No 8 seed Loveland advanced in the State tournament Wednesday night in a game played at Lakota East High School by defeating #16 seed Oak Hills. Josie Early led all scorers in the 48-34 contest with 16 points. She was 7 for 9 from the charity stripe. Charity is a misnomer when it comes to Early. She more than earns those trips to the foul line almost never seeing a clear way to the rim as defenses double-team and collapse on her trips inside the circle. The Senior 5’7″ guard pulled down 5 rebounds and stole the ball from the Highlanders 4 times.
Ten of Olivia Rabe’s 14 points were a result of her perfect 10-10 night at the foul line. Rabe is a 6’2″ Senior.
Senior Forward Olivia Rabe also earns each of her trips to the foul line. She was 10 for 10 against Oak hills.
Mason (15-1, 23-1) advanced after beating Anderson 60-27 on February 5 and this past Wednesday evening by beating Northwest 67-8. Mason’s only loss was on December 7th when they traveled to Lakota East, 52-48. The Comets are on a 17-game win streak. Mason won the GMC conference title. Mason’s top scorer is Sophmore guard #20, Madison Parrish who scored 28 in Mason’s 63-62 win at Princeton on January 11. She averages 13.3 points.
The Tigers are 11-5, 17-5 for the season, and finished ECC competition # 3.
The Tiger vs Comets game is on Tuesday, February 21 at 5 PM and will be played at Harrison High School.
Junior Jenna Batsch (above) scored 17 on 7-9 shooting from the field. She had 5 rebounds, 3 assists. and blocked 2.
Loveland, Ohio – It will be the Loveland Tigers vs. #1 seed Mount Notre Dame Saturday, February 29 at 3 PM (at Princeton H.S.).
Mount Notre Dame defeated Edgewood 85-25 Monday night to get to the finals. MND is undefeated, ranked #1 in Ohio by MaxPreps, and has a #3 national ranking. The Tigers are the #6 seed and defeated Mason Monday night 55-41 to reach the District Finals. Loveland Tigers now 22-3 and Walnut Hills both from the ECC advanced Monday night.
A strong 22-7 1st quarter with shots coming from every part of the court was too much for Mason to overcome.
Senior Jillian Hayes led the Tigers with a game-high 20 points shooting 50% from the field. and 4-5 from the foul line. She had 7 rebounds, 2 assists and 3 blocked shots.
Junior Jenna Batsch scored 17 on 7-9 shooting from the field. She had 5 rebounds, 3 assists. and blocked 2.
Senior Kate Garry finished with 10 points, 6 coming from behind the 3-pt line, 4 rebounds, and 2 assists.
A young Tiger high-5’s Jillian Hayes before she heads into the locker room after the win.
MND is led by Sophomore 5’9″ forward K.K. Bransford who averages 20.2 points per game and scored 40 on the road against Lincoln Gahanna in October. Senior 5’6″ guard Makira Cook averages 17.6. and scored 27 against Huntington St. Joseph Academy on February 1.
Loveland’s Hayes scored 27 in a December win over Walnut Hills.
CORRECTION: This story has been up-dated to reflect that Josie Early is a first-year student and not a Junior.
by Cassia Mattia
Loveland, Ohio – The Lady Tigers and Coach Parker are rewriting Women’s Loveland Basketball history one win at a time! LHS’s Women’s Basketball team is set to continue their impressive journey to the tourney on Monday night against Mason High School for the OHSAA District Semi-Finals crown.
The Tigers defeated Lebanon 52-25 last Wednesday night at Lakota East High School bringing their record-breaking season to 21-3. Stand out Senior Jillian Hayes led the Tigers in scoring and rebounds with 12 points and 9 rebounds. Hayes now officially holds the record as Loveland’s all-time leading scorer and holds the all-time rebounding record. In the Eastern Cincinnati Conference Hayes is ranked 2nd in points averaging 18.1 per game, 2nd in rebounds averaging 10 per game, 4th in blocks averaging 1.5 per game, and 3rd in steals averaging 3.2 per game.
First year student Josie Early, came off the bench Wednesday night and scored a season-high of 10 points.
The future of Loveland Women’s Basketball, First year student Josie Early, came off the bench Wednesday night and scored a season-high of 10 points. Teammates, Junior Jenna Batsch, and, Senior Kate Garry, added 7 points each to the big Tiger win. Batsch holds the 5th spot in the ECC for steals averaging 2.6 per game while Garry has climbed her way up to the 3rd spot on Loveland all-time leading scorer list! Not only has Garry achieved an all-time leading scorer spot she has also grabbed the number 1 spot as Loveland’s all-time leading 3-point shooter. Coach Darnell Parker celebrated Garry’s accomplishments over Twitter saying, “@Kgarry12 has vaulted herself to #3 All-Time leading scorer in Loveland History! This kid is now on the Mt Rushmore of players to wear the Orange and Black! Proud of you KG!”
Recently the ECC released the Women’s Basketball All-Conference Teams as well as the ECC Athlete of the Year and the ECC Coach of the Year. Not to anyone’s surprise, the Loveland Women’s Basketball squad received a number of accolades within the ECC. Coach Parker was named Coach of the Year and Jillian Hayes was named Co-Athlete of the Year along with Walnut Hills’ Sean Kelly Darks. Jenna Batsch and Jillian Hayes were named 1st Team All ECC while Tess Broermann and Kate Garry were named 2nd Team All ECC. Sophia Raby also received Honorable Mention All ECC.
Loveland will go up against a talented Mason Comets team who went 15-8 this year finishing in 3rd place in the GMC. The Comets advanced to the finals by beating Ursuline Academy 39-36 last Wednesday. Mason is led by Freshman Margo Mattes who averages 14.9 points per game and Junior Forward Marilyn Popplewell who averages 9.9 points per game. The District Semi-Finals will be held at Lakota East High School on Monday at 7:30 PM.
Check out the box score below from Loveland’s huge win against Lebanon last week!
![[Game Photos] Loveland Tigers advance in State Tournament to face Mason Comets](https://lovelandmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/early-feature-1200-size.jpg)
![[Photo Album] Tiger women vie for District title on Saturday vs #3 team in nation](https://lovelandmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/jenna-batsch-feature.jpg)
![[Photo Album] The Loveland Women’s Basketball Team Advances to the District Semi-Finals!](https://lovelandmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/lebanon-feature-1.jpg)
Recently the ECC released the Women’s Basketball All-Conference Teams as well as the ECC Athlete of the Year and the ECC Coach of the Year. Not to anyone’s surprise, the Loveland Women’s Basketball squad received a number of accolades within the ECC. Coach Parker was named Coach of the Year and Jillian Hayes was named Co-Athlete of the Year along with Walnut Hills’ Sean Kelly Darks. Jenna Batsch and Jillian Hayes were named 1st Team All ECC while Tess Broermann and Kate Garry were named 2nd Team All ECC. Sophia Raby also received Honorable Mention All ECC.
