Canton, Ohio – The Avon Lake Shoregals defeated the Brush Lady Arcs, 43-39, in the OHSAA Division III state final at Canton Memorial Fieldhouse Sunday afternoon.

Bre Jones split a pair of free throws to give Avon Lake an early 1-0 lead. Olivia Miller came up with a steal, which lead to a fastbreak layup from Izzie Polinko. Brush got on the board with a Jakalyn Brown basket. Molly Milligan increased the lead to 5-2 with an impressive post move resulting in a basket. After a split pair of free throws and a Chaniyra McDowell-Isaacs basket, Olivia Miller had one of her own. It was a low scoring first-quarter with Avon Lake ahead, 7-5.

With the score tied at 13 in the second quarter, Alyssa Jones had a drive and score to give the Shoregals back the lead. Olivia Miller added another pair of free throws to increase the margin to 17-13. After a pair of Brush free throws from Nyla Mason, Miller split a pair of free throws to make the margin 18-15 at the half.

Miller then opened up the second half with a jumper, giving the Shoregals their largest lead of the game at 20-15. Brush would rally to tie the game, first starting with a triple from Nyla Mason, which followed a jumper from Olivia Tobin. Keyarra Shields sank a pair of free throws to knot the game for the Arcs.

Bre Jones added a layup late in the third quarter to give the Shoregals a 28-26 lead after three.

The two teams traded buckets back and forth in the final stanza. First, Olivia Miller hit a fadeaway jumper to increase the Avon Lake lead to 30-26. Keiarra Shields followed up with a triple to cut the Arc deficit to one. Tati Mason split a pair of free throws on the next possession to knot the score. Brush came up with the rebound and Jakayln Brown drew contact for the go-ahead layup. She sank the ensuing and-one, giving Brush a 33-30 lead as part of a 7-0 run.

With Brush ahead, 35-32, Olivia Miller sank a triple to knot the score once again. Nyla Mason drew contact for a basket to give the Arcs a 37-35 lead with 3:39 to play. On the next possession, Bre Jones cashed in a triple, and Avon Lake was in front, 38-37.

Chaniya McDowell-Issacs had a layup to put Brush back in front, 39-38. Olivia Tobin countered with a runner in the lane to put the Shoregals back in front, 40-39.

Late in the ball game, Nyla Mason had a steal and Brush had possession with a chance to take the lead. But the Shoregals came up with a huge turnover to re-take possession. With Brush eventually forced to foul, Olivia Tobin split a pair of free-throws to increase the lead to 41-39.

Brush looked to tie the game, but Tati Mason’s game-tying layup was no good. Olivia Miller grabbed the rebound, and sank a pair of free throws with 21 seconds left to increase the lead to 43-39.

Avon Lake came up with one more stop to ice the game and make their first trip to the state championship since 1994.

Junior guard Olivia Miller finished with 16 points for the Shoregals. Senior guard Olivia Tobin added nine points, and sophomore forward Molly Milligan added eight.

Brush was led by freshman guard Nyla Mason, who finished with ten points. Senior forward Jakayln Brown added nine.

Avon Lake advances to the state championship on Friday, March 14th, at 1:00pm at the University of Dayton. They will take on defending Division II state champion Purcell Marian.

Extended highlights below: