DAYTON, Ohio — Corbin Farnsworth led the Seminoles with 12 points while Cooper Howell and Chance Allen each added 10 to help Woodsfield Monroe Central defeat Maria Stein Marion Local 43-35 in the OHSAA Division VI boys’ basketball state championship game at UD Arena on Saturday.
Woodsfield Monroe Central (26-3) led by as many as 13 points in the first half but the Flyers cut it down to as little as two in the third quarter and five in the fourth.
Maria Stein Marion Local’s Grant Kremer made a jump shot to bring the Flyers within 35-30 as 1:54 remained in the final quarter.
But a 6-0 run at the free throw line by Woodsfield Monroe Central, which saw Allen make four during his 6-for-6 game at the line, coupled by two misses at the charity stripe in that span by Maria Stein Marion Local sealed the first state championship for the Seminoles.
“I thought our boys played really well today,” Woodsfield Monroe Central head coach Mason Lang said. “We talked about togetherness, trust in each other, and I think today it really showed through. We had to go through some adversity — that’s a really well-coached team, a really good defensive team. They challenged us on the offensive end. We really struggled to score, but our defense, we were able to step up there.”
Woodsfield Monroe Central forced the Flyers to go 2-for-7 in the final 1:54 and held them to 37% shooting overall.
The Seminoles won the first-ever Division VI state championship after the OHSAA expanded to seven divisions before this school year. They’re the first team from the Ohio Valley to win a state championship since Yorkville in 1943.
“You dream about it, so when you finally do it, you don’t know what to say and you just kind of have to soak it all in,” Chance Allen said. “But it will hit me later.”
Maria Stein Marion Local recorded 26 wins this season, setting a new school record.
Austin Niekamp led the Flyers with 13 points and Kremer finished with 11. They held a 26-22 rebounding edge despite the loss but went 4-for-11 in free throws.
“We got outscored 14-6 in the first quarter and then from there it was an even game,” Maria Stein Marion Local head coach Kurt Goettemoeller said. “We made some runs. That run that we made right before the half was pretty important, and I want to say we got it down to two maybe at one point in the third or fourth quarter. We were there, but you just give them credit.”
