Waterford beats Fort Loramie, wins second state championship in four years
By: Thomas Billington
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DAYTON, Ohio (WOUB) — The Waterford Wildcats (27-1) made the trip to University of Dayton Arena, to face off against the Fort Loramie Redskins (25-4) in the OHSAA Division VII state championship.
A match that played out last year, just in a different division. As the Redskins and Wildcats fought each other in the Division IV state finals last year. A title that Fort Loramie won with a final score of 42 to 29.
However, this year was not a repeat of last. The Wildcats claimed their second state title in four years, with a final score of 48-46.
This game was extremely close throughout. Waterford was led in scoring by three seniors; Avery Wagner, scoring 16 points; Kendall Sury, scoring 15 points; and Avery Smithberger scoring 8. Those three seniors were also a part of the 2021 state title winning team.
Fort Loramie led only once in the game, in the initial stages of the first quarter. Once Waterford got the lead, the Wildcats never let it go. But, Loramie never let Waterford get too far ahead.
While the Wildcats had an 11-point lead early in the second quarter, the Redskins were able to cut that lead down before half. The Waterford lead was just three going into half.
The game came down to last 60 seconds, as Waterford freshman Brynnlee Pottmeyer made a free throw to give the Wildcats a two-point lead.
Time counted down, causing Fort Loramie to call a timeout with 18 seconds left. On a drawn up play the Redskins inbounded the ball, but the shot was blocked by Wagner.
On the subsequent inbound Fort Loramie Senior Guard Ariel Heitkamp was called out-of-bounds. Giving the Wildcats the ball with less than a second on the clock. An inbound from Sury sealed the deal.
The Waterford Wildcats end the 2024-25 season, as TVC-Hocking champions, regional champions and state champions.