The disappointment of not returning to the state final for a chance to win what got away a year ago weighed heavily on the Panthers. But in the gym they were greeted by family and friends. It didn’t make the pain of losing go away, but there were some smiles and plenty of hugs.
And as Martin, an Ohio Miss Basketball nominee for the second straight year, looked around the gym where 2,900 people worked hard to lose their voices, she wished for things that won’t happen.
“I wish I could play that game over again,” she said. “But it was really special being out there with everyone I’ve played with since second grade.”
And she thought about the first quarter when Princeton jumped out to a 10-0 lead and led at one point 15-3. The Panthers committed 15 turnovers in the half against the Vikings' pressure-the-ball defense and trailed 27-16 at halftime.
“I would handle the ball a little bit differently,” said Martin, who had it stolen from her twice in the early minutes. “I think I would slow things down a little bit rather than attacking their blitz off ball screens. There were several things that could have changed that I’ll be thinking about for the rest of my life, honestly. And I won’t get much sleep tonight.”
Princeton’s energy in the first quarter was superior. And it took the Panthers a while to catch up.
“Princeton brings a lot of energy, and they maintained it, but that’s not unusual,” Springboro coach Mike Holweger said. “I don’t think we matched their energy. We talked about that at halftime. We believe in grit, energy and toughness, and we felt like they won all three of those areas. Their body language was stronger.”
The rest of the night was a test of the Panthers’ perseverance. They began to score and their defense forced Princeton into 16 turnovers, several after they began pressing in the full court.
“We got into a better rhythm in the second half, got some stops,” Holweger said. “I probably could have turned the pressure up a little bit earlier in hindsight. But I was really proud of how we responded to a pretty bad first half of basketball for us, and I knew we would.”
Their only lead came on Martin’s 3-pointer with 1:05 left. But Princeton responded like it had to many threats before.
“It’s really hard because I know that we could win the state championship, and I think we should’ve,” Martin said. “But Princeton played better than us, and they’re a great team full of great players. We didn’t have our best game today, and I wish we could play it all over again.”
The Vikings regained the lead at 48-47 when their star, Mari Gerton, made a difficult driving layup with 45 seconds left. She missed the free throw — the Vikings were only 8 of 17 from the line — but the rebound went to the Vikings as it did a few times before.
Gerton went to the line with 31 seconds left and made only one to reach 23 points. The Panthers had a chance to tie or win. They got trapped on the sidelines with 18 seconds left and called a timeout. Holweger called for a new play he put in this week. The plan was a handoff to Martin. She would either drive to the basket or kick back to junior McKenzie Jones, who scored 16 points, for a 3-pointer. But the Vikings snuffed out the play.
That created a timeout and throw in from in front of the Springboro bench with nine seconds left. Jones got the ball on the sideline and passed out of a double team to an open Brooke Clear. She shot a 3-pointer and missed. But Martin got the rebound in the lane. She put up a shot that rolled off the rim as she fell to the floor. Aniya Trent got the rebound, was bumped as she shot and the ball rolled off the rim again. This time Princeton got the rebound and the buzzer sounded.
“It was a successful little stretch,” Holweger said. “The ball just didn’t go in the basket for us. But I was happy with the fact that when you get three looks at it, usually you’re going to make one of them.”
Martin scored 18 points in her final game, including 13 in the second half, to help the Panthers rally from a 38-25 deficit over the final 10 minutes.
“That first quarter really killed us,” Martin said. “But it just shows our fight and how together we were, and we were confident in ourselves and each other.”
Holweger became head coach last year when the Panthers advanced to the title game. He inherited a strong team led by Martin, who will play college ball at Washington, and Trent, who is headed to Virginia Tech. Martin was the face of the team and fell a little short of scoring 2,000 points.
“She is incredibly competitive, and she works harder than anybody I’ve ever coached, and I’ve been blessed to coach people who put in time,” Holweger said. “She just told her teammates, and I’ve known this from talking to her, she doesn’t do it for herself. She does it for teammates. She does it for Springboro basketball so that we can get in that type of environment.”
Holweger, who is an English teacher, said he wants to write a book about the past two seasons so people will know things about his team that they couldn’t see from the stands.
“They’re better people than they are basketball players,” he said. “I told them they were a blessing to me from day one. They left an incredible legacy at Springboro basketball. They took a legacy that was already very, very good, and took it up a notch. I love them, bottom line.”
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