Archbishop Hoban defeats Wadsworth as both teams prepare for the Ohio girls basketball postseason
AKRON, Ohio - Archbishop Hoban and Wadsworth closed the books on their 2023-24 regular season Wednesday night, with Hoban picking up a 34-20 home win.
Both teams will now look to the OHSAA Division I postseason, where Hoban (16-3) is the No. 1 overall seed among the six Northeast districts and is in the Medina region's Northeast 3 district, while Wadsworth is the No. 15 overall Northeast seed and the second-highest seed in the Sandusky region's Northeast 6 district.
Both teams will open their postseasons with home games in the sectional semifinals on Saturday, Feb. 17, as Hoban will host Barberton and Wadsworth will host Eastlake North. Despite both being in Division I, they would not see each other until at least the state semifinals if both teams advance because they are in different regions.
For Wadsworth (16-6), scheduling a game to finish its season against one of the top teams in the state is exactly what the Grizzlies wanted. Facing Hoban, who is known for its defensive pressure, gave Wadsworth a look at what they could see should the Grizzlies make a deep playoff run.
"I think it's gonna be a while before we see a team with that type of intensity and defensive pressure," Wadsworth head coach Andy Booth said. "And the reason we scheduled Hoban for the last game of the season like we used to do with Solon every year is to help prepare ourselves and toughen us up for tournament run. I hate losing probably more than anybody in this gym but if that helps us down the road, it was worth it."
For the Knights, playing against a team like Wadsworth allowed them to see what they could play like against a good tournament team while being without players such as Finley Kennedy and Kathleen Jones, who are out with injuries.
"We haven't been healthy since the end of January," Hoban head coach Pam Davis said. "So this was a confidence booster for us being able to play short-handed against a quality opponent like Wadsworth. I think this is a great tune-up for us to get into the postseason."
Wadsworth hasn't escaped the injury bug themselves, as second-leading scorer Lauren Decker hasn't played since the calendar flipped to 2024.
"We're hoping that Lauren maybe can do a little bit more starting tomorrow," Booth said. "And our goal for her would be to get her back maybe for the sectional semis or maybe district semis. It's been frustrating for her, which obviously she's a big part of our team that has really helped us out in situations like (tonight). But, you know, sometimes that's the way it goes. I know Hoban was dealing with two kids that were out in their rotation so we're hoping to have her back. If (we do), it's definitely a big bonus but if not, I am confident in the kids we have."
Archbishop Hoban head coach Pam Davis and Wadsworth head coach Andy Booth shake hands after a game on February 14, 2024
Ryan Isley, SBLive Sports
Along with injuries, Hoban has been without sophomore point guard Taylyn Banta since the middle of season due to OHSAA rules regarding transfers. In her place, Hoban has used sophomore Zoey Hodge and senior Maya Pooler on the ball offensively. It was an adjustment, but one Davis thinks the Knights have been able to make over the past several weeks.
"I think that Maya and Zoey are doing very well there, it's a tandem," Davis said. "Each of them bring a different skill set. And I think that before, we were kind of panicking to see what's going to happen, but now I think everybody's kind of settled in."
As for having players out, Davis believes the balance of the Knights can withstand it because each game could see a different leading scorer for Hoban.
"The best thing is that we don't have that go to (player), that stud person," Davis said. "So we don't have to worry about if they shut down one nobody else can score. We are pretty even across the board."
After back-to-back losses in early January, Wadsworth had won six of its last seven, and three in a row before Wednesday. It was all about playing defense and getting confidence with each passing day for the Grizzlies.
"I think that one of the big things was I think we start playing Wadsworth defense, that usually ignites our offense a little bit." Booth said. "And the kids that were new to varsity were kind of able to acclimate to our system and how we want to play. And once you start having some success and you start to get that confidence, then that starts carrying over. You start feeling good about yourself and the things that the coaches are yelling about are actually working, then it starts to go your way."
-- Ryan Isley | ryan@scorebooklive.com | @sbliveoh
