NEW WASHINGTON – There was a moment of deja vu for Columbian coach Morgan Harrigan Tuesday.
Just one year ago, the Tornadoes were eliminated in the Division III district semifinal – by Ashland – at Buckeye Central High School.
Fast forward to Tuesday – this time the Tornadoes were eliminated by Mansfield Madison – but it was once again at BC and TC was also in the same locker room nonetheless.
It prompted a joke from Harrigan saying: “Next year, I'm going to avoid the Buckeye Central district.”
However, there wasn't any avoiding how well the Rams played Tuesday, taking the Tornadoes out of their game and building a 29-14 lead at halftime en route to a 48-29 win.
A big turning point was a 17-4 second quarter where the Rams started the period on a 14-0 run.
Madison was able to get some revenge as TC topped Madison 55-41 during the regular season back on Dec. 27th.
“We started up 5-0 and had an opportunity to up 7-0 and I could tell (Madison coach Doug Rickert) was ready to call a timeout, but we blew the layup and they came down the other end and then (Lexi Beaston) picked up her second foul and that was the momentum shift. That was huge,” Harrigan said. “Our backup point guard is a freshman who's never been a point guard – Lexi also had never been a point guard either but had to step into that role for us this year.
“Everything that could go wrong for us, went wrong for us. From my perspective in coaching from the tip to the finish – Madison wanted the rebounds more than we did. That was it. That was a difference maker. In the first half they had six offensive rebounds, which led to 12 points. It's devastating when you play good defense and then can't grab the rebound when the shot doesn't fall. We just compounded our mistakes, and it was hard for us to get out of our own way.”
Kenze Felske drained a jumper and then Madi Shriver splashed a 3-pointer to begin the game for the Tornadoes (14-10), but then Madison (15-8) responded with a 9-0 run to grab a lead as it led 12-10 after the first stop.
Then things really snowballed for TC in the second as nothing was down offensively, and Madison just hit shot after shot and if the Rams didn't make a shot, they likely out-hustled the Tornadoes for a rebound for another look.
Before TC got on the scoreboard in the second, Madison led 26-10.
TC cut the lead to 26-14 after a Felske and a Beaston bucket, but as soon as the Tornadoes grabbed any semblance of momentum, it was taken away right before the half.
TC turned the ball over in the last few seconds of the half, which led to a deep buzzer-beating triple from Madison's Maddie Berry.
“I told the girls I don't believe in luck, but I believe in God, and God gave us another chance to play these girls because we lost to them earlier,” Rickert said. “Funny thing is, this was the game that we thought our season changed because we had a tough film session after that one and then we won 9 out of 11, and I told the girls this was their chance to show (TC) that they can play basketball.
“We're not a zone team, we play man all the time, but we had seen that (TC) had struggled with it the last couple of weeks. So, we suddenly put it in, but it's tough as a coach because do you suddenly go away from everything you've done … we're not great at (zone defense), but we were good enough to be able to switch back and forth. We did some decent things on defense.”
Berry drilled the 3-pointer before the half and then she sank the first one out of the half as Madison continued to pile on and led 40-20 late in the third.
Columbian just didn't have the offense to mount a comeback, especially against a 2-3 zone.
“I truly believe you need a strong post presence to be able to negate a zone, and we haven't really had that, so that's been our crutch the last second-half of the season,” Harrigan said. “You look at our losses, almost 90% of them have been against a 2-3 zone, so we have six different sets we try to run against it and try other movement against it, but we just can't seem to crack the code with this team. Hopefully adding in some post play next year, we'll be able to do that.”
Berry led the Rams with a game-high 14 points as seven different players scored.
Felske paced the Tornadoes with 10 points, while Shriver added nine.
Overall, TC won one more game this season that last year's team, but losing four seniors will hurt. Also, the Tornadoes do return a solid core of players, along with some incoming talent, the future is bright.
“In the locker room the first thing we did was thank the seniors for their dedication and helping us grow the program, but the next was challenging the younger kids to stay dedicated in the summer,” Harrigan said. “We need to get stronger; we have to shoot more consistently individually … and that happens in the summer. We encourage them not to just show up, but to bring someone with them. But the future for Tiffin Columbian looks promising. We have some young, dedicated kids, this just fueled their fire.”


Mansfield Madison 48, Columbian 29
Madison (15-8): Kelena Martin 0-0-0; Addyson Powell 3-0-8; Maddie Berry 5-0-14; Morgan Cook 3-0-6; Kayley Bowman 3-1-7; Cambree Howe 1-4-6; Avery O'Brien 2-0-4; Sophie Lowe 1-1-3. Totals: 18-6-48.
TC (14-10): Genevieve Cleveland 1-0-2; Madi Shriver 3-2-9; Mia Zeis 0-2-2; Caroline Newlove 0-0-0; Kenzie Felske 4-1-10; Lexi Beaston 1-0-2; Chloe Heyman 0-0-0; Tyanna Zeigler 1-0-2; Maddy Richie 1-0-2. Totals: 11-5-29.
Madison 12 17 11 8 – 48
Columbian 10 4 8 7 – 29
3-point goals: Madison 6 (Berry 4, Powell 2); TC 2 (Shriver, Felske).
Foul shots: Madison 6-12; TC 5-11
Turnovers: Madison 18; TC 14