COLUMBUS — Sophia Fortner took the inbounds pass from Laurel Palitto with five seconds left Saturday night, standing alone and holding the ball as the Wadsworth faithful let out a deafening roar that permeated throughout Value City Arena.
Wadsworth’s Sophia Fortner drives past Mason’s Allie Reichert during the first quarter. (RON SCHWANE / GAZETTE)
The crowd counted down the final seconds — four, three, two, one — and Fortner threw the ball high into the air.
Let the celebration begin, the tears flow and the memories last forever.
Final score: Wadsworth 60, Mason 51. The Grizzlies are the Division I state champions after answering destiny’s call.
“State champions, baby,” senior Jodi Johnson said. “Awesome. A dream come true.”
Considered by many observers the underdog despite their No. 1 ranking in the final Associated Press state poll, the Grizzlies (28-1) got off to an emotionally charged start, scoring the first 10 points and 16 of the first 19.
The initially shell-shocked Comets (26-3) made a desperate charge behind 6-foot-3 Marquette recruit Lauren Van Kleunen (15 points, 12 rebounds) and Arkansas point guard recruit Jailyn Mason (10 second-half points, 3 assists). What once was a 16-point lead at halftime had evaporated to three with 2:14 to go.
Like they did all season, Johnson (28 points, 12 in fourth quarter) and Sophia Fortner (6, 5 assists, 3 steals, 8 turnovers) found the extra drive that legends are made of. The stars combined to make 6-of-6 free throws over the final 1:39, with the raucous student section again belting “M-V-P, M-V-P” whenever Johnson squared up.
“The Johnson girl was a stud out there,” Mason coach Rob Matula said. “She was the (D-I co-)player of the year and she showed it. That’s a senior going and getting it.”
Mason missed all five shots attempts over the final 2:14 as Wadsworth scored seven of the final eight points.
“In this type of environment, a state championship game, everyone’s out for blood,” Johnson said. “They were definitely going to play their hearts out until the end. We just had to stay aggressive, and that’s what we did in order to get the win.”
In what amounted to a stunning role reversal from the Comets’ 41-30 victory at the Classic in the Country Challenge on Jan. 17, the Grizzlies got off a start even they couldn’t have imagined.
Center Lexi Lance started the mind-blowing first four minutes by tapping the opening tip forward to Palitto, who quickly fired to a streaking Johnson for a layup six seconds in. Mason then caught everyone off-guard with a man defense — not the aggressive matchup 2-3 zone it rode all season — and Wadsworth promptly picked it apart.
With Wadsworth stringing stops into efficient offense, Lance scored inside and Palitto made an in-rhythm 3-pointer to make the score 7-0. Johnson followed with a three-point play at the 4:26 mark and Wadsworth was officially on fire, as Jenna Johnson squeezed in a baseline layup, McKenna Banks buried a 15-footer and Jodi Johnson made two more free throws.
The quarter ended 16-6, the Comets were forced to switch to their 2-3 and star point guard Mason sat the final 6:50 of the half in foul trouble, but the Grizzlies kept attacking. Peyton Banks (8 points) was big with four points, Jenna Johnson scored on a hotly contested cross-court drive and Palitto sent the bench into hysteria when she head-faked a defender and pulled up for a corner 3-pointer to give Wadsworth a 28-14 lead.
Not to be outdone, Jodi Johnson broke down the defense in the waning seconds, driving down the lane, absorbing contact, fading a bit to the left and kissing a banked runner with two seconds left to put Wadsworth ahead 30-14 at halftime.
At that point, the Grizzlies were living up to their state tournament T-shirts that said, “Rock the Schott.”
“Obviously we knew it wasn’t over yet,” Jodi Johnson said. “We had to execute in the second half — two more quarters, 16 more minutes — and it would be over.”
To the surprise of absolutely no one, the calming presence of Mason and the yeoman work of Van Kleunen fueled the Comets’ last stand.
Still trailing by double digits with 6:35 to play but within punching distance because Mason kept making contested pull-up jumpers, the Comets frustrated Fortner with a trapping 1-3-1 and Wadsworth made multiple costly turnovers out of a spread offense that missed open layup possibilities on multiple occasions.
Van Kleunen then went into beast mode, scoring 10 fourth-quarter points. Comets sixth man Anna Brinkmann also came alive, pumping in two layups in nine seconds to bring the score to 53-50 with 2:14 left but missing a free throw that would have made it a two-point game.
“Everything was going crazy,” Fortner said. “All of us, we just had to come together and tell ourselves, ‘We have to calm down.’”
Message received.
Though the slow-it-down offense was shaky at times, Wadsworth had been in the bonus since late in the third quarter and began drawing more fouls. Jodi Johnson split two free throws with 1:39 left — breaking a string of 15 consecutive makes — and Mason missed her patented pull-up. Wadsworth then burned 26 seconds before Fortner made two free throws.
That accounted for the Comets’ last legitimate chance at a comeback.
“I’ll tell you what,” Grizzlies coach Andrew Booth said with the Queen song “We Are the Champions” in the background. “When these kids said they were on a mission and their goal was to win the state, talk is cheap. To see the look in these kids’ eyes, you couldn’t help but believe them.”
When the final buzzer sounded, Jodi Johnson threw one hand into the air with a No. 1 flashing. When Olivia Chaney sprinted in for what has become her traditional hug, the same Johnson who was mentally locked in during crunch time was bawling her eyes out.
Everything hit Johnson emotionally in that moment.
With Palitto head-faking and hitting a pull-up 3-pointer, this was meant to be.
With McKenna Banks drilling a 15-footer off a feed from Peyton Banks, this was meant to be.
With Jenna Johnson finding a way to cash in driving shots among the green trees, this was meant to be.
With the Comets missing a ton of shots inside they normally make with ease, this was meant to be.
With Jodi Johnson at the foul line and the game in the balance — Wadsworth made 24-of-27 free throws overall and 14-of-16 in the fourth — this was meant to be.
Last but certainly not least, with late fan Zane Walker looking down from heaven, this was, without a shadow of a doubt, meant to be.
“When we visited Zane in the hospital — Coach Walker — he was like, ‘Go win that state title for me,”’ Jodi Johnson said. “We knew we had to do this for him, our community and our team.”
During the Mason postgame medal ceremony, Palitto had to catch herself from hyperventilating and her legs from shaking uncontrollably. Walker’s embroidered chair sat on the floor only a few feet away.
Finally, Palitto and the Johnson twins got their hands on what the Grizzlies have yearned for so passionately: The trophy that will keep the 1997 one company forever.
Put it in ink: The Grizzlies are the state champions.
“We did it,” Palitto said. “Holy crap, we did it.
“I looked at the crowd, I looked at my family, I looked at my teammates and it just got real really fast. I didn’t expect it to hit me like a brick wall. It’s a great feeling. It’s definitely up there on my list of memorable days and memorable moments.”
Wadsworth 60, Mason 51
Division I State Championship
MASON 6 8 16 21 — 51
WADSWORTH 16 14 7 23 — 60
Mason — Samari Mowbray 3-9 1-3 7, Lauren Van Kleunen 6-14 3-5 15, Mariah Campbell 1-2 0-0 2, Sammie Puisis 1-3 2-3 5, Jailyn Mason 4-11 2-2 10, Anna Brinkmann 3-4 3-5 9, Allie Reicher 0-1 3-5 3. TOTALS: 18-44 14-23 51.
Wadsworth — Laurel Palitto 2-6 0-0 6, Jenna Johnson 2-2 1-2 5, Lexi Lance 1-3 3-4 5, Jodi Johnson 8-12 10-11 28, Sophia Fortner 0-2 6-6 6, Olivia Chaney 0-0 0-0 0, McKenna Banks 1-1 0-0 2, Peyton Banks 2-4 4-4 8, Maddie Movsesian 0-0 0-0 0. TOTALS: 16-30 24-27 60.
3-point goals — Mason 1-12 (Puisis 1-2, Reichert 0-1, Campbell 0-1, Mowbray 0-2, Mason 0-2, Van Kleunen 0-4), Wadsworth 4-9 (Jo. Johnson 2-3, Palitto 2-5, Fortner 0-1). Fouled out — Mason. Rebounds — Mason 25 (Van Kleunen 12), Wadsworth 20 16 (Je. Johnson 5). Assists — Mason 10 (Mason, Puisis 3), Wadsworth 9 (Fortner 5). Turnovers — Mason 12 (Mason, Puisis 3), Wadsworth 16 (Fortner 8). Fouls — Mason 21, Wadsworth 20. Records — Mason (26-3), Wadsworth (28-1).