Pickerington Central takes D-1 State title 47-44 over Cincinnati Princeton


 

The Pickerington Central Tigers have been so close to capturing their eighth state title in school history. The 2024-2025 season, from an outsider's perspective, did not look like it would be the year after the team had some major injuries, losing Faith King and Rylee Bess, but the program itself set out to show why this would be the year. The Tigers would go 13-0 in conference play. They played a tough non-league schedule where they did drop three games to three excellent teams, including Winton Woods. Overall, they entered their state final game setting at 24-3. Princeton, who brings fear with the name alone, in the girls high school basketball world. Year in and year out, they win and do so with solid talent, speed, and the ability to have their superstars blend well with the role players, taking the team concept to another level. They entered the state final game, setting 21-6, with losses to some powerhouse out-of-state teams. To show how hot the Vikings got as the season grew older, one has to look at their record to see they stood at 7-6 at one point, and then they would win 14 straight games.

In the opening quarter, the Pickerington defense forced early turnovers and took a charge to show the crowd of 2,237 how they were going to play this game. Blossom Wallace would have 4 points with help coming from Kennady Gordon and Gabby Plair with 3 points to help the Tigers lead 12-6. The Tigers hit just 5-13 shots. Princeton hit 3 of 8 shots with Kali Fortson scoring all of them.

The second quarter was dead even in terms of scoring as both teams totaled 11 points. The Vikings defense forced 9 turnovers while they only turned it over 4 times. The Tigers committed 10 fouls while the Vikings had just five. Mari Gerton and Erin Thomas led the scoring for the Vikings with 3 points each. Gabby Plair would lead the Tigers with 5 points in the quarter, with Wallace chipping in with four.

As the teams came out of the locker room, each had that Survivor Eye Of The Tiger look in their eye. The quarter brought 21 points, with the Vikings having 15 of them.

This is the Tigers' first title since 2018 and their eighth overall. Fortson led the way with 7 points, and Florida State-bound Mari Gerton added 4 points. The Vikings held the Tigers to 3 of 15 shooting. London Johnson, Wallace, and Gordon each had 2 points for the Tigers. The Vikings held a 12-9 edge in rebounds in the quarter.

Things looked good for the Vikings, who led by as many as seven in the final frame, then an injury to Gerton played a part in a Tigers run, though they had to earn every point as the Vikings defense never let up. Zoe Coleman closed her game out with 6 points in the quarter. Gabby Plair and London Johnson had 5 points to lead the Tigers, who outscored the Vikings 18-12. Each team had 5 field goals in the quarter, with the Tigers making four three-point baskets, while the Vikings had just one. Fortson led the Vikings with 4 points, with Eva Brockman adding 3 points. Erin Thomas missed a game-tying three, then the Tigers ran the clock out to earn title number eight with a hard-earned 47-44 win.

Leading the Tigers on the night was Plair with 13 points. Wallace chipped in with 10 points. Johnson had 5 assists, leading the team. While Wallace led the team with 6 rebounds. For the Vikings, Kali Fortson had a game-high 19 points to go with a game-high 9 rebounds.

The Tigers now have state titles in these years. 1985, 1990, 1992, 1993, 1998, 1999, 2018, and 2025.



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