Sunday, February 19, 2023
By Scott Hennen

Pressure is a key component to success for the Bexley girls basketball team.

The Lions turn up the heat on opponents, making it difficult for opponents to think straight. However, the players haven’t been wilting when the intensity increases during crunch time.

As the third seed in the Division II district tournament, the Lions are 21-3 overall after defeating both 15th-seeded Licking Valley 55-28 in their postseason opener Feb. 15 and 17th-seeded Beechcroft 66-11 at home Saturday in the second round, as the program looks for its first district championship since winning back-to-back titles in 2003 and 2004.

“We talked in film (study) about how we needed to be better, and how our identity is defense,” said 5-foot-10 senior forward Sydney Smith, a four-year starter. “We need to focus on that. And when things aren’t going well, we always can focus on defense.”

The Lions picked up a big confidence boost Feb. 7 with a decisive 48-28 win over Granville, the top seed in the Division II district. Smith led with 15 points, senior guard/forward Madison Ingram added 11 points and four rebounds and senior guard Mikayla Williams added nine points five rebounds, five assists and three steals. Senior guard/forward Sofie Sheridan rounded out the balanced attack with eight points and six assists.

“(Sofie), Madison and Mikayla can put a lot of pressure on people,” coach Brycen Baugh said. “‘Don’t let the ball think’ is what we call it. We’re trying to make sure that we put so much pressure on (opponents) that they don’t know what to do.

“We don’t want to make things easy on them. If they want to throw it (inside) they have to think about it, and the longer it takes the easier it is for us to take care of it.”

Smith, the niece of former Ohio State and WNBA standout Katie Smith, led the team in scoring during the regular season at 14.8 points per contest and also adds 4.4 rebounds. She signed to be a thrower in women’s track and field for Iowa.

“I have been really pleased with how the season has gone,” said Smith, who also started for the two-time MSL-Ohio Division champion volleyball program in the fall. “The seniors in particular have been together since the seventh grade so it has been amazing. I’m excited because we jell well, and we all understand that we’re senior-dominated so it’s kind of like middle school again.”

The Lions are built around players that consider basketball a secondary sport. Much like Smith in track, Williams is slated to play her primary sport at the Division I level after accepting an appointment to compete in women’s lacrosse at the Naval Academy.

Ingram and Sheridan — both 5-10 — are standouts in volleyball and soccer, respectively. Sheridan, a four-year starter on the hardwood, averaged 10.4 points, 4.4 rebounds, 2.6 assists and 2.1 steals. Ingram led the team with 4.7 rebounds while contributing 8.8 points and 2.1 steals.

“I think all four of us are very good athletes, and we’re really competitive,” said Williams, who averaged 6.6 points but led the squad in assists (3.2) and steals (4.2). “Instead of playing (basketball) just for fun, we really hate to lose. That drives us on the court, and it comes from all of us playing other sports. We’re driven, and we hate losing.”

Bexley lost just three games. It fell in a pair of MSL-Ohio games to Worthington Christian, the state’s top-ranked Division III team at 21-1. The Warriors won 48-32 on Nov. 22 but only won 45-41 on Jan 6 in the second contest. The Lions’ other loss was to Division I Watterson 39-32 on Dec. 28.

“It’s been really cool, and we have had coach Baughin all four of his seasons,” Ingram said. “We know how each other plays, and we’re really comfortable out there.

“We’re a senior-dominated team, and we have worked hard over the last four years. Hopefully we can make the most of it.”

Bexley was 13-4 in 2020-21 and 19-5 last season, losing to Jonathan Alder in both postseasons. It lost to the Pioneers 52-48 in overtime in the second round in 2021 and 51-37 in a district semifinal last year.

The Lions have reached 20 victories for the first time since 2004, which as the last time they won a district title. Bexley defeated New Albany 44-37 to earn the championship. Then it finished 24-2 overall after losing to Hamilton Badin 53-42 in a regional final.

This year’s bracket will be challenging for the Lions with fifth-seeded Bloom-Carroll (13-9) in a possible semifinal matchup and second-seeded Richwood North Union (20-2) a likely opponent in the final. But Bexley has to reach those levels first.

“We have confidence that we can go far,” Williams said. “We know we can play well, and we have to keep that mentality. One of our biggest mistakes in the past was looking ahead. We can’t do that. We have to take things one game at a time.”