“It’s been an incredible season,” said Aviators coach Molly Bardonaro. “We definitely didn’t at the start of the season see things going that way, but it’s a credit to these girls and what they’ve done. They work extremely well together, they really all do get along and want the best for each other and you don’t find that very often. It’s definitely a team effort. They’ve bought into it.”
However, one big goal remains — a berth in the Division III district tournament. Third-seeded Butler got one step closer Saturday afternoon, beating West Carrollton 60-32 in a second-round game at Springfield High School.
The third-seeded Aviators advanced to play second-seeded Chaminade Julienne (17-5) in a D-III district semifinal game at 7:30 p.m., Wednesday, at Springfield. The Eagles beat Ponitz 84-10 in the early game Saturday to advance to the next round.
Butler jumped out to a 11-2 first-quarter lead against the Pirates and never looked back. Aviators sophomore Dillan Bardanaro led Butler with 14 points, sophomore Nora Stammen had 12 and senior Noel Smith had 11 in the victory.
Pirates senior Stephanie Gandy had 13 points for West Carrollton, which finished its season 6-17.
The Aviators haven’t advanced to a district final during Barnardo’s 11-season tenure at Butler. Both Butler and CJ recently moved to D-III as the Ohio High School Athletic Association expanded to seven divisions. They previously played in the D-I tourney..
“We’ve always been in the gauntlet in Division I,” Molly Barnardo said. “We make it out a couple games and we’re stuck playing (bigger schools) like Beavercreek or Wayne. It’s nice that we’re able to compete against schools our same size.”
They know they’ve got a big test in the next round against CJ.
“It’s going to be our toughest game of the season,” Barnardo said. “I think we match up well with them. It’s definitely going to be a challenge.”
CJ 84, Ponitz 10: Eagles junior Janae Cain scored a game-high 19 points, junior Mahaliyah Hill had 17 and senior Tiyah Parker added 14 for Chaminade-Julienne.
Ponitz senior Samiyah Chambers had seven points for the Golden Panthers, who finished the season 13-9.
The Eagles started the season 14-1, but lost four straight, including three Greater Catholic League Coed Division games. They bounced back with three consecutive wins against Springfield Catholic Central, Cincinnati McNicholas and Ponitz.
“Our league is really tough and our nonconference schedule has been pretty solid as well,” said Eagles coach Logan Allen. “We’ve seen a lot of teams that throw a lot of different things at us offensively and defensively. I thought in general we’ve done a good job of adapting to the different play styles that we see.
“Ultimately, we’ve defended really well, we’ve rebounded really well and we’ve shared the basketball. I think we’ve had six or seven different leading scorers throughout the season, so we’re not relying on one kid to kind of carry the load and that really helps us from an offensive standpoint.”
On Wednesday, fourth-seeded Bellbrook (21-3) will play fifth-seeded Tippecanoe (18-5) in a district semi at 6 p.m., followed by the CJ-Butler game.
The Eagles are seeking their first district berth since the 2012-13 season.
“We’re excited to be in the position that we’re in,” Allen said. “We’re excited about what next week brings and the opportunity that we have in front of us for sure.”
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