Girls Basketball: Columbus Grove claims Division VI state title
Mar. 15—DAYTON — Defend until the end.
It's a motto Columbus Grove has lived by since the summer, and now, it's a philosophy has resulted in the program's first-ever state championship.
On Saturday afternoon at University of Dayton Arena in Dayton, Columbus Grove jumped on Rootstown with a strong first quarter and left little doubt about the outcome of the game in a 65-46 win.
And just like it has been all season, that strong defensive mentality was at the heart of it all.
"We did a really good job of starting fast. That's kind of been our motto during this tournament run," Columbus Grove coach Brian Schroeder said. "We wanted to make sure we threw the first punch. I thought we were aggressive defensively, which really made them uncomfortable, and offensively, we attacked the rim early."
Columbus Grove scored 20 of the game's first 22 points and didn't allow Rootstown's first field goal until just 53 seconds remained on the first quarter clock.
The Bulldogs' signature 1-2-2 press and 2-3 zone defense, mixed in with a little 1-3-1 in the second half, forced Rootstown into 23 turnovers.
At the top of each of those defensive sets was 5-10 junior guard Kendal Palte, who frequently turned that defense into offense during that first quarter surge, even scoring six straight points during a 17-0 run.
"I knew we had to go out there and hit them first, and I know my advantage is my speed and my defense, so I used those things to get us going," Palte said after finishing with 14 points of 6 of 10 shooting.
Schroeder said Palte's length and athleticism caused problems on Rootstown's smaller guards, Addy Germann and Kelsey Bittecuffer, both of whom averaged around 10 points per game entering Saturday.
"She did a great job at getting defelections," Schroeder said of Palte. "We always tell her that if she has a size advantage, a height advantage or leaping advantage, which she pretty much always does, we wanted her to use those things to her advantage and be strong."
Columbus Grove led 22-6 after one, 33-19 at the break and 51-32 after three quarters.
Rootstown cut the lead to 12 at 55-43 with 3:18 left in the game, but Columbus Grove answered with six straight points to pull away for good.
Lauryn Auchmuty led all scorers with 17 points, both Kendal Palte and Aubrey Schroeder recorded 14 points and Nicole Nesby added a monster double-double with 13 points and 16 rebounds.
Nesby was also tasked with slowing down Nadia Lough, Rootstown's 5-11 senior forward and leading scorer who averaged 13 points and seven rebounds this season.
Nesby, Columbus Grove's 6-foot junior forward, limited Lough to 1 of 7 from the field for four points. Lough also committed seven turnovers for the Rovers.
"It (the gameplan against Lough) was pretty simple: let Nicole play her one-on-one," Schroeder said. "She's done a great job in the center of our zone at doing that, and it allows our four perimeter players to stay out on shooters. Her teammates just trust her."
Kelsey Bittecuffer led Rootstown in scoring with 12 points, followed by Elliot Smallfield with 10 points. As a team, Rootstown, the Division VI runner-up, scored over half of its points from three (8 of 18) and shot 31% from the field (13 of 42).
Columbus Grove shot an efficient 52% from the field (22 of 42) and controlled the glass 34-21.
Columbus Grove's dominant performance in Saturday's Division VI state championship game was a moment that, Brian Schroeder said, his team has been ready for since the summer.
"They just have a confidence about them, and you could just see it at any team camp we went to," he said. "This group was confident in its abilities and it has been successful in multiple sports. I wish I could take credit for it, but it's nothing I've done. Having the best player on the court (Lauryn Auchmuty) helps, and having the other players around her play with confidence helps put it all together."
Lauryn Auchmuty is the lone senior on Columbus Grove's roster. She exits the program as the school's all-time leading scorer and the holder of a number of other records. After the win, she reflected on what it meant to end her high school career as a state champion.
"As the time runs off the clock and you realize that you've won a state championship, it's something that you have to convince yourself is actually happening," Auchmuty said. "There's just a lot of emotions. We hugged each other and started crying because we made school history. It's an accomplishment I've always wanted to see or achieve at Columbus Grove."
"It's such a journey," Schroeder said. "This is the 20th week of our season, so it's a long grind and as a coach, your mind is always on the next one. It was just surreal to realize we were going to win. It's the last game of the year, and we're going to go out as winners. It's really been a historical season for our school."
Score by quarters
CG 22 11 18 14 — 65
RT 6 13 13 14 — 46
COLUMBUS GROVE — Lauryn Auchmuty 3-10 17, Kendal Palte 6-10 14, Aubrey Schroeder 5-9 14, Nicole Nesby 5-5 13, Allison Thompson 3-5 7, Total: 22/42 (52%)
ROOTSTOWN — Kelsey Bittecuffer 4-10 12, Elliot Smallfield 2-5 10, Addy Germann 3-8 9, Colbie Curall 1-4 6, Nadia Lough 1-7 4, Sophi Smith 1-1 2, Cloe Bengston 1-6 2, Addison Pownall 0-0 1, Total: 13/42 (31%)
Rebounds — CG 34; RT 21
Turnovers — CG 21; RT 23
Records — Columdbus Grove 27-2; Rootstown 27-2
Reach Chris Howell at 567-242-0468 or on X @Lima_Howell
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