As a sophomore in 2016, Mikayla Poole was a member of the Carrollton basketball team that won the school’s first-ever district championship.
So, it’s rather fitting that Poole is the coach when the Lady Warriors, for the first time in school history, go one step further and advance to a regional final.
That’s exactly what happened at Zanesville High School on Feb. 25, when Carrollton came back from 13 points down—playing without three starters—to defeat Delaware Buckeye Valley 41-39 in a thrilling Division IV Region 15 semifinal.
As Buckeye Valley’s Avelina Wagner’s running, desperation heave, guarded by Carrollton’s Kamryn Shaw, bounced off the backboard and the buzzer sounded, the Lady Warriors celebrated in front of the Carrollton bench. Poole knows firsthand what her players were feeling.
“It means everything,” she said. “I know the feeling of being the first, and being the first is something so special. For them to do it together is awesome, and to have to go to younger players tonight to get the win—with everyone included, the bench into it—it’s just what we needed.”
A regional semifinal win is special enough, but this one meant even more because, as Poole noted, it included every player on the roster. After all, three of Carrollton’s biggest contributors—Kylie Ujcich, Brae Roudebush, and Haley Leslie—weren’t even on the court when the Warriors took their first lead and held on for the win.
The first to exit was Ujcich, the team’s junior point guard and leading scorer in the game, who fouled out with 6:33 left in the fourth quarter. Then Roudebush, who had temporarily exited earlier while clutching her left knee, fell again and left for good at the six-minute mark. Finally, Leslie, who had been in foul trouble much of the second half, fouled out with 3:31 remaining.
“Those three juniors are so important to us,” Poole said. “The fact that they could rally together on the bench, keep cheering for their team, and help get their teammates in the right positions is huge.”
An already young team—the Lady Warriors don’t have a senior on the roster—became even younger. Now on the bench, the three became Carrollton’s biggest cheerleaders, as players such as sophomore guard Julianna Miller and freshman power forward KJ Roudebush saw significant minutes on the biggest stage in program history.
Much like last season’s loss to Thornville Sheridan, the Warriors dug themselves a deep hole early. Perhaps “canyon” would be a more fitting term, as Carrollton fell behind 11-1 in the first quarter. The Warriors righted the ship, however, closing out the period playing even with the Barons and entering the second quarter trailing 16-6.
The Barons went on another run, as senior forward Ella Hazelrigg scored five straight points. When she sank a short bank shot from the low post with 4:30 left in the first half, Buckeye Valley led 25-12.
Carrollton responded, and when Ujcich nailed a 3-pointer from two feet beyond the arc with 41 seconds left in the second quarter, it capped an 8-2 run that sent the Warriors into halftime trailing 27-20.
In the third quarter, Carrollton made its move. After trading free throws and baskets early in the period, Ivy Bishop sank a jumper from just inside the arc with 2:45 on the clock to cut the Barons’ lead to five at 33-28.
Leslie then made the second of two free throws to cut the deficit to four. Ujcich came up with a big steal and an easy fast-break layup to make it 33-31. Bishop then assisted Leslie on a bucket that tied the game at 33 with just over a minute remaining in the quarter.
In the pressure-packed fourth quarter, the Barons again took the lead. When Sienna Sieger sank the first of two free throw attempts with 3:07 remaining, Buckeye Valley led 37-34. Sieger missed the second but got her own rebound—only to have Shafer come up with a crucial steal and driving layup to pull the Warriors within one.
On the Barons’ next possession, Bishop deflected a pass, scrambled for the loose ball, and converted an uncontested layup. With 2:01 left, Carrollton had its first lead of the game at 38-37.
Tegan McMillen briefly reclaimed the lead for Buckeye Valley at 39-38 with two free throws, but those would be the Barons’ final points.
Meanwhile, Shafer was just getting started. On the next possession, she dribbled past half-court, drove by two defenders, and scored to give the Warriors the lead with 1:36 left. She then connected on the second of two free throws with 7.2 seconds remaining, securing the 41-39 win.
One sore spot for the Warriors (20-6) was free throw shooting—they made just 8 of 18 from the line.
“We’ve been working on free throws all year long,” Poole said. “And in these big games, these big moments, we’ve been in two of them. We’re gaining the experience we need to knock them down.”
Up next for the Lady Warriors is a 7 p.m. regional final Friday at Zanesville High School, where they will face a formidable challenge. Lancaster Fairfield Union (26-0), the last unbeaten team in Division IV, is the second-ranked team in the state, behind only Bellevue.
The Falcons, the Central District’s top seed, routed Wintersville Indian Creek 65-24 in the other Region 15 semifinal. Coincidentally, Indian Creek is the only mutual opponent the Falcons and Warriors share; Carrollton beat the Redskins 47-42 on the road in mid-January.
Poole and her team plan to revel in their accomplishment—but only briefly, as the Warriors have more goals in mind.
“We’re going to go celebrate tonight,” Poole said. “That’s the first thing we’re going to do. And then tomorrow, we’re going to refocus and start our game plan for the next one.”
(Jordan Miller is also the editor of the Free Press Standard in Carroll County. A full version of this story, along with results from Friday’s game, will be published in the March 7 issue of the FPS.)
