Alter girls basketball back in state title game

And, most importantly, Alter had Maddie Moody, and the other team did not.

The senior forward scored 22 points, including a handful of early contested baskets at the rim to keep the game close against a smothering FUHS defense, as Alter established a lead in the first half then pulled away in the second.

Tied at the end of the first quarter, the teams traded baskets to begin the second.

Samantha Sattler made a 3 to put FU on top 20-17, but Moody answered with an old-fashioned three-point play to tie the score again and start a 10-2 run that gave Alter a 27-22 lead.

Moody had five in the spurt while Da’Shai Shepard tallied the other five.

Jill Cooperiter made a pair of free throws for Fairfield Union with seven seconds left to send the game to halftime 27-24 in favor of the Knights, who got the better of play at the end of both quarters in the first half.

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Molly Miller handles the ball as Alter won a girls basketball OHSAA D4 state semifinal against Fairfield Union

Alter outscored the previously undefeated Falcons 8-4 in the third quarter then gradually pulled away in the fourth.

After Fairfield Union (26-1) scored first in the fourth to get within five, Alina Overman hit a jumper to start an 11-2 run that put the game away.

Moody scored twice in that sequence, and Shepard hit a pair of free throws to put the Knights up 10 for the first time and leave nothing for the Falcons to do but hoist 3s that wouldn’t go down.

Alter (19-8) is set to play Bellevue at 4:15 Friday afternoon at UD Arena, the eighth state championship game for the Knights.

They are 5-2 in those contests, including victories in 2008, 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2022.

Shepard finished with nine points while Samantha Pothast added 11, including a pair of 3-pointers that helped Alter gain some separation in the third quarter.

Christian Thompson led the Falcons with 16 points.