VANDALIA – For all the prominence surrounding Sydney Mobley’s game – even before she was named Ohio Ms. Basketball – Big Walnut’s standout junior forward said Cincinnati Mount Notre Dame used a defensive tactic she hadn’t seen before in a Division II state semifinal March 13.
Mobley was face-guarded all game regardless of her spot on the court, and although she finished with 23 points on 10-of-15 shooting and six rebounds, Mount Notre Dame held the rest of the Golden Eagles to 7 of 28 from the floor and answered every run in a 55-43 win at Vandalia-Butler.
“I haven’t seen that before, but we didn’t think about it in preparing so I think that shocked us a little bit,” said Mobley, the state’s top-ranked player, according to ESPN and 247Sports. “They were full face deny. I just didn’t think about that [before the game].”
Sophomore guard Ryleigh Thrapp added 11 points and five rebounds for Big Walnut (23-5), which also lost in a state semifinal last year on the same floor in overtime to Cincinnati Winton Woods. That was the Golden Eagles’ first state tournament game.
Big Walnut never led against Mount Notre Dame and the game was tied only once, 4-4, midway through the first quarter.
Mount Notre Dame coach Drew Fladung said his defensive approach to Mobley – led by sophomore wing Carine Harris – was itself a variation of the Cougars’ usual approach.
“We went to a different defense and I give a lot of credit to my staff; they saw some things on film and in preparation that made us think we could play a lot of our zone principles but shade Mobley at all times,” Fladung said. “We are really confident in Carine’s ability to shut anybody down at any given time. She’s a lethal defender who can guard guards and guard bigs.
“Our normal zone, we didn’t really feel comfortable allowing [Mobley] to find space and let shooters on the perimeter roam free, so we made the adjustment to shade her, keep the ball out of her hands and keep the ball on the perimeter.”
Bella Veith had 16 of her 19 points in the second half for the Cougars (26-0), who will face Akron Hoban in the state final at 5:15 p.m. March 14 at University of Dayton Arena. Veith made four of her five 3-pointers after halftime.
Harris finished with 18 points, three times her average entering the game.
No Golden Eagle other than Mobley scored for the first 10:42.
“They were able to get going and we weren’t,” Big Walnut coach Carey Largent said. “You won’t win games turning the ball over 20 times … [and] they were able to hit big shots when we made a run.”
Big Walnut put together a 7-0 run midway through the fourth to make it 42-38. Thrapp made baskets on back-to-back possessions and junior guard Remy Largent drained a 3, but the Golden Eagles got no closer.
Mount Notre Dame made its final seven throws to seal the win.
Big Walnut graduates two senior starters, guards Lexi Federer and Alexa Morris.
“It was really big to just even get back to where we are,” said Federer, a four-year starter who will play at NAIA Southeastern University in Florida. “Obviously this is not our end goal, but it was really cool to get back to this spot. Not a lot of teams get this opportunity. I am grateful to have been able to play in this game.”
High school sports reporter Dave Purpura can be reached at dpurpura@dispatch.com and at @dp_dispatch on X.
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Ohio Ms. Basketball Sydney Mobley, Big Walnut fall in state semifinal
Reporting by Dave Purpura, Columbus Dispatch / The Columbus Dispatch
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