Frontier’s Emma Eddy makes a move inside during a game against Magnolia earlier this season at Hank Morus Gym. Frontier will take on Cameron at 2 p.m. Saturday in the Ohio Valley Athletic Conference 1A championship at the ECO Center in St. Clairsville. (Photo by Mike Morrison)

A pair of Washington County girls basketball teams will be playing for Ohio Valley Athletic Conference championships Saturday at the ECO Center in St. Clairsville.

In 1A, Frontier will take on Cameron at 2 p.m. in a rematch of the 2023 finals, which the Dragons won 47-36. In fact, Cameron has won the OVAC 1A title every year since 2021 and will go for the program’s fifth straight league title Saturday.

“They’re very guard oriented,” said Frontier head coach Mike Cisler. “They’ve got the (Maci) Neely girl who’s very good. We’re going to go do our best and see how it pulls out.”

The Cameron girls, led by head coach Holly Pettit, enter Saturday with a 9-3 record after cruising past Heartland Christian 68-30 in the semis. Neely led the Dragons in that game with 18 points while freshman Kendra Thomas hit four 3-pointers and added 17 points.

Frontier (12-6) made quick work of Madonna in the semis Monday, winning 62-19. Kesley Dye scored a game-high 18 points, Anna Bowersock added 14 and Willow Smitley double-doubled with 13 points and 11 rebounds. Keeley Barrows chipped in five steals and four assists.

Fort Frye’s Ella Dowler, left, goes up for a jumper as Warren’s Josie Venham contests during a game earlier this season in Vincent. Fort Frye takes on Wheeling Central at 6 p.m. Saturday in the Ohio Valley Athletic Conference 1A championship at the ECO Center in St. Clairsville. (Photo by Mike Morrison)

“We’re going to have to slow down their transition,” Cisler said. “We can’t let them run. We need our big three — Anna, Kelsey and Willow — to play well. They’ve got to be on. Our team defense is going to be a big factor.”

Also look for Elaney Cisler, Miley Kiggans and Alexis Livingston to get significant minutes for FHS, which won its last OVAC title in 2017 when it bested Valley 51-46. Lexi Brookover was selected as the game’s Most Valuable Player.

“The chance to play for hardware on Saturday is one of our goals,” coach Cisler said. “This is a big thing for us. We have to play our game. They like to get out transition. We have to handle their pressure.”

Bowersock leads the team with 13.8 points per game and 6.9 rebounds. Dye is averaging 12.3 points and 6.6 boards while Smitley is adding 9.9 points and 6.5 rebounds. The Cougars started the season 10-2 but lost four out of five going into the Madonna game.

“We knew going into the year, losing (Gracie) Knowlton and (Morgan) Haught, that we’d have a very young team,” coach Cisler said. “We’ve got a good group of juniors, but we knew there’d be peaks and valleys, and there has been. Now, we’re sort of getting back up the mountain, and hopefully we’ll be peaking at the right time.”

The final game of the day Saturday will pit Fort Frye against Wheeling Central for the 3A title at 6 p.m.

The Cadets, 54-34 winners over Union Local in Monday’s semis, enter Saturday with a 15-3 record. Those three losses are to Marietta (twice) and Waterford, two teams that are a combined 38-1 this season.

The Maroon Knights, 72-45 winners over Bellaire in the semis, present a strong challenge. They own a 15-2 record with losses to Linsly and Martins Ferry.

Central has several weapons, none more dangerous than senior post player Katlyn Blake, who averages 25.8 points, 10.3 rebounds and 3.1 assists per game.

“They’re definitely a very good team,” said FFHS head coach Dan Liedtke. “They’ve got a lot of size. Blake is one of the better post players we weill face. She’s definitely one that could be a problem. (Seneca) Heller is a very good point guard. She’s a ball-handler who likes to drive and create. Addie Payton is an outside shooter. Those are their three main players, but they’ve got other players with good size. We have a lot of work to do to overcome their height and strength.”

Heller averages 14.7 points, 5.7 assists and 2.9 steals per game while Payton adds 10.6 points, 4.9 dimes and 2.6 steals and leads the team with 36 made 3-pointers. Bella Fitzsimmons averages 8.0 points and 8.2 boards per game, but in Wednesday’s 63-50 win against St. Marys she scored 19 points and made five treys.

Fort Frye has plenty of firepower, too.

Senior Emmie Duskey leads the way with 16.9 points, 3.9 steals and 2.7 assists per game.

“She definitely has come so far,” Liedtke said. “Emmie has been great for us for her first three years, but this year she has improved so much. She really shows her leadership on the floor. I couldn’t ask for anyone to be a leader on and off the floor like she has.”

Ella Dowler is averaging 10.7 points while Ava Huffman adds 8.6. Haven Shilling is grabbing a team-high 6.5 rebounds per game.

For the Cadets, playing for the OVAC championship has become a tradition. In Liedkte’s 16 years coaching the girls basketball team, Fort Frye had been to the OVAC finals 14 times, winning seven titles.

Their last title came in 2022 (42-28 over Linsly) before losing in the finals each of the last two seasons to Union Local and Martins Ferry. Needless to say, this tournament means something to the Cadets.

“This is one of our big goals before we go into the tournament,” Liedtke said. “Playing on a neutral floor in the championship game, you really get into a tournament atmosphere. Winning the OVAC is always one of the big goals we have. We take it seriously.”

Contact Jordan Holland at jholland@mariettatimes.com.