by The 6th seeded McKinley Bulldogs took down the 5th seeded Strongsville Mustangs 55-49 in the district final round of the 2026 OHSAA Girls Basketball Ohio State Championships. After a slow start this game sure did not disappoint. Both teams went back and forth, blow for blow the entire game in an absolute nail-biter. In the end McKinley pushed themselves for the win thanks to dominant rebounding, clutch buckets and elite crunch time defense. Both squads fought hard down to the wire and in the end the Bulldogs prevailed.
Both teams came out of the gate a little bit cold as the score after 1 was just 8-6 in favor of Strongsville. That isn’t to say that both teams weren’t also playing strong defense. The Mustangs did a great job pressing the ball handler and getting in passing lanes. The Bulldogs controlled the paint on defense and were only allowing tough shots and dominating on the glass. Strongsville just edged them out for the quarter thanks to a pair of late threes.
The game really started to flow in the second quarter. Both teams got settled in and the buckets started to fall. McKinley got off to a great start to the quarter with a 9-2 run. Strongsville bounced back from it thanks to a couple of buckets from junior guard Sidney Bureta. The game was knotted up at 15 and the Bulldogs picked up some more momentum. After a couple of steals and fast break points they led 21-17 at the end of the quarter. A lot of their first half success was thanks to senior Center Amiyah Chester and her dominance on both the offensive and defensive glass. Every shot she was involved down low getting her hands dirty and fighting for rebounds. She finished the half with 7 boards and looked to carry her success into the second half.
The second half started exactly opposite of the first. Both teams went back and forth shot after shot for nearly the entire third quarter. The Bulldogs success came from freshman Kana Beltz and senior Mya Taylor. Taylor came up with some nice shots early in the quarter and Beltz was lights out from three going 3 for 4 in the third. On the other end, the Mustangs heart and soul continued to be Sidney Bureta. She was letting shots fly and was getting rewarded for it. She had 19 at the end of the quarter and the teams were knotted up at 38 a piece. They were set up for an exciting fourth quarter finish.
McKinley once again got off to a quick start to the quarter with a 7-0 run. But like they did all game, the Mustangs brought it back within 1 with just 3 minutes to go in the game. The Bulldogs began to lock up, forcing back to back turnovers which they capitalized off of to extend the lead to 5 inside 2 minutes left. On Strongsville’s next possession after forcing a stop sophomore RJ Jordan hit a clutch bank three to cut the lead down to 2. With 33 seconds left the Mustangs sent Mya Taylor to the line where she made 2 clutch free throws to extend the lead to 4. On the next possession Strongsville needed a clutch bucket. Unfortunately for them McKinley wasn’t going to let that happen for free. They pressed the court to perfection and forced a game clinching turnover. After some free throws and fouls to end the game, the Bulldogs came away with and extremely hard fought 55-49 victory.
With the win McKinley takes home their district championship and also moves on to the next round in the bracket. They will take on the 2nd seeded Mentor Cardinals on Wednesday March 4th at Barberton High School.
