High school sports: The 10 best moments from the 2025-26 school year
· Yahoo Sports
Many memorable moments highlighted the 2025-26 high school sports season in the Miami Valley.
Area teams won five Fall, six Winter and six Spring state championships. There were also individual titles won, with two coming in the Fall, nine from Winter athletes and 20 in the Spring.
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Mixed in were also historic seasons and games that will be fondly remembered in the years to come.
Cox First Media takes a look back at some of the best individuals and teams from the past year of competition.
Some honorable mentions:
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Tippecanoe football reaching the D-III state semifinals
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Alter boys golf winning its fourth straight state title
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St. Henry boys bowling winning the D-II state title
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Springboro girls lacrosse advancing to the D-I state semifinals
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Centerville boys soccer advancing to a D-I state semifinal
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Tippecanoe girls volleyball winning the D-III state championship
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Southeastern softball advancing to the state semifinals for the first time in school history
Here are the top moments of the high school sports season:
No. 10: Fenwick finishes run to boys volleyball title
A third overall state championship for the Fenwick boys volleyball team saw them dominate Akron St. Vincent St. Mary to cap a memorable campaign.
Remembering the lessons from its “Play for Pete” mantra regarding former coach Pete Ulrich during its 2021 title campaign, the Falcons overcame an early 5-5 start to its championship season to come together as a group.
Fenwick learned to trust itself and ended up celebrating for the previous seniors that didn’t get to experience their joy.
No. 9: Beavercreek, Oakwood win first cross country titles
With two individual placers in the top-10, Beavercreek’s boys cross country team captured its first ever Division I team championship at the state meet.
Oakwood’s girls squad earlier in the day also won its first state title in D-III.
Senior Jackson Davis finished in sixth and fellow senior Aiden Allen ran 10th. Oakwood had freshman Evelyn Reinoehl place 10th and senior Delaney Cahill right behind in 11th.
No. 8: Wayne track continues compiling championships
Track and field supremacy lives in Huber Heights after Wayne won its combined fourth consecutive state championship in indoor and outdoor seasons.
Led by senior Key’Shawn Garrett and junior Keng Martin who both scored in four events, the Warriors easily outpaced the opposition to complete its run as one of the most successful programs in the state.
Wayne had nine individuals and relay teams make the podium at the D-I meet in Columbus.
No. 7: Middletown football produces best ever season
A dominating defense culminated in the first ever regional title earned by the Middies.
Middletown suffocated opponents to the tune of allowing nine points per game and had four shutout wins during its season.
The Middies beat Wayne in the Region 2 final and set a school record for wins in a season.
No. 6: Young stars help lead CJ to girls basketball crown
Teams couldn’t hold Chaminade Julienne down for the count. The Eagles rallied past several league rivals on its way to a regional title before producing a stunning comeback in the state semifinals.
CJ rallied from a nine-point deficit in the final minutes to get the opportunity to drive only a few minutes down the road from its campus and win a state title in front of its home crowd.
The championship was CJ’s fourth overall and first in 21 years.
No. 5: Badin baseball finishes 3-decade wait for title
Badin solidified its position as one of the best baseball teams in the state regardless of division this season.
The Rams mostly cruised through its season and tournament run to the title. It was the first state championship in 30 years for one of Ohio’s most prestigious programs.
The win was a true passing the torch moment with head coach Brion Treadway, a member of the last championship team, turning to his son Brooks to start the title game.
No. 4: Trotwood basketball wins thriller after thriller
No team in Ohio may have experienced a more stressful run to a state championship.
Trotwood won multiple games by one-possession, needed several of their last second shots to fall and also needed to avoid several last ditch opportunities by their opponents.
The title game against Steubenville summed up the Rams’ run. Junior Darius Dennis hit a runner in the paint to take the lead and the Rams desperately attempted to stop several potential winning shots in the final seconds.
No. 3: St. Henry ends Marion Local’s 76-game winning streak
The 76-game win streak — the longest in state history — and a chance at a fifth consecutive state championship ended for Marion Local.
St. Henry avenged a regular season loss to be the team that ended the streak. The Redskins went on to win the D-VII championship.
Marion Local had last lost in November 2020.
No. 2: Kenton Ridge softball repeats
One of the most complete teams in any sport in Ohio over the past year, Kenton Ridge also proved to be one of the most resilient through its six-run comeback win to complete back-to-back state championship seasons.
KR were the favorite all season to repeat as D-IV state champions but faced a rare situation for itself, in the early innings trailing by six runs and needing to muster enough to overcome another undefeated team.
Incredibly, it wasn’t that Kenton Ridge did it. Members of the team saying they always believed they would win shows off the fortitude they possessed.
Numerous player and team records have been set during its run, and a 64-game win streak for KR continues into next season.
No. 1: Thornton’s shot goes into Ohio lore
There was not a louder eruption at UD Arena this winter — and Fairmont senior Kaylah Thornton’s heroics were the cause.
A 30-foot pull up buzzer beater sent the D-I girls basketball championship game against Cincinnati Princeton to overtime. Thornton raced and weaved almost the length of the floor in under five seconds. Her shot briefly rattled around the rim before falling as time expired.
The shot was so popular that people attempted to recreate it during the celebration event a month later.
Fairmont completed an undefeated season and won its second girls basketball state championship.