COLUMBUS, Ohio -- The Pickerington Central Tigers won their 14th regional title on Friday night, defeating the Marysville Monarchs by a score of 54-39. The trio of Oliva Cooper, Berry Wallace and Ms. Basketball finalist Madison Greene was too much to handle for Marysville. The Tigers used a 12-0 run spanning the third and fourth quarters to take over the momentum of the game and ultimately, bring home the victory. 

Nerves were present for both teams to start the game, going without a field goal for nearly the first two minutes. Sophomore Rylee Bess finally opened things up for the Tigers with a driving left handed layup at the 6:03 mark. Senior Olivia Cooper quickly added to the Pickerington Central total with a bucket of her own, pushing the lead to 4-0. Senior Ava Wilkerson drained a three for the Monarchs with just over four minutes to play to pull within one point. 

Freshman Blossom Wallace entered the game off of the bench and made an immediate impact. A steal and score pushed the lead to three and on the next possession, Blossom Wallace drained a three pointer from the corner to push the Tiger lead to six. Junior Berry Wallace got in on the scoring action with two free throws, extending the lead yet again. Senior Cam Lee converted a layup to cut the lead to six at the end of the first. Pickerington Central led 11-5 after one quarter. 

The layup by Cam Lee to end the quarter kicked off a solid run by the Monarchs that carried into the second quarter. Junior JoJo Eberhart and Cam Lee each sank two free throws and senior Ava Krutowskis tied the game with a layup with 5:54 left in the second. Cooper regained control and ended the Marysville run and Berry Wallace pushed the lead back to five with an old-fashioned three point play on a put back. Cam Lee came up big for the Monarchs yet again, this time with a three pointer. 

Cooper responded for the Tigers and was countered by two free throws from Marysville senior Leah Brown. Berry Wallace’s layup pushed Pickerington Central’s lead to four but Eberhart got to the free throw line where she cut the lead to three just before the end of the frame. Heading into halftime, Pickerington Central maintained a 20-17 lead despite missing senior Madison Greene for most of the half due to foul trouble. 

Brown opened up the third quarter with a two point basket for the Monarchs but was quickly answered by two free throws from Greene. On the ensuing possession, Greene stole the ball and pushed it ahead to Cooper for a layup. On the next possession, Greene managed to get to the rim and draw a foul. She converted both attempts and the Tigers’ lead grew to five. Krutowskis halted the run with a three pointer, just the second by Marysville in the game. 

Senior Trinity Jackson kicked off yet another run for Pickerington Central with a layup followed by baskets from Berry Wallace and Cooper. Wilkerson knocked down her second three of the game to give Marysville a little life. Cam Lee and Eberhart both added baskets to pull within three with less than a minute left in the quarter. Late in the period, Greene attacked the basket and converted an old-fashioned three point play to completely capture the momentum and send the Tigers into the final period with a 35-29 lead. 

Pickerington Central carried the momentum into the fourth quarter when Cooper finished at the rim, drew the foul and converted from the free throw line. On the next possession, she was fouled and headed to the free throw line again, converting once this trip. Berry Wallace added a layup and Greene capped the 9-0 run with yet another old-fashioned three point play. Eberhart finally stopped the run with a three pointer from the right wing cutting the lead to 12. Marysville was forced to apply pressure in both full and half court scenarios which ultimately led to easy baskets for the Tigers. 

Blossom Wallace and Greene were the first two recipients of open looks and makes for Pickerington Central. Eberhart sank another three, this time from the left corner, cutting the lead to 13. The Tigers outscored the Monarchs 6-4 over the last several possessions leading to a 54-39 final score.

Cooper led the Tigers in scoring with 16. Greene added 12 and Berry Wallace scored 11. Eberhart paced the Monarchs with 11 and Cam Lee and Krutowskis added nine each. 

Pickerington Central advances to the state semifinals to take on the winner of Holland Springfield and Olmsted Falls on Friday, March 10th at 8:00 pm at the University of Dayton.