In this first year of the Ohio High School Athletic Association's new seven-division format for the girls and boys state basketball tournaments, the Anthony Wayne-Cincinnati Winton Woods Division II clash on Friday will arguably be the marquee matchup of this weekend's seven girls championship games.

AW's Generals (24-2) and Winton Woods' Warriors (26-0) bring to the table the best combined record of all finals showdowns, and the Cincinnati squad may have already shown itself to be the state's best team — in any division.

Tip-off at University of Dayton Arena is set for 7:30 p.m.

Coming in, coach Carlton Gray's Warriors — who have topped foes by an average of 60.4 to 35.5 per game — have recorded eight of their 26 wins over teams which have won 20 or more games. All of these teams advanced to at least the regional-final stage of either the Division I or II tournament.

“They're quick, and they like to get after the ball,” said seventh-year AW coach Jami Carter (115-51 record) of the Warriors. “We're going to have to take care of the ball. They are well-coached and have some really good players.

“They're bigger than us, so we're going to have to do our part in matching their physical play as much as we can. We just have to control what we can control, especially offensively. Taking care of the ball, and player movement is big for us.”

Included on Winton Woods' list of conquered teams is D-I Pickerington Central (24-3), which will play Cincinnati Princeton (21-6) in Saturday's girls finals finale at 8:30 p.m. The Warriors beat Pickerington Central 71-53 back on Nov. 24 on the first weekend of the season.

Other top wins for Gray's team include a 37-30 triumph on Jan. 19 over D-I state semifinalist Rocky River Magnificat (20-6), and the Warriors' come-from-behind 58-55 overtime win over Sunbury Big Walnut (23-4) in last Sunday's D-II state semifinal.

There have also been victories against five regional finalists — 62-53 over Westerville Central on Nov. 23, two wins over Eastern Cincinnati Conference foe Cincinnati Walnut Hills (31-27 on Dec. 5 and 54-36 on Jan. 16), 49-23 on Jan. 20 over Lewis Center Olentangy (22-4) , and 52-16 in a D-II regional final on March 1 over Start.

“We want to play the best competition we can,” Gray said of the Warriors' nonleague schedule. “We have kids who say they want to get to a certain level of their game and try to play college basketball.

“So, it's always a challenge to try to create the best opportunities we can to see where we're at. It's great to see our kids compete against so many good teams.”

Winton Woods is Ohio's No. 1 team in any division in the MaxPreps.com rankings, with Anthony Wayne is at No. 2 in D-II and No. 7 overall in Ohio.

Leading the Warriors on the court have been 6-1 senior forward Daniah Trammell, a Buffalo commit who is averaging 14.6 points and 6.6 rebounds per game.

She is joined by 5-10 freshman guard Strawberry Bankumsee (10.3 points), 5-11 junior guard Whitley Davis (9.6 points, 4.4 rebounds), 5-5 senior guard Ra'Khyia Prince (7.9 points), and seniors Niyala Harmon (6.5 points), Micala Reese (4.3 points), and Ryan Davis (3.7 points).

“It's been a magical year with this group of kids,” coach Gray said. “We've got four seniors that play, and we have a couple juniors and a freshman. I consider us to be a veteran team.

“Most of these girls were freshmen on the last very successful team that we had, and they've been trying to build their own footprint for the last three years with all the hard work they've put in.”

Gray, who is 82-19 in four seasons coaching the Warriors, was an All-American football cornerback at UCLA before spending eight seasons (1993-2000) in the NFL with the Seahawks, Colts, Giants, and Chiefs. He has a healthy respect for AW.

“They have two tremendous players in the Bender twins [Elise and Brooke], and an unselfish group around them that just does whatever it takes to win games,” Gray said. “We hoped that we would be able to get to this spot, and it was a goal of ours.

“From our end, we always kind of knew that one of those spots was guaranteed to be Anthony Wayne because we had heard so much about them all year. Hopefully we can get in there and compete with them. I know they're a great team.”

And, what is Carter's main concern with Winton Woods?

“Their press,” she said. “They are very quick. But, we have played Purcell Marian and Lawrence Central, who gave us some practice with that. Their press is something we typically don't see.”

