Brock Netter, Staff Writer
Southern Ohio Sports Authority is presented by OhioHealth.
PICKERINGTON — Katie Strickland will never forget what happened on Thursday night.
CREDIT: Derrick Webb/SOSA
With less than 15 seconds left on the clock, and in a 44-44 ballgame, Notre Dame drew up a play — one that wasn’t supposed to fall into Strickland’s hands.
But that’s not the play God had in mind.
The Titans (24-2) got the basketball to Ella Kirby, who threw up a 3-ball. The shot was tipped by a defender, but fortunately for ND, Strickland, a 6-foot junior, was standing in the right place at the right time.
She grabbed the rebound and immediately threw up a prayer … one that was answered in its fullest.
Bounce. Bounce. Basket.
Strickland’s put-back gave her Titans a 46-44 victory over Fisher Catholic in a Division IV regional semifinal — and set off a wave of emotion on their bench and within their crowd.
“In my 13 years of coaching, we have never won a game on a buzzer-beater, until now,” Notre Dame coach JD McKenzie said. “That’s why you saw me running on the court like that. I’ve never experienced it. I just couldn’t be happier for the girls, man. They’re not all going to be pretty and they’re not all going to be perfect. But it’s the second time we’ve been to the Elite 8 and this time feels different.”
While the Titans used every second of the game clock to get a victory, the foundation of the win was set during the first three and a half quarters. That’s where they controlled the glass against two post players over 6-foot in Fisher’s Ellie and Averie Bruce.
Notre Dame managed to out-rebound the Irish by a 28-16 margin, giving itself multiple second chances to the ball in the bucket.
“That was an emphasis,” McKenzie said. “Most of the time, we’re the biggest team on the floor. But [Fisher Catholic] has [Ellie and Averie Bruce], who are both big. But offensive rebounding was huge and we got some second chance opportunities. We wanted to score in transition and limit their second chance opportunities. We did a decent job of doing that. Just two really good teams going at it tonight.”
Spearheading the charge on the glass, per usual, was Notre Dame’s Gracie Ashley.
The junior ended the game with a game-high 17 points alongside a game-high eight rebounds.
“All of those girls, Gracie especially, give effort every single night,” McKenzie said. “You know what you’re going to get. You’re probably going to get close to a double-double. I say she has super body control for a post player. She can catch the ball in awkward positions and still score and does a great job defensively. She’s probably 5-foot-10 and those [Bruce] girls are probably 6-foot-2, and she’s down there pushing on them. She’s got basketball in her blood. Everybody should want a Gracie Ashley on their team.”
Fisher Catholic (21-5) started the game with back-to-back buckets from Ellie Bruce, giving the Irish some juice out of the gates.
However, Notre Dame responded quickly behind Ashley, Annie Dettwiller, Ella Kirby and Katie Strickland to the tune of a 12-0 run, closing out the first quarter with a 14-7 advantage.
The Irish knew they had to pick up the energy with Averie Bruce on the bench with two fouls. They managed to do so by piecing together a 6-0 run behind Ellie Bruce and Ava Albert, trimming the deficit to 14-13.
Never a team to panic, the Titans simply ran their offense, continuing to get shots up behind Ashley and Dettwiller while the Irish remained in their zone defense.
Not switching up the course helped ND maintain a 20-17 lead at halftime.
Fisher Catholic managed to tie the game at 22-22 following a 3 from Voni Bethel and a bucket from Ellie Bruce to open the third, but Notre Dame was about to kick things into high gear.
Ashley and Dettwiller continued to hit free throws and shots from the floor before Kirby canned a triple to complete an 11-2 run, giving the Titans a 33-24 lead before closing out the third with a 33-27 edge.
Fisher Catholic’s offense then began to pick up as the sense of urgency was settling in on the Irish’ bench.
Suddenly, shots began to fall as Bethel knocked down a pair of 3’s before both Ellie and Averie Bruce sunk baskets in the post.
Momentum completely shifted to Fisher Catholic’s bench and Bethel hit another trey to tie the game at 42-42 with under two minutes left.
Dettwiller responded on the other end with a basket to put the Titans up 44-42, only to have the Irish sink two foul shots to force a tie with under a minute to go.
That’s when Notre Dame coach JD McKenzie called a timeout to call — what he thought was — a play to set up Kirby for 3. Instead, Strickland put on her cape and played the superhero role, pushing Titans to a victory in a thriller.
“We had a 10 point-lead there late and just blew it in a matter of seconds,” McKenzie said. “We didn’t make good decisions but we played hard and didn’t stop doing so. We had 32 minutes on the board when we out and we needed every one of them. Every second. Katie came up with a big rebound and found a way to put it in.”
Ashley led the Titans in scoring with a game-high 17 points alongside eight rebounds while Dettwiller added 12 points, four rebounds, five assists and three steals. Kirby had nine points and five boards, and Strickland ended with eight points and eight rebounds.
Fisher Catholic was led by Ellie Bruce with 16 points alongside four rebounds and four assists while Bethel had 12 points.
Notre Dame will now meet with Berlin Hiland — a winner over South Gallia on Thursday — in a Division IV regional final at 7 p.m. on Saturday at Pickerington North High School.
The Titans will be searching for their first-ever regional championship.
BOX SCORE
Notre Dame: 14-6-13-13 — 46
Fisher Catholic: 7-10-10-17 — 44
Notre Dame: 17-41 FG, 9-10 FT, 3-12 3pt., 28 rebounds (Ashley 8, Strickland 8), 12 turnovers, 12 assists (Dettwiller 5). Scoring: Ashley 17, Dettwiller 12, Kirby 9, Strickland 8.
Fisher Catholic: 16-39 FG, 7-9 FT, 5-16 3pt., 16 rebounds (E. Bruce 4, Albert 4), 10 turnovers, 11 assists (E. Bruce 4). Scoring: E. Bruce 16, Bethel 12, A. Bruce 10, Albert 6.
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