(3-6-22) It has been a very busy year at one of the smallest public high schools in Ohio. This coming Friday afternoon New Knoxville will play in D IV Girls Basketball State Championships, in the fall the Rangers won the D IV State Volleyball title.

Ellie Gabel

The Rangers advanced to the Final 4 at UD Arena after beating Toledo Christian in the Regional Final 49-43. New Knoxville was led in the win by the Midwest Athletic Conference Player of the Year Ellie Gabel’s 16 point, Carsyn Henschen added 11 points.

A defensive key in the game was Haley Fledderjohann who shut down Toledo Christian’s Kendall Braden, the Toledo Area Athletic Conference and District 7 Player of the Year, who came into the game with a 22 point scoring average.

New Knoxville Coach Tim Hegemier told the Toledo Blade after the game –

“The one person I have to point out is Haley Fledderjohann.

She did a great job on Braden. She held her to nine points, and that was having to pick her up near mid-court,”

#3 New Knoxville will have their hands full Friday afternoon taking on Cincinnati Country Day. The Nighthawks entered the Vandalia-Butler Regionals as an after thought by many. The talk before the tournament was the impending showdown by two of the Top 4 teams in the State, #1 Ft. Loramie and #2 Tri-Village.

Gracie Barnes

The Nighthawks did not let the ‘underdog’ status bother them as they knocked off both teams to advance to the State Finals for the 1st time in school history.

First they beat Ft. Loramie 47-40 in the semifinal game and then picked up the Regional title beating Tri-Village 54-44. An impressive Regional run. They won’t sneak up on anyone in Dayton this week.

Gracie Barnes, who scored 16 points in the win, told cincinnati.com after the win

“We deserve this more than anyone in the world, We work so hard and we’re underestimated. It’s a great feeling coming in as the underdogs because we know we’re good enough and no one else does.”

Tournament runs….

New Knoxville (26-2)

  • Upper Scioto Valley 63-18
  • Hardin Northern 54-20
  • Minster 54-24
  • Marion Local 58-42
  • Crestview 35-26
  • Toledo Christian 49-43

Losses (Regular Season)

  • St. Marys 40-37
  • Ft. Loramie 44-39

Cincinnati Country Day (19-5)

  • New Miami 61-4
  • Cincinnati Christian 69-7
  • Middletown Christian 74-16
  • Russia 47-42
  • Ft. Loramie 47-40
  • Tri-Village 54-44

Losses (Regular Season)

  • Purcell Marian 60-54
  • Colonial (Fla) 69-48
  • Clearwater (Fla) 61-53
  • Ursulina Academy 57-49
  • Purcell Marian 61-53

UD Arena

Friday, March 11 (State Semifinals)

  • Divsion IV: 
    • New Knoxville (26-2) vs. Cincinnati Country Day (19-5), Noon
    • Wateford (24-3) vs. New Washington Buckeye Central (25-1), 2 p.m.
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