Leah Brown, right, of Marysville drives toward the basket. The Lady Monarchs recently completed the most successful season in the program’s history. (Journal-Tribune photo by Tim Miller)
The curtain recently dropped on the most successful season in the history of Marysville High School girls basketball.
The Lady Monarchs posted a 22-4 record, which is the first time they ever won 20 or more games during a single season. It stands as the most wins in any season for the girls hoopsters.
Marysville repeated as the Cardinal Division champion of the Ohio Capital Conference and as the Division I district runner-up.
Klarke Ransome has been the head coach for the past two seasons and has compiled a 40-10 record during that time.
Ransome recently talked with the Journal-Tribune about the past couple of campaigns and what he sees as the future of the program.
“We’re in a really good spot and this is a great group of girls,” he said. “The girls who have played the past two seasons are great individuals as well as players.
“They have all taken a great deal of pride in our program and enjoy being a part of it.”
Prior to Ransome taking over the helm, the Lady Monarchs had winning seasons from time-to-time.
However, it had been two -plus decades (1999-2000) since they had last won a conference title.
The past two seasons have marked the first time the MHS girls hoopsters have advanced to the district tournament.
One of the biggest factors to the team’s success has been how well the past two squads have bought into what Ransome and his coaching staff have taught.
“It happened right away a year ago and continued through this past season,” he said. “When we first took over the program, we as coaches gave a great deal of thought into what we wanted to do and teach.
“All along, we have also fostered team bonding and created a family atmosphere the girls have really enjoyed.”
That’s due mainly from the coaching staff taking a vested interest in the group not only as players, but also as people.
They created what they call the “Monarch Minute,” which allows members to address the team and coaches about what is on their minds, basketball-related or not.
“We encourage the girls to talk about different topics,” said Ransome. “We want to know what is important to them.”
That practice continues at times in the off-season as well, said the coach.
Ransome said one of the biggest factors in the Lady Monarchs’ success has been a sense of unselfishness among the group.
“These girls don’t care who gets the credit, either for scoring or who gets named to whatever post-season honors,” he said. “We have any number of girls who are capable of scoring in double figures on any given night and the others do their best to get the ball to whoever has the hot hand.
“You don’t see a lot of that type of unselfishness these days and it’s very refreshing,” said Ransome. “These girls have each other’s backs and they really care about one another.
“They just want to go out and win games.”
JoJo Eberhart led MHS in scoring this season with a per-game average of 9.7. She was followed by Leah Brown (9.1), Ava Krutowskis (8.2) and Ava Wilkerson (7.5).
They all had double-digit scoring games, as did others such as Alyssa Straham and Cam and Gab Lee.
The Lady Monarchs averaged 49 points per game this season.
Much of that offensive output, though, was generated by a pressing, trapping defense that suffocated opponents.
Marysville’s D yielded just 33 points per outing and held nine opponents to less than 30 markers.
“We generate so much of our offense in transition off our defense,” Ransome said.
The Lady Monarch bench boss feels the success the program has achieved the past two seasons will continue.
Most teams say good-bye to senior players at the conclusion of each season.
MHS is no exception.
“We’re losing three seniors (Strahm, Abbey Williams and Megan McKinney) who were great leaders this past season,” said Ransome.
“They were just like the seniors we had our first season and they are always very hard to replace,” he added. “We will miss them.”
What is returning for 2022-23, however, is a very solid core of players that will include seniors such as Brown, Wilkerson, Krutowskis, Abri Schmutz, the Lee twins and Maddie Hansen, along with junior-to-be Eberhart.
Addy Tweed was a sophomore who came back from an injury and gave the team quality minutes on the floor late in the campaign.
“We will have quite a lot of varsity playing experience returning next year,” said Ransome. “Those girls will go into the pre-season knowing what are our expectations.”
Even though the roster will be veteran-laden again next year, the coach knows nothing can be taken for granted.
“Even with our returning experience, the season isn’t going to be easy,” he said. “We just want to continue to improve as next year progresses.”
Ava Wilkerson (4) of MHS applies defensive pressure against a Hilliard Davidson ball handler. The Lady Monarchs yielded just 33 points per game to opponents during the past season. (Journal-Tribune photo by Tim Miller)
JoJo Eberhart swishes in a shot for the Lady Monarchs. Eberhart led MHS in scoring this past season. Marysville head coach Klarke Ransome looks on in the background. (Journal-Tribune photo by Tim Miller)