.
Like
the tournament for boys basketball, every school is
entered in the girls tournament. Technically speaking,
however, when speaking of the girls basketball
�tournament,� one is referring to the Final Four, i.e.,
the state semi-final and final rounds.
If you
like variety in your champions, then the girls
basketball tournament may just be your cup of tea. In
the 32 years of the tournament, only three schools have
won the state championship five times or more. Only 10
have won a title three times, while 60 schools have one
or two championships. As a result only a few can claim
to have truly dominated their class/division for any
length of time, thus opening the door to new champions
most of the time.
In the
first eight years of the tournament the championships
were spread out among a good number of schools, although
several were able to claim multiple titles. The first
school to repeat as a state champion was Columbus Bishop
Hartley in Class AA. The Hawks won the first AA
championship in 1976, then came back to win it all again
in 1978. The next season the Hawks also made it to the
finals, but lost a heartbreaker, 57-53, to an undefeated
Delphos St. John�s (26-0) team.
Another
two-time winner in the early days was Akron St.
Vincent-St. Mary in Class AAA, which won back-to-back
championships in 1979 and 1980. Zanesville�s Bishop
Rosecrans also won back to back titles in 1982-83.
While
Delphos St. John�s won the Division IV championship in
2002, the Blue Jays enjoyed most of their success during
the tournament�s earliest days, when they became the
first school to win more than three state titles in
girls basketball. As already mentioned, they won the
Class AA title in 1979. Like Akron SV-SM, the Blue Jays
also posted back-to-back titles when they added the
championship in 1980. In both 1983 and 1984 St.
John�s, now playing in Class A, lost in the semi-finals,
but came back to capture their fourth championship in
1987, still in Class A. (The team�s championship in
2002 is their fifth.)
The
first of the truly great girls basketball teams,
however, has to be the team that represented West Holmes
High School of Millersburg in Class AA from 1984 to
1986. Up until 1984 the Knights had never advanced to
the state tourney, but that year it all came together in
a very dramatic change for the better.
Under
the direction of head coach Jack Van Reeth, the girls
went through their 1984 season undefeated, posting a
record of 26-0 as they began play in the Final Four. In
the Class AA semi-final round, the Knights defeated
Marion River Valley, 54-51, setting up a championship
game with Orrville, which entered the finals with a
record of 23-4. Adding even more excitement to the game
was the fact that West Holmes and Orrville were also
conference rivals. West Holmes had won both games
between the two schools during the regular season, but
this final game would be one where previous records did
not count. It was now a one game season, winner take
all.
That
championship game would be one for the ages, or, as
girls high school basketball expert John Feasel rated it
in the OHSAA�s girls basketball 25th
anniversary program, one of the all-time great girls
Final Four games. It was an incredible contest, with
numerous lead changes and ties. After three quarters
the Red Riders of Orrville held a three-point advantage,
but the Knights outscored them 6-3 in the fourth quarter
to force overtime. In a very dramatic extra period,
Orrville was clinging to a 35-34 lead late in the OT
when the Knights� Lisa Cline, who led all scorers that
evening with 24 points, hit a shot from the foul line to
give West Holmes the lead, and shortly thereafter the
victory, 36-35.
The
Knights finished the 1983-84 season as the Class AA
state champions with a perfect 28-0 record. They would
repeat that perfection the next season, and make it a
three-peat in the 1985-86 season, winning three straight
AA championships while going undefeated all three
seasons. During the 1986-87 campaign the Knights would
win their first 24 games to run their state record (boys
or girls) winning streak to 108 games � a record that
still stands.
While
the girls from West Holmes were in the middle of their
incredible run of success in Class AA, a Class AAA
school was giving everyone a taste of things to come.
In 1985, Pickerington High School (now Pickerington
Central High School) matched West Holmes win for win as
the Tigers also went 28-0 to capture their first Class
AAA state title in their first trip to the tournament.
Unlike West Holmes, however, it would take the Tigers
five more years to again reach the Final Four, but
before they were done coach Dave Butcher�s team would
collect more state basketball championship trophies than
any other team in the state, boys or girls, except the
great Middletown boys teams of 1944-1957.
In
1990, now playing in Division I, Pickerington was back
in the Final Four, but it would take a semi-final effort
worthy of John Feasel�s all-time tournament Top Ten to
get the Tigers into the finals. Facing defending state
champion GlenOak, the Panthers were down by as many as
17 points in the third quarter before starting an
amazing comeback. In a finish worthy of a Hollywood
script, with the score tied late in the fourth quarter
Pickerington held the ball for the final 1:25. When the
clock had ticked down to just a couple of seconds
remaining, the Tigers� Susie Cassell passed the ball to
Michelle Shade. Shade�s shot was still in the air as
the final buzzer sounded. When the ball sailed through
the hoop and the net Pickerington had won the state
championship, 47-45. Incredibly, it was Pickerington�s
only lead of the game.
