Girls basketball: 3-time state champ Purcell Marian, reigning Miss Basketball next challenge for Sidney

Not that Jamal Foster was about to complain after his team topped Tecumseh on Tuesday night in Springfield.

“You know, they’re three-time champs for a reason, but we’re gonna go out there and prepare to win,” the coach of the Yellow Jackets said. “We’re gonna go out there and play hard. We’re gonna leave it out there.

“You won’t second guess the effort. We’re going to go out there and play as hard as we can for four quarters and let it go.”

Credit: Marcus Hartman

Credit: Marcus Hartman

Whatever happens Saturday, the Yellow Jackets already know what it’s like to pull a surprise.

They lost two-time first-team All-MVL guard Larkyn Vordemark to a knee injury early in the season but still managed to forge a tie with Stebbins in the MVL Valley division when all was said and done.

“Losing a player like Larkin early will set anybody back, but they didn’t quit on anything,” Foster said. “We accomplished one thing after another, so this group, even the younger underclassmen, they’re starting to believe in it, too. So I’m proud of ‘em.”

At 18-6, the Yellow Jackets are continuing an impressive turnaround under Foster, a Sidney grad who was hired in 2019 to resurrect a program that went 0-23 the previous season.

They’ve won six division titles and the overall league championship three times in his six seasons and are preparing to play in a district final for the first time since 1997 according to the Sidney Daily News.

“I believe that just coming in, I just wanted to do things from the ground up right, leaving it out there on the court and just being myself really,” said Foster, who was an AAU coach and youth basketball trainer in Montgomery County before Sidney hired him,” and the girls really bought in from the first group that I’ve had to the ones that are here.”

“Now, it’s about the chemistry and the trust. You care about the people and you get more out of them as players, so the relationships are very strong coming in here, and they work. You know, they make me look good.”

Without Vordemark, senior point guard Jordan Scully took over as the team’s leading scorer, averaging 15.3 points and 3.6 assists per game, while classmate Kelis McNeal averages 11.3 points and 10 rebounds.

Credit: Marcus Hartman

Credit: Marcus Hartman

Tecumseh held Scully in check, but McNeal went off for 27 points in the district semifinal.

“She’s a dog!” Foster said. “I can’t say enough. We talked about it in the preseason, that this is the best version of Kelis I’ve seen, and she’s exceeded that. But it isn’t because of effort and heart. It’s just because of her will every night to leave everything out there on the court.”

Purcell Marian won Miami Valley Conference Scarlet division and is a No. 1 seed after posting a 17-6 record against a schedule including games against Division I power Pickerington Central and multiple out-of-state programs.

Alexander, a 6-1 guard who has signed to play at the University of Cincinnati and is one of the top-rated recruits in the country for the class of 2025, averages 20.5 points, 7.3 rebounds and 4.7 assists per game for the Lady Cavaliers.

“We know who we’re playing,” Foster said. “We know who they are, and we’re just trying to make sure that we get some respect on our name.”