First Posted: 3/16/2015
OTTAWA — The good news was Ottawa-Glandorf reached the girls soccer state championship game.
But with the soccer success, it meant a late start for the girls basketball team.
Five of the soccer players quickly converted over to basketball, but there was a transition period to navigate.
The Titans quickly recovered and have landed at the state girls basketball tournament for the first time.
O-G (25-2) will meet Proctorville Fairland (22-5) in the Division III state semifinals at 8 p.m. Thursday at Ohio State’s Value City Arena. In the other state semifinal game, Versailles (24-4) will play Doylestown Chippewa (28-0) at 6 p.m. Thursday at Ohio State.
After O-G started the year 2-0, Bath rolled past O-G 66-35 in the Western Buckeye League opener Dec. 11.
“That was a wake-up call,” O-G’s Danielle Schroeder said. “I think after the Bath loss and losing to Liberty-Benton, that really motivated us. We had to buckle down and had to get going if we wanted to go to state.”
O-G coach Troy Yant said, “It was a disappointing loss to Bath. It was an embarrassing loss. We had a meeting and called out the seniors. We were very disappointed. …. It probably took 11 games into the season (to get going). We weren’t playing bad. We just weren’t all on the same page. We pulled the seniors in and we talked about our identity.
“It was really tough. We didn’t have the preseason to establish a shooter and this person is going to be our face-guard person and this person is going to be this. … The early games were to find our identity.”
O-G fell to 5-2 after the 49-41 loss to Liberty-Benton on Dec. 29.
Since then, the Titans have won 20 in a row.
“I think what happened is they were tired from a long soccer season and it took time to get in the flow,” Yant said. “We stayed with our (man press) defense and we got on a roll. The girls got their confidence.”
Guard Elissa Ellerbrock, a 5-foot-9 senior, leads the Titans in scoring at 12 per game. She averaged 16.5 points in the regional, including 18 in the 43-30 regional finals win over North Union. Ellerbrock has signed to play at Gannon University (Erie, Pennsylvania).
Ellerbrock’s sister, Dani Ellerbrock, a 5-6 junior, averages 5.5 points and scored nine in the regional finals. Danielle Schroeder, a 5-9 senior, averages 7.2 points. Kylie White, a 5-9 sophomore, is averaging 8 points.
The fifth starter has rotated in the tournament between 5-9 senior Erin Basinger (7.4 points) and 5-8 senior Anna Bellman (4.5 points).
Fairland reached the state semifinals last year for the first time.
Caitlin Stone, a 5-3 senior, leads the team in scoring (15) and also hands out 2 assists and makes 2.6 steals. She’s also hit close to 100 3-pointers and is hitting 41 percent on threes. Stone has signed with Urbana.
“She’s fast and does a great job of what you have to do if you’re a small player,” Fairland coach Jon Buchanan said. “She shoots it well, handles the ball well and is very aggressive. She’s definitely a bulldog on the court.”
Kelsey Riley, a 5-8 guard, averages 12.5 points, 5.5 rebounds and 2.9 assists. Mackenzie Riley, a 5-11 senior, averages 9 points and 6.1 rebounds. Jenna Fulks, a 5-9 senior, is averaging 8 points and 4.4 rebounds.
Emily Chapman is a freshman guard averaging 6 points and 2.6 rebounds.
Like O-G, Fairland loves to press.
“We ride our defense,” Buchanan said. “We gave up 28 in the regional finals and 33 and 38 in the district. We rarely aren’t pressing.”