The
very next year, 1991, Pickerington would find itself on
the other end of a buzzer beater when a three-pointer by
Celina High School beat them in the regional finals,
48-46. However, the Tigers would be back in the
tournament in all but one of the next eight years. In
1992 the Tigers met Logan High School in the
championship game. That game was played before a record
crowd of 12,385, with most of the seating area turned
into a sea of purple, the school color of both teams. In
spite of 24 points by Logan�s Katie Smith, Pickerington
grabbed its third state title, 53-46.
The
Tigers went undefeated in 1993, posting a 28-0 mark on
the way to a second consecutive championship. The
following year the Tigers were again undefeated as they
entered the championship game against Trinity High
School of Garfield Heights. Unfortunately for Dave
Butcher�s team, they had the misfortune of coming up
against one of Ohio�s all-time greats in Trojans� guard
Sameka Randall, at the time only a freshman. Rookie or
not, Randall�s team-high 17 points led the way as the
Trojans halted Pickerington�s win streak at 74 with a
59-54 victory. (It would be Garfield Heights� only
Division I title, but not their last state championship,
as they would win the Division II championship in 1996,
the teams� third state title overall.)
Over
the next three seasons Pickerington advanced to the
tournament twice, but was unable to make it to the
finals. That would all change in 1998 and 1999. In
1998 the Tigers would win the Division I title with a
record of 26-2. That championship would also earn them
some national recognition, as Pickerington finished
tenth in the national polls. In 1999 the Tigers handed
Mason High School (26-1) its only loss of the season in
the championship game, 44-27. This time the Tigers were
good enough to not only win the Division I title in
Ohio, but they were also named the national champions by
USA Today. Mason was not far off the pace in the
national rankings, coming in at #3
In 2000
Pickerington and Mason again met in the Division I
championship game. This time it would be the Comets�
turn, as they defeated the Tigers in a low scoring game,
36-25. The loss knocked Pickerington out of the
national rankings for only the second time in the last
11 seasons, but earned for Mason the #2 ranking in the
country.
While
the girls basketball tournament has been pretty good
about �sharing the wealth� as far as state championships
go, two schools have managed to be exceptions to this
rule over the last half dozen or so years.
The
first of these is Chaminade-Julienne High School of
Dayton. In 1998 the Eagles made their debut in the
state tournament, losing in the Division I finals to
Pickerington. The next year, now playing in Division
II, Chaminade-Julienne defeated Lima Bath, 42-34, to
earn the Eagles� first state title.
The
Eagles did not qualify for the Final Four in 2000, but
over the following five seasons they would advance to
the championship game four more times. In 2001, the
Eagles played for the Division I state title, but had
the misfortune of going up against the buzz-saw known as
the Beavercreek Beavers. The Beavers, a nationally
ranked team, would complete a perfect season (28-0) by
defeating Chaminade-Julienne, 42-35. The next year the
Eagles did not make it to the Final Four, but in 2003
they were back in the championship game, this time in
Division II. The Eagles would take care of business,
knocking off Cleveland�s Villa Angela-St. Joseph High
School by a score of 60-46.
Returning to Division I in 2004, the Eagles would find
themselves playing Cincinnati Mount Notre Dame in both
2004 and 2005 for the D-I title. Both teams entered the
2004 championship game undefeated. This time it would
be the Cougars of Mt. Notre Dame (28-0) going home with
the championship hardware after handing
Chaminade-Julienne (26-1) a 59-44 defeat. As they say,
turn about is fair play, and in 2005 the Eagles did just
that in defeating the Cougars, 49-38, to earn their
third state championship. (In the 2006 tournament, Mt.
Notre Dame would make its third consecutive appearance
in the Division I finals, and would win its second state
championship by defeating Solon�s Comets, 56-36.)
The
second of the teams to be our exception to the rule is
Regina High School of South Euclid. From 2000, their
first trip ever to the tournament, to 2005, the Royals,
under the direction of coach Pat Diulus, have
practically had a strangle hold on the Division III
state title. In 2000 they easily defeated Bluffton High
School, 56-35, to capture their first state
championship. The next year it was more of the same as
the Royals outscored Sardinia Eastern, 49-37, for
another championship. Going for the hat trick in 2002,
the Royals handed Archbold a 62-54 defeat to record
championship #3.
