Girls state basketball: Brunswick resident Reese Grammes helps Laurel knock off undefeated Bellevue

Medina County produced a champion at the state girls basketball tournament Friday. For Brunswick resident Reese Grammes and her Laurel teammates, their "Revenge Tour" featured a grand finale for the ages. In what can be considered the greatest all-around thriller since the tournament moved to UD Arena in 2021, the Gators pulled off a second straight stunner of a defending champion as UNLV recruit Tristan Williams nailed two free throws with four seconds remaining to edge undefeated Bellevue 60-58 in the Division IV title game. Laurel (22-4) was fewer than 24 hours removed from knocking off four-time defending D-II/III champion Cincinnati Purcell Marian. The underdog Gators then snapped the winning streak of the Redmen (29-1), which won D-IV a year ago, at 45 games. "I mean, it's a mix of so many emotions," Grammes said. "We've been here the past two years, so finally we were able to pull it off. It's so great to have my teammates to celebrate this moment. We called this our 'Revenge Tour' because we lost to Purcell our freshman year and we lost last year to Bellevue. It's just so great to complete it." Once a ball girl when her sister, Maci, played for Brunswick, Grammes was a defensive star whose impact went far greater than zero points, four rebounds and two assists. The 5-foot-7 junior had three steals, including two against 6-foot-3 Redmen center Kaitlyn Turinsky, and forced a critical traveling violation with 1:09 left and the Gators trailing 56-55. Laurel's Jordyn Meyer made her sixth 3-pointer on the next possession, but Bellevue calmly tied when Turinsky pivoted and scored from the right block. The Gators burned two timeouts to set up the winning sequence in which Williams shook a defender atop the arc, drove the left side of the paint, was tripped and made the two free throws. Meyer stole a desperation long inbounds at center court, and the Redmen conceded to set off a wild celebration. "We had a lot of big defensive stops at the end of the game," Grammes said. "They were coming at us in the beginning, but we were giving them what they wanted. We really came out and said, 'We need a stop.' We did that, ran clock out and we were able to pull it off." Meyer finished 10-for-15 from the floor and 6-for-11 from deep for a game-high 25 points, while Williams, who hit a baby hook with one second left to beat Purcell Marian, added 19 points, five rebounds, eight assists and five steals for the Gators, who defeated Brunswick 63-22 on Feb. 17. Bellevue got 20 points, eight rebounds and three assists from quick-footed freshman guard Ava Jakubcin-Theis, 14 points and 10 rebounds from Turinsky and 15 points from Carrington Savage. The Redmen committed only seven turnovers, won the rebounding battle 30-20, scored 30 points in the paint and led for 24:17 yet still lost. The game was incredible drama with 13 lead changes and 14 ties. The teams combined to shoot 43-for-90 from the floor (.478), 13-for-38 from 3-point range (.342) and 19-for-24 at the foul line (.792), highlighted by a jaw-dropping stretch in which they combined to make 11 straight shots from the 1:56 mark of the third quarter to 6:23 left in the fourth. Grammes, who plays AAU with Highland's Emeri Gausman and Rowan Kildoo, was the first to cut the championship net. She fought back tears of joy after completing a three-year odyssey that included a state runner-up trophy in 2024 and overcoming losing the Class of 2026 No. 1 recruit in the country, Saniyah Hall, to SPIRE Academy before reaching the 2025 semifinals. Grammes certainly played her part in 2026, including making 3-of-3 free throws with 58 seconds left in OT to set up Williams' game-winner Friday against Purcell Marian. "Bellevue brings a great student section. They always come, and it's electric to play in," Grammes said. "Also, it was just so competitive. It was back and forth the entire game. There was really no telling who was going to win it, so I'm really glad we could come out on top." In other games: Chaminade-Julienne 49, St. Vincent-St. Mary 40 Highland officially lost to the D-III state runner-up, as a late push by the Fighting Irish (22-6) fell short against the Eagles (24-4) in the afternoon game at UD Arena. St. Vincent-St. Mary, which edged the Hornets 47-39 in the regional semifinals, trailed by 16 points with 5:05 left in the third quarter, but point guard Melania Cornute came alive and helped cut the deficit all the way to 37-34 after four-star sophomore Sydney Ferguson scored with 5:37 left. Chaminade-Julienne responded, however, and the Fighting Irish never had a chance to tie or take the lead. Janae Cain led the Eagles, who rallied in the final minute to stun Copley on Friday, with 17 points, while lightning-quick freshman Mychael Hanson added 15. St. Vincent-St. Mary, which trailed 18-6 after one quarter, was paced by 13 points, six rebounds and six assists, from Cornute and 12 from Tatum Smith but shot 15-for-47 from the floor (.319) and 7-for-27 from 3-point land (.259). St. Henry 53, Canton Central Catholic 34 The D-VI championship didn't have much drama, as the Redskins (27-1) led 26-13 at halftime and never looked back against the upstart Crusaders (23-6). Addy Homan led all players with 20 points, while Karlee Buscher added 11. Central Catholic, which shot 11-for-35, got 12 points from Sarah Belden. Contact Albert Grindle at (330) 721-4043 or agrindle@medina-gazette.com.