HAMILTON — A day later, Gracie Cosgrove still found it hard to believe.
The Badin High School sophomore set the school’s single-game basketball scoring record with 48 points in a 78-33 verdict over visiting Dayton Chaminade Julienne on Wednesday night at Mulcahey Gym and tied the state girls record for 3-pointers in a game with 14.
“It still doesn’t seem real,” said Cosgrove, shaking her head and smiling. “I’ve had good games before … but never one like that.”
The 5-foot-6 guard was lighting it up all night – she made 17 baskets and only missed six shots in the process. She never went to the foul line.
“When she came out and hit her first four 3-pointers of the game, you could tell right away that she was in the zone,” Badin coach Tom Sunderman said. “But when she came out in the second half and hit her first three, you thought, ‘OK, we’ve got something special going on here.’ “
Cosgrove had 14 points as Badin jumped out to a 24-4 lead after the opening quarter. She added 6 points in the second quarter, 12 in the third and had 16 in the fourth.
“It was a little awkward,” Sunderman conceded of playing Cosgrove for much of the fourth quarter with a running clock. “But we knew she was close to the school scoring record, and we knew she was close to the state 3-point record. And she just didn’t miss many shots.”
“I’d look over at the coaches on the bench and they’d say, ‘Shoot it.’ So I shot it — and they just kept going in,” said Cosgrove, who has been playing organized basketball since she was in kindergarten.
Sunderman noted that he had four seniors on the bench in the fourth quarter along with a freshman who is the leading scorer in the Greater Catholic League Coed Division, so he didn’t feel like he would put any of them back in the game.
Badin had beaten CJ 53-40 in a competitive GCLC contest in Dayton earlier in the season, and Sunderman said he was worried about the game.
“They’re a good team and this was a trap game,” Sunderman said of the contest that followed Badin’s second loss of the season, 63-47 to Kettering Alter at BHS on Saturday. “CJ had given us a good game in Dayton and they’d won five games in a row. So I was expecting a tough night.”
Instead, Cosgrove — known as a strong outside shooter — buried three quick triples to give Badin a 9-0 lead to start the game, and the Rams never looked back.
“I’ve seen girls have great shooting games before, but never anything like that,” Sunderman said. “And Gracie did it against a good, athletic team. Even her last 3 – she came off a ball screen and buried one from 26 feet. I’ve never seen anyone shoot it like that from that distance.”
“All during the game, my teammates were just like wow, Gracie,” Cosgrove laughed. Even her dad, Badin boys assistant coach Ben Cosgrove, sitting at midcourt, was impressed. “I’d make another one and he’d shake his head like, ‘Seriously?’ “
Cosgrove broke both the Badin girls and boys school single-game scoring mark with her 48 points.
Lizzy Sunderhaus (Class of 2008) had set the previous girls mark with 36 points at Springfield South on Dec. 27, 2007. Randy Osborne (1980) had the boys mark of 43 points on Dec. 29, 1979, at home against Talawanda.
Cosgrove joined two other Ohio girls with 14 three-pointers in a game, according to Ohio High School Athletic Association records — Caitlin Splain of Olentangy Liberty on Jan. 15, 2021, and Taylor Mikesell of Massillon Jackson on Feb. 10, 2018.
“I thought her teammates did a great job getting her the ball in the open court,” Sunderman said. “We always say that it starts with the pass. Gracie got some great passes, but she was the one who had to put the ball in the cylinder.”
Cosgrove had 32 points after three quarters, and the bench knew that 36 was the girls scoring record. She buried two 3s to open the fourth period to get to 38. At that point, she was within two of the state 3-point mark.
“We thought we’d give her a shot — and she just didn’t miss,” Sunderman said as Cosgrove was 4-for-5 from the floor after getting to 38 points. “She was really on a roll.”
The win pushed Badin’s record to 11-2 overall and 6-1 in the GCL Coed Division. CJ fell to 8-7, 3-5.
The Rams will host Butler County rival Ross on Saturday at 1:30 p.m., while the Eagles will be at home against Dayton Belmont on Tuesday.
Chaminade Julienne 4-10-10-9 — 33
Badin 24-15-19-20 — 78
CHAMINADE JULIENNE (8-7, 3-5 GCL Coed): Kennedy Gadson 4 1 9; Airreana Clark 2 0 5; Brooke Haywood 3 2 8; Janae Cain 3 0 7; Morgan Chandler 1 0 2; Mahaliyah Hill 0 2 2; Totals: 13 5 33
BADIN (11-2, 6-1 GCL Coed): Braelyn Even 2 1 5; Gracie Cosgrove 17 0 48; Lauren Christie 0 1 1; Lauren Grawe 3 0 8; Alyvia Hegemann 0 4 4; Erin Beeber 1 1 4; Brooke Sebastian 1 0 2; Shelby Mulcare 2 0 4; Addy Marshall 1 0 2; Totals: 27 7 78
3-Pointers: C 2 (Clark, Cain), B 17 (Cosgrove 14, Grawe 2, Beeber)
