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The Notre Dame Academy Eagles out of Toledo are Regional Champions for the 3rd consecutive year and are headed back to the OHSAA Division 1 State Final Four for the 8th time since 2012. They did on the strength of a 67-40 victory over a talented Olmsted Falls squad today.
The Eagles were paced by the sensational Junior Grace VanSlooten who had 25 on the night. All of those coming in the first three quarter to put the game out of reach. Tialyn King was clutch every time she touched the ball. King finished with 12, all of which either coming from the foul line or three-point line. Olivia Sims cash in with 8 while Dakota Smith brought home 10 points. Aly Ray had 6 while Emma Hoyt and Vaeh Cable 3 each.
Like they have done all season long, the Bulldogs played until the very end. Hard, all about team effort and passion for the game. The three seniors, Allison Milligan, Grace Simon and Lauren Galaska finished with 5,5 and 4 each. Sophomore Paige Kohler paced the Bulldogs with 11 while fellow 10th grader Mia Kalich had 8. For Mia, all 8 of her points came in the first and kept the Bulldogs close at the time.
An incredible shooting performance in the first half saw Grace VanSlooten score 18 points while ripping down 6 boards. Aly Ray did a good amount of dishing with 7 dimes in the half as well. The Eagles had 6 points from Dakota Smith, 4 from Ray and 5 from Sims along with 3 from Tialyn King and a 3 at the buzzer from Vaeh Cable ot build a 39-22 lead at the break.
Simply put, the Eagles didn’t miss many shots in the first half, going 18 of 23 for a whopping 78% shooting percentage. That is unheard of.
The Bulldogs did all they could to contend with the blitzkrieg of offense. But the tight defense from the Eagles wouldn’t allow it. They held the Bulldogs to 9 of 25 shooting and just 4 of 14 from beyond the arc in the half. Doing their best to keep it somewhat close for Olmsted Falls was Mia Kalich with 8 and Paige Kohler with 5.
The Van Slooten show continued into the third quarter when Grace scored the first 7 points of the frame. With 4:59 to go in the third, it was Van Slooten 25, Olmsted Falls 22 as the Eagles led 46-22. It wasn’t all Van Slooten in the third however as her teammates continued to shoot the lights out as well. King and Hoyt had 3 pointers while Smith had a normal field goal.
By the time it was said and done in the third, the Eagles put the game out of reach as they doubled up the Bulldogs 54-27. The Bulldogs only managed 5 points in the quarter, and only one field goal. That bucket coming from Paige Kohler.
The fourth quarter would start with seniors Lauren Galaska and Allison Milligan draining threes in the final minutes of their Bulldogs careers. The Eagles just kept bringing it however as King buried one from deep and Smith added 2 more to keep the lead at 59-33 with 5 minutes to play. It would finish out with the Eagles on top 67-40.
