Ft. Loramie Defense Stifles Waterford for D-4 Girls State Basketball Championship

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(Dayton) – The (24-4) Lady Wildcats of Waterford are bringing some hardware back to the Southeast District with a Division 4 Girls State Basketball Runner-Up finish to their 2023-24 season after falling to the (28-2) Fort Loramie Lady Redskins 42-29 Saturday at the University of Dayton Arena.

Fort Loramie held an 11-8 lead after the first quarter, only to see Waterford even the score at 11-11 early in the second period. That is when the Lady Redskins defense turned on the heat over the next quarter-and-a-half, holding Waterford to just 3 points in the second period and kept the Lady Wildcats scoreless until just over three minutes to play in the third period. Fort Loramie built their biggest lead of the contest to 30-14 late in the third quarter, then held a 33-21 advantage after three quarters. Waterford cut the deficit to nine points on three ocassions, but got no closer with Fort Loramie pulling away from a 37-28 score to claim their fourth girls state basketball crown in six tries with the 42-29 final tally.

The Lady Redskins shot 19/44 from the field- including 1/5 from the arc for a total of 43%. They added 3/10 from the charity stripe. Waterford was held to 8/25 from the floor- including 1/10 from the arc for a low 32%. The foul line helped the Lady Wildcats stay relatively close with a 12/15 performance. Waterford committed 20 turnovers compared to 7 for Fort Loramie.

The Lady Redskins were led by Avery Brandewie with 17 points and 8 rebounds. Kendall Sury led Waterford with 19 points. Three other Lady Wildcats combined for the remaining 10 points. This was Waterford’s third trip to the OHSAA State Final Four in the last four years.

Southeast District D-2 Fairland and D-3 Portsmouth lost in semifinal action at the 2023-24 tournament.