The
2003 Division III championship game would prove to be a
record setter for Regina. The Royals cruised to a 65-35
victory over Chillicothe Huntington, their 30-point
margin of victory a Division III championship game
record, and the second largest in the history of the
girls tournament. The 2003 championship was also
Regina�s fourth title in a row, a first for any team in
the state, boys or girls.
The
Royals got shut out of the Division III tournament in
2004, but returned in 2005 to capture their fifth title
in six seasons in record fashion. In the semi-finals
they defeated Ironton by a score of 76-26, the largest
margin of victory in a Final Four game in any division
in the tournament�s history. In their 70-45 victory
over Patrick Henry High School in the championship game,
the Royals scored 27 points in the first quarter, a
record for any quarter in a Division III state title
game. In their seven tournament games the Royals
overwhelmed their opponents by an average of 41.1 points
per game. Although coach Pat Diulus says that margins
of victory �mean nothing,� at least in this instance it
shows just how dominating the Royals were. Makes you
wonder how they managed to suffer three losses during
the regular season.
The
Royals did not qualify for the 2006 tournament, but you
can be certain that they will be factor in the Division
III title chase as long as Pat Diulus is coaching the
Royals.
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Looking Back at the
OHSAA's Basketball Championships - No. 2
A centennial moment
By Timothy L. Hudak
Sports Heritage Specialty Publications
4814 Broadview Rd.
Cleveland, Ohio 44109
www.SportsHeritagePublications.net
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Although Ohio has been playing for state girls high
school basketball championships since 1976, and USA
Today has been naming national champions since 1982,
overall record keeping for the sport at the high school
level has not been what it probably should have been.
Only in the last 10-15 years has there been anything
like a serious effort to address this situation, at
either the state or national level. Unfortunately, for
those interested in such things as the history of high
school sports in general, this seems to be the case for
every high school sport, boys or girls, with the
possible exception of football. And, not to be
chauvinistic, but the young ladies seem to get the short
end of an already short stick. For example, this year
will mark the 30th annual McDonalds boys
All-American basketball game, while the girls will
only be playing in their seventh such game.
Be that
as it may, it is still possible to dig into the
available resources to recognize some of those players,
coaches and teams that have had an impact, not only on
Ohio girls basketball, but also at the national level.
The previous article dealt mainly with some of the teams
that have had outstanding success in Ohio girls hoops.
This article will further relate the accomplishments of
some of the teams, while also focusing on players and
coaches who, through their ability and accomplishments,
have been examples of the best of Ohio high school girls
basketball. In the limited space that this forum
provides, it is almost a certainty that deserving people
and/or accomplishments will be overlooked. This is by
no means meant to lessen those contributions, but merely
a reflection of the limited space available. To those
individuals and teams who may have been overlooked we
apologize, while still acknowledging their outstanding
efforts and contributions.
In
longevity and total victories, the honor of being Ohio�s
most successful girls basketball coach belongs to Karen
Wittrock. Karen has been the only coach at Lutheran
West High School in Rocky River since the girls team was
formed some 39 years ago. In that time she has led the
Longhorns to 639 victories, ranking the Longhorns #2 in
the state in total victories. This puts Ms. Wittrock at
the top of the victory column in Ohio girls basketball,
and among the nation�s top ten active girls coaches.
In
1976, the first year of the state girls tournament, the
Longhorns advanced to the Class A finals, only to lose a
thriller to Frankfort Adena High School, 37-35. In
spite of her great success at the school, that is the
only time that Ms. Wittrock�s Longhorns have been able
to break into the Final Four. However, this by no means
detracts from the team�s success on the hardwood.
Beginning in the days when her team had to practice in
the school hallways or at a gym outside the school,
lucky to use their own gym once a week (the boys had it
the other times), under coach Wittrock�s direction the
Longhorns have won 20 conference championships and 22
sectional titles, as well as seven district and one
regional championship.
On a
personal level, Karen Wittrock has been named Ohio
�Coach of the Year� four times, National Outstanding
Coach of the Year by the National Women�s Sports
Foundation, and is enshrined in three Halls of Fame.
Included in this is the honor of being a charter member
of the new Ohio Basketball Hall of Fame, the only woman,
and one of only three high school coaches, so honored.
