All in a day's work for St. Paul duo

NORWALK — After leaning up against the gymnasium wall, Georgia Crabbs let out a brief sigh. "I'm already starting to feel the crash," Crabbs said. "I'm going down right now." A senior at St. Paul, Crabbs had just helped the girls basketball team to a thrilling 41-38 win over Old Fort in a Division VII sectional title game on Feb. 21. But that was only a part of the day. Crabbs and 14 competition cheer teammates left in the 7 a.m. hour for the 90-minute drive to Sunbury, where the OASSA state championships were being held at Big Walnut High School. After a 10-minute warmup at 10:20 a.m., the Flyers performed their three-minute routine at 10:50 a.m. Then, Crabbs and freshman Anmarie Nolan both left from Sunbury soon after the performance and were on the floor when the Flyers took the floor for warmups for the 2 p.m. basketball game