Allen, Woods rally Lady Trojans back to state finals

FAIRBORN — The game went like a rollercoaster. Fortunately for the Portsmouth Lady Trojans, they were like The Beast at Kings Island.

Portsmouth had the lead, saw Norwayne put together a run, then built a big lead only to see the Lady Bobcats rally to take the lead. That’s when the Lady Trojans turned into The Beast and rallied for a 40-37 win in the Division 5 state semifinals on Saturday at Wright State University.

“We faced a lot of challenges in the game and we rose to the occasion each time,” said Portsmouth coach Amy Hughes. “Our girls showed great resilience and toughness. They’ve been in a lot of pressure situations all season so I knew they weren’t going to back down.”

Portsmouth improves to 23-4 overall and will now have their chance to repeat as they will face the Ottawa-Glandorf Lady Titans — in a rematch of the 2023-24 state semifinal — at University of Dayton's Arena on Saturday at 2:00 p.m.

Norwayne finishes the season with a record of 24-3.

“Norwayne has a very good team. We knew coming in they had three really good players that would challenge our defense. I give them a lot of credit for how hard they played the whole game, but I was proud of our girls and how they responded each time they were challenged,” said Hughes.

Portsmouth came out and took an 11-5 lead after a putback by Sienna Allen with 1:30 left in the first quarter. Hannah Frolic’s layup got Norwayne within 11-7 to end the quarter.

Bry Shannon hit a 3-pointer to start the second quarter for Portsmouth and Hayven Carter followed with a layup and Allen sank two foul shots and it was 20-11 with 1:56 to go in the half. Courtney Cline’s layup got the Lady Bobcats within 20-13 at the break.

Portsmouth controlled the game until late in the third quarter.

KeKe Woods got a steal and fed Allen for a 3-pointer to give Portsmouth its biggest lead of the game at 26-13 with 5:55 on the clock.

Shannon’s layup put the lead at 30-19 but Froelich made a layup, Ava Maibach sank a free throw and Froelich had a putback to get the Lady Bobcats within 30-24.

Allie DeMassimo scored with 34 seconds left in the quarter and Norwayne trailed 32-27.

The Lady Bobcats then came out strong in the fourth quarter and took a 36-32 lead on a layup by Froelich at the 3:01 mark.

Allen followed up a missed shot and Woods turned a steal by Shannon into a layup to tie the game with 1:40 left.

Maibach was fouled on the offensive end and converted one of two free throws to give the Lady Titans a one-point lead.

But Allen would put the Lady Trojans ahead for good with a drive along the baseline for the score to make it 38-37 and she was able to draw a foul with 31 seconds on the clock and she nailed both shots for a 40-37 lead.

Allen came up with a steal and ran some clock before Portsmouth turned the ball over near half court.

Norwayne tried to set up a chance at tying the game, but the pressure from Portsmouth in the back court forced a bad throw to the corner and caused a turnover with 6 seconds left to play.

Portsmouth threw the ball in and ran the clock out to seal the win and advance.

Allen finished with a game-high 20 points to go with 6 rebounds, 2 assists and 3 steals. Woods had 9 points, 6 rebounds and a pair of steals.

Maibach had 15 points, 4 rebounds, 4 assists and 4 steals while Froelich got 10 points and 7 rebounds to pace the Lady Bobcats.

Portsmouth 11 9 12 8 = 40

Norwayne 7 6 14 10 = 37

PORTSMOUTH (23-4): Sienna Allen 4 2 6-7 20, Salem Allen 0 0 0-0 0, Keke Woods 3 1 0-1 9, Hayven Carter 3 0 0-0 6, Bry Shannon 2 1-1 5, K.K. Mays 0 0 0-0 0. Totals: 11 4 6-8 40. 3-point goals: 4-8. Rebounds: (O-4, D-14) 18 (Si. Allen 6, Woods 6, Carter 3). Assists: 7 (Si. Allen 2, Sa. Allen 2). Steals: 6 (Si. Allen 3, Woods 2). Blocks: 2 (Si. Allen, Shannon). Turnovers: 10. Fouls: 17. Fouled out: Shannon (4th, 1:24).

NORWAYNE (24-3): Makenna Heyden 0 0 0-0 0, Madicyn Rupp 0 0 0-0 0, Ava Maibach 2 1 8-10 15, Annie Henico 0 0 0-0 0, Allie Demassimo 1 1 2-2 7, Courtney Cline 2 0 1-3 5, Hannah Froelich 5 0 0-2 10. Totals: 10 2 11-17 37. 3-point goals: 2-10. Rebounds: (O-6, D-15) 21 (Froelich 7, Maibach 4, Demassimo 4). Assists: 7 (Maibach 4). Steals: 7 (Maibach 4). Blocks: None. Turnovers: 12. Fouls: 12. Fouled out: None.