Dave
Butcher has been head coach of the Pickerington Tigers
(and Pickerington North Panthers since that school
opened in 2003) girls basketball team since the
1983-1984 season. His accomplishments over the last 24
seasons will forever enshrine his name, and that of his
Tigers, in the Ohio girls basketball record book. For
openers, his 539 wins (as of the 2005-2006 season),
against just 51 defeats, ranks Dave Butcher among the
top half-dozen winningest girls coaches in the state.
His winning percentage of .913 is currently the all-time
best in the country for girls coaches with a minimum of
500 victories.
In
1985, in only his second season as the Tigers� head
coach, Dave Butcher led his team to a thrilling Class
AAA championship game victory, defeating Dresden
Tri-Valley, 58-55, in overtime. The Tigers would go on
to appear in eight additional Class AAA-Division I
championship games by the year 2000, winning five more
state titles. The Tigers� six championships are the
most for any girls team in the state. Included in that
run of success is a 74-game win streak (12-28-91 to
3-19-94) and a national championship in 1999.
Coach
Butcher had to have some pretty talented girls to
achieve all of this success, and girls like Nicole
Sanchez, Susie Cassell, LaToya Turner, Tamara Stocks and
Beth Ostendorf, among others, provided that talent.
Five of his players have been named to the Parade
All-American team, while seven have earned Ohio �Player
of the Year� honors.
Coach
Butcher has been named Ohio�s �Coach of the Year� five
times, has twice been named to coach in the Nike Women�s
Basketball Coaches Association All-American game, and is
Director of the State All-Star Game in Ohio.
Pat
Diulus, the head coach at Regina High School in South
Euclid, has coached more girls state basketball
championship teams than any other coach in Ohio. In his
first thirteen seasons as a head coach, Diulus led the
Trojans of Trinity High School in Garfield Heights to
six trips to the Final Four, winning three state titles,
two in Division II (1990, 1996) and one in Division I
(1994). His teams also won 123 consecutive North Coast
League games, taking home 11 league championships.
In
1998, Diulus assumed his current position as the head
basketball coach at Regina High School, and the winning
has just continued. In 2000, his Royals made it to the
Final Four for the first time in school history, and
took home the first of a state record four consecutive
Division III championships. The Royals championship win
streak was halted in 2004, but they again made it to the
finals in �05, and won their fifth championship, giving
coach Diulus a record eight titles, more than any other
basketball coach, boys or girls, in the state.
The
Royals were shut out of the Final Four in 2006, but this
is a new season, and with Pat Diulus closing in on 500
career victories the Royals of Regina High School will
again be in the hunt for a Division III state
championship.
Only
relatively recently has girls high school basketball
really started to garner the attention that it
deserves. National polls, such as that found in USA
Today since around 1983, have featured the nation�s
better high school teams, while USA Today and
various women�s athletic/basketball organizations have
named their annual girls high school all-star and
All-American teams. Ohio has been a major contributor
to both of these categories. While some have already
been mentioned, at this time it would be appropriate to
recognize more of these outstanding teams and athletes.
Anyone
who has followed the national high school polls for any
length of time knows that it is very difficult to
maintain a foothold on these top charts throughout an
entire season. In football, one loss and you are
usually gone. In basketball the pollsters are a little
more �lenient,� but not by much.
One of
the primary polls for girls basketball at the national
level is the USA Today poll. Ohio teams first
made their presence known in that paper�s final Super 25
poll in 1986 when Bethel High School of Tipp City
highlighted an undefeated season, 27-0, by winning the
Class A championship and finishing tenth in the
country. Tipp City must have been really rockin�
through March Madness that year. The city�s other high
school, Tippecanoe, played in the girls Class AA state
championship game that same season, losing a thriller in
overtime to West Holmes, 46-42.
In
1987, Cincinnati Seton High School finished at #23 in
the country. 1990 was the next time that an Ohio school
managed to finish among the nation�s elite teams. The
school was Pickerington, which cracked the Super 25 at
#7. That would begin an incredible run of success at
the national level for the Tigers, one that would see
them finish in the USA Today Super 25 final poll
every year but one during the decade of the 90s.
The
next season, 1991, the Tigers finished at #23 in the
national poll. In 1992 they moved up to #6, and were
joined in the Super 25 by Urbana High School, which
finished 23rd. The next season Pickerington
finished even higher at #4. In 1994 they slipped to #9,
one spot behind Trinity High School, which had defeated
the Tigers that year in the Division I finals. Both
Pickerington and Trinity again finished in the final
Super 25 poll in 1995, the Tigers coming in at #5 while
the Trojans placed at #20.