Start coach Dane Franklin is familiar with both teams, having scrimmaged AW in the preseason, and seeing his Spartans humbled by Winton Woods in last week's regional final at Cincinnati Princeton.

“Man, they are one of the more complete teams that I've seen,” Franklin said of the Warriors, whose full-court pressure overwhelmed Start. “It should be an incredible matchup. Winton Woods has a tremendous ability to get to the rim, they can work the ball inside because they have three post players that do a really good job, and they have quite a few players who can shoot the 3-ball.”

And, that is only half of it, according to Franklin.

“Obviously, the defensive pressure they provide with their length is really something that is very hard to simulate in practice,” he said. “They are really good at it, which doesn't surprise me because of Carlton Gray's background. He played in the NFL, and is the defensive coordinator for their football team.

“They are the real deal but so is Anthony Wayne because they put so much emphasis on getting the ball out in transition. We scrimmaged Anthony Wayne in the preseason, and they put it on us pretty good too. They can work the ball inside, and a lot of their kids can shoot, which can spread you out.

“We're really excited for the matchup — with a local team with a chance to bring a championship back to northwest Ohio. We're going down as a team to watch the game in person.”

Anthony Wayne, playing in its second state final four, has been on a mission since making a trip to the Division I semifinals in 2022. The Generals lost in a D-I district final to Fremont Ross in 2023, and last year fell in the D-I regional semifinals to Massillon Jackson.

Senior twin sisters Elise and Brooke Bender have been along for the entire ride, leading AW's tournament run to state as freshman three years ago, and now preparing for the final game of their outstanding four-year careers before continuing at the next level at Villanova University.

Elise Bender, a 6-1 wing adept at scoring from anywhere on the floor, is an Ohio Ms. Basketball finalist for the second straight year. She is averaging 23.6 points and 7.2 rebounds per game, and has totaled 2,038 points in her career.

Sister Brooke, a 6-0 wing, more productive from the perimeter, averages 15.9 points and 4.0 rebounds, and has 1,164 career points..

“It's been tremendous to watch them grow from freshmen, and even from eighth-graders to where they are right now,” Carter said of the twins. “It's hard to put it into words because we're with them every day, and were able to see the progress. Not only at the game of basketball, but to watch them mature into young adults. That has been really inspiring for all of our staff.”

Rounding out the AW starting five are 5-11 junior Leah Pike (11.5 points, 5.1 rebounds), 5-5 senior point guard Sophie Smith (2.1 points), and 5-8 junior guard Kennedie Hill (4.3 points), who is the Generals' top on-the-ball defender.

The top subs include sophomores Corrin Voltz and Lauren Brenneman, and junior Addison Hill.

On the season, AW has outscored opponents by an average of 73.3 to 29.3 per game.

The Generals' two losses came back in December — a 70-60 setback Dec. 8 against Ohio D-III power Cincinnati Purcell Marian, which is vying for its fourth straight state championship in Friday's final against Avon Lake at 1 p.m., and a 63-57 defeat at Indiana stalwart Indianapolis Lawrence Central on Dec. 30.

Anthony Wayne's tournament trail included district wins over Southview (94-15) and Clay (92-26), regional victories over Twinsburg (58-20) and Hudson (48-32), and last Sunday's 57-40 triumph over 2024 Ohio D-I state champion Olmsted Falls.

“The team and the talent we have right now have really put us on the map, and we're proud of these kids because they have worked extremely hard to get here,” Carter said. “We stayed true to what our game plan was in the state semifinal against Olmsted Falls. We had a game plan for how we wanted to counter some of the offensive schemes. And, one of our big things is our defense leading to our offense. The first five, six minutes of the first quarter we really bought in to that. We had a couple of lulls in the game where they started to come back, but for the most part we were able to counter that.

“We had multiple kids who stepped up and either knocked down a shot, or got a stop, or you name it. It was a team effort, and they've just been locked in since the start of the year. The kids have known since last March that our goal was to be playing on March 14.”

First Published March 13, 2025, 7:37 p.m.