Kendall Three, center, Avery Smithberger, left, Brinley Pottmeyer of Waterford celebrates after the Wildcats defeated Fort Loramie 48-46 in Saturday’s state final in Dayton. (Photo: Jordan Holland)
Dayton – Waterford and Fort Loramie know each other well.
The two girls basketball powerhouse met twice in the state championship game before Saturday. This included last year, when the Redskins claimed a 42-29 victory.
Shortly after that loss, Waterford senior Avery Wagner declared the Wildcats were back. Fast forward to Saturday’s Division VII State Final at UD Arena, Waterford won a rematch with Fortrolamie 48-46.
“We three seniors, we keep our promises.” Wagner said. “We felt it was going to be Fort Loramie. We knew we had to come here and get it done. I have a lot of faith and trust in our teammates, and we knew we could come back here again and win it this time.”
As confident as Wagner and her classmates Kendall Three and Avery Smithberger, Waterford can get redemptions, so winning a state title in Ohio is never easy.
Waterford’s Avery Smithberger, 24, will handle the ball as Avery Brandwee, 40, of Fort Loramie, defends in the state final in Dayton on Saturday. (Photo: Jordan Holland)
“It’s very difficult to get here.” Waterford head coach Jerry Close said he has led three state championship teams (2016, 2022, 2025). “What happened – when we first came to the state (in the state) at age 15, that group of girls laid this foundation. These girls see it as a young woman, and you see this for other young women. Now, no one wants to be a team that beats the program. They expect to win.”
Before the 2015 team broke through, Waterford had struggled for years to get through the regional tournament. Now they have passed the elite eight times in the last decade, with five state finals and three victories.
“The year we came and won.” Three reflected. “It was good for these three seniors. We were like, ‘Hey, we want to do that for our senior year.’ We came this season for fourth graders. And we all did that at this point. I think we really dig deep. Throughout the tournament we faced so many physicalities. Once I got into this game I found out that it was the remaining game of 32 minutes of my entire high school career. ”
Wagner’s influence
At 6 feet 4, Wagner always gives her a sense of presence on the basketball court.
Avery Wagner, 30, of Waterford, will handle the ball as Miley Chateau at Fort Loramie defends in the state final in Dayton on Saturday. (Photo: Jordan Holland)
But after scoring three points in a state championship loss last year, Purdue Fort’s Wayne signer was keen to come for this team.
The result was the best clutch performance ever at both ends of the floor.
Wagner led Waterford, scoring 16 points in six of the nine shootings, filling in some 3 pointers. She also registered Team Highs with rebounds (5), assists (4), steals (3), and blocks (4).
Fort Loramie had two offensive possessions in the last minute. Wagner stopped with stealing and blocking.
Wagner had to go all the way to his toes with 6-foot-high Findlay volleyball commit Victoria Mesher, so it wasn’t an easy defensive task.
Elsie Malek (3) of Waterford will handle the ball as Miley Chateau (12) of Fort Loramie defends in the state final in Dayton on Saturday. (Photo: Jordan Holland)
Mescher finished with a game-high 19 points but had to take 16 shots and get creative to compete with Wagner’s size.
“She’s way taller than me, so I couldn’t go straight to her.” Mescher said. “I had to use the pivot, use the pump fake and hopefully get her off my feet. Sometimes I feel like I did it. I knew she was a shot blocker, so we had to find other ways to turn around her.”
By the end of the game, Wagner was spent.
“tired” She said. “She’s clearly a great player. Me and she were just going back and forth.”
Your schedule will pay off
Close said early in the season his team was playing one of the toughest schedules in the state.
A quick check on MaxPreps confirms that the Wildcats have passed the absolute gauntlet this season.
Among Waterford’s 27 wins are Unioto (D3 Sweet 16), Fort Fly (D6 Final Four), Federal Hocking, Bellpre 2 times (D6 Sweet 16), Athens (D3 teams with 18 wins) and Williamstown (W.VA. Class AA top three teams).
What comes out of it with just one loss to the Sheridan team that made Elite Eight last year is another example of how impressive the Wildcats are.
“We never dreamed of becoming 27-1.” Crows said. “I wasn’t saying – I was hoping to win this title, OK, but I didn’t think they’d have one loss. It’s amazing what they did this season.”
Making history
As this expands from four divisions, the first year of Ohio High School basketball, to seven, Waterford became the first team to win the Division VII State Championship.
The titles of the previous two states of Wildcats were in Division IV.
“We wanted to get the final Division IV (title) and the first (division) VII (title), but (Fort Loramie) won the last IV.” Crows laughed. “We take it. It’s something they always have. They got the first one.”
Please contact Jordan Holland at jholland@mariettatimes.com.
