Girls Basketball: Top-ranked Alter beats Tecumseh

Tecumseh found out early in a nonconference girls basketball game on Tuesday night that Alter is deserving of the No. 1 ranking in Division II.

The Knights likely solidified their spot with a 66-52 win over Tecumseh.

“We knew what we were getting into, and that’s why we wanted to play them,” Tecumseh coach Danielle Thomas said. “We wanted to test ourselves and being a young team. We are better than what we showed, but they’re going to make you do things you don’t normally do because they’re so good.”

Alter (12-2) is led by two Division-I bound players in seniors Braxtin Miller (Oklahoma State) and Libby Bazelak (Duquesne). Tecumseh (12-2) beat Kenton Ridge by six points in a conference game Saturday night, and Thomas said her team wasn’t fully rested on Monday.

“That was a big game on Saturday and just physically took a lot out of us,” Thomas said. “… I know (Alter) played a game too, but they’re older and their bodies are more muscular than our young kids. They can take back-to-back games better than we can.”

After taking a 12-6 lead, Alter went on a 12-4 run over the last three minutes of the first quarter to take a 14-point lead. Tecumseh narrowed the gap down to as low as nine points in the second, but Alter finished strong in the last minute. Braxtin Miller hit a foul shot after a layup with three seconds left to help the Knights take a 39-26 lead by halftime.

The Knights led by as many as 24 points in the second half, but Tecumseh narrowed the final score late in the fourth, in part thanks to six points in the final 20 seconds.

Thomas said that Monday’s loss doesn’t derail any of the team’s goals for the season. Saturday’s win over Kenton Ridge put the team at 7-0 in the Central Buckeye Conference Kenton Trail Division.

“We’re in a great place for a team that’s full of young girls,” Thomas said. “I think everybody had counted us out.”

Alter has won the last two D-II state titles, and co-head coach Kendal Peck said the team likes playing strong teams in nonconference play to prepare for the tournament.

“That’s the challenge of our schedule,” Peck said. “You’ve got to recharge the batteries fast and get up for the next game. We didn’t have a lot of prep time, and we’re extremely pleased to come up here and have such a good performance.”

Miller led Alter with 22 points, while Bazelak added 14. Corinne Thomas led Tecumseh with 18, while Presley Griffitts scored 17.

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