DAYTON — Anthony Wayne's dream of a girls state basketball championship fell one win short on Friday night, as the Generals lost 70-55 to unbeaten Cincinnati Winton Woods in the Division II title game before a crowd of 3,334 at the University of Dayton Arena.

The Generals (24-3), who were making their second final-four appearance and first trip to the championship game, lost despite the efforts of Villanova-bound senior twin sisters Elise and Brooke Bender.

Elise Bender had 26 points and 13 rebounds, Brooke Bender had 10 points and 11 rebounds, and junior guard Leah Pike added 14 points for AW, which was done in by its 19 turnovers and the exceptional play of Warriors freshman Strawberry Blankumsee.

“I'm proud of the kids,” AW coach Jami Carter said. “It didn't turn out the way that we had hoped, but it doesn't take away from their effort. What can we say? It wasn't our night. This is a big stage. It wasn't for a lack of effort.”

Winton Woods (27-0), which got a game-high 28 points from Blankumsee, took a 37-33 lead to halftime and started to break things open with a 13-7 third quarter.

The Warriors continued to surge at the start of the fourth, opening that quarter by building their lead to 58-44 on a 3-pointer from Niyala Harmon (10 points) with 5:21 remaining. The Generals got no closer than nine points from there.

“I'm just proud that the girls finished,” Warriors coach Carlton Gray said. “There were a lot of things that we didn't do well in the first half, especially defensively. It was a little bit bothersome early, but we were making enough plays to stay in front.

“Going into halftime, being up four points, we just said we needed to focus on separating in the first three or four minutes of the third quarter. The girls just kept pushing through and making enough plays.”

Winton Woods also got 17 points and eight rebounds from Daniah Trammell and 11 points from Whitley Davis in winning the program’s first state championship.

The Warriors' 19-7 edge in turnovers forced led to a decisive 26-9 advantage in points off of turnovers.

“Usually under pressure we do better than that, but we fell [behind] and it was really hard to come back when we were playing such a good team,” Pike said of the Warriors. “They just pressed us very well.”

Anthony Wayne, which was 21 of 54 (39 percent) from the field, including 7 of 20 on 3-pointers, outrebounded the taller Warriors 34-22. But Winton Woods enjoyed another big statistical plus at the foul line, where it was 23 of 30 compared to 6 of 8 for the Generals.

Other byproducts of the Warriors' relentless defensive pressure was topping AW 36-22 on points in the paint. They were 22 of 44 (50 percent) from the field, including 3 of 8 on 3-pointers.

“That was a focal point for us all week, making sure we took care of the ball,” Carter said. “Nineteen turnovers tells us that we didn't do as good of a job as we intended. They're a really good team, and they forced us into turnover situations.

“We got tired [in final quarter] and quit doing what we're good at, which is passing and coming to the ball, making plays, and knocking down shots. Defense has been our strong suit this season, and tonight we didn't get it done on defense, especially in the beginning of the fourth quarter.”

Winton Woods led 21-19 after one quarter, with Blankumsee scoring 13 of her points during that stretch. She was 7 of 11 from the field with one 3-pointer mixed in, and was 13 of 15 at the line in the game.

AW’s only lead of the game was 17-16 after an Elise Bender 3-pointer with 1:55 left in the first quarter.

A day earlier, Elise Bender (2,064 career points) was announced as the runner-up to Cincinnati Purcell Marian's Dee Alexander for Ohio's Ms. Basketball award.

“It was amazing to even come back here,” Elise Bender said of her final prep game. “My freshman year we were here and ended up losing [in the semifinals], but just being able to experience it again and end my season on this court was really what I wanted to do.

“We fell short and didn't get what we wanted, but getting to experience this again was awesome.”

Sister Brooke's 1,174 career points rank No. 2 in program history.

“They're a really great team and they played very well,” Brooke Bender said of Winton Woods. “[Blankunsee] had a really great game, and we had trouble stopping them. We did our best but, in the end, it just didn't go our way.

“Just getting back to this place was really something special. We wanted that from the very beginning of the year. So, doing that with my twin sister was really amazing.”

The state basketball runner-up finish for AW follows the D-II runner-up finish by the Generals' volleyball team in the fall, a run which was led by Pike and twin sister Mallory, who have each committed to play that sport at Ball State University.

First Published March 15, 2025, 1:31 a.m.