Pickerington fell out of the rankings of the national
elite in 1996, but two other Ohio schools upheld the
state�s reputation for fine girls high school
basketball. Columbus Brookhaven, the undefeated
Division I champions, finished eighth, while Trinity
came in at #21. The Pickerington Tigers returned to the
top echelons of the national poll in 1997. They
finished seventh that year, two spots behind #5
Wadsworth, which had defeated the Tigers by a single
point, 48-47, in the Division I semi-finals.
In 1998
Pickerington finished #10 in the nation. Saving the
best for last, in 1999 the Tigers closed out an
incredible decade of success by winning the national
championship. (Playing almost three hundred games
during the 1990�s, coach Dave Butcher�s Tigers had lost
barely a dozen games, against some of the top
competition in Ohio and around the country.) The team
that they had defeated in the Division I title game that
season, Mason, finished third in the country. To find
two teams from the same state so highly ranked is quite
an accomplishment, and a real tribute to the quality of
basketball played by the young ladies of the Buckeye
State.
With
the close of the �90s, Pickerington�s run of success, at
least at the national level, was for the time being,
over, but Ohio schools continued to make their mark in
the national polls. In 2000, Ohio again had two teams
among the Super 25�s final top 10 when Mason moved up to
#2, with Regina finishing at #8. In 2001, Beavercreek�s
undefeated team also broke into the Super 25, finishing
the year at the #10 spot.
Over
the last five season�s, Ohio has had two teams finish
among the nation�s elite each time. In 2002,
Cleveland�s East Tech came in at #18, while
Chaminade-Julienne finished at #21. In 2003
Chaminade-Julienne moved up a few spots, finishing at
#16, with Beavercreek back in the national picture at
#20.
The
next year Chaminade-Julienne climbed even higher, but
they almost climbed all the way to the top. Going into
the Ohio Division I title game in 2004, C-J was ranked
#1 in the country, and their opponent in that
championship game, Cincinnati Mt. Notre Dame, was ranked
ninth. Unfortunately for the Eagles of
Chaminade-Julienne, the state championship went to the
Cougars of Mt. Notre Dame by a score of 59 to 44. As a
result of this game, Mt. Notre Dame finished second in
the nation, while Chaminade-Julienne slipped out of the
top 10, but still improved over its 2003 ranking by
finishing at #11.
In
2005, Chaminade-Julienne and Mt. Notre Dame again faced
off for the Division I state championship, and again
their positions in the final national rankings were at
stake. This time it was the Eagles coming out on top,
defeating Mt. Notre Dame�s Cougars by a score of 49-38.
As a result, C-J finished #10 in the final national
poll, the school�s fourth consecutive Super 25 finish.
Mt. Notre Dame came in at #13.
Chaminade-Julienne was missing from the final USA
Today poll in 2006, but Mt. Notre Dame was there for
the third consecutive season. The Cougars finished at
#18, and were joined in the final Super 25 by Cincinnati
Princeton, which finished at #20.
The
2007 season looks to be another outstanding one for the
girls of Ohio. Mt. Notre Dame and North Canton Hoover
high schools were ranked in the USA Today�s first
Super 25 poll of the season, and only time will tell how
they, and Ohio�s other outstanding teams, will fare by
the time the final Super 25 poll comes out at the end of
March.
It
takes great basketball players to produce winning
teams. Only one team can emerge as a state or a
national championship, but that still leaves a lot of
quality teams, filled with many quality players. The
following list contains just a few of the young ladies
whose outstanding accomplishments on Ohio�s high school
basketball courts have earned them top honors in Ohio
and the nation.
Perhaps
Ohio�s best high school basketball star is Katie Smith
of Logan High School. Ms. Smith topped off her high
school career by being named to the WABC, Parade
magazine and USA Today All-American teams in
1992. In 2002 she was the only Ohio girl named to
USA Today�s All-Time girls high school basketball
team.
Other
young ladies whose achievements on the basketball court
have earned them national recognition in the form of
All-American status include Carol Madsen (Cincinnati
Reading, 1989), Sameka Randall (Trinity, 1996 & 1997),
Tamika Williams (Chaminade-Julienne, 1998), Shalon
Pillow (Taylor High School, North Bend, 1998), LaToya
Turner (Pickerington, 1999), Barb Turner (Cleveland East
Tech, 2002), Jessica Davenport (Independence High
School, Columbus, 2003), Allison Boles (Beavercreek High
School, 2003), Brittany Hunter (Brookhaven High School,
Columbus, 2003), Mel Thomas (Mt. Notre Dame, 2004),
Janet Lavender (Cleveland Central Catholic, 2006), Myia
McCurdy (Cincinnati Winton Woods, 2006). |
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