(3-15-25) DAYTON, Ohio – Waterford built an early 11-point lead, then came up with two defensive stops in the final minute to preserve a 48-46 win over Fort Loramie in the Division VII state championship game and win the school’s third girls basketball state title.

Avery Wagner played all 32 minutes and posted 16 points, five rebounds, four assists, four blocked shots and three steals to lead Waterford (27-1). Kendall Sury also played all 32 minutes and finished with 15 points, four rebounds and four assists.

Victoria Mescher led Fort Loramie (25-4) with a game-high 19 points. Avery Brandewie added eight points, 12 rebounds and four steals, while Myles Shatto chipped in nine points.

Waterford opened its largest lead of the game in the first half, hitting three-pointers on three consecutive possessions spanning the end of the first and start of the second quarter to take an 18-7 lead 90 seconds into the second quarter. 

Fort Loramie responded, however, outscoring Waterford 16-2 over the final 5:30 of the first half to draw within three points, 23-20, at halftime.

Fort Loramie cut its deficit to one point with a basket on the opening possession of the third quarter, but Waterford answered with an 8-0 run that included a pair of three-pointers off Fort Loramie turnovers to stretch its lead back to 31-22 with 5:01 left in the quarter.

The Waterford lead was 10 points, 40-30, until Fort Loramie hit threes on back-to-back possessions to close the third quarter and open the fourth as part of an 8-0 run that cut Waterford’s lead to two points, 40-38, with 6:35 remaining. 

Sury scored Waterford’s next six points, and Waterford led 46-40 with 4:15 remaining, but the Wildcats managed just a Brynnlee Pottmeyer free throw as Fort Loramie clawed its way back to within a point, 47-46, with 1:02 remaining on a jumper by Mescher.

Pottmeyer split a pair of free throws with 16 seconds remaining, and the Waterford defense came up with two turnovers and a Wagner block of a Mescher shot in the closing seconds to close out the win.

Waterford, in its eighth state tournament appearance, won its third title to go along with three runner-up finishes. Fort Loramie, a four-time state champion, finished runner-up for the third time; Fort Loramie’s 13 state tournament appearances are the fourth most of any school in the state. 

The game was a rematch of the 2024 Division IV state title game, won by Fort Loramie, 42-29. It was the first rematch in a girls basketball state championship game since Minster and Ottoville met in the 2018 and 2019 Division IV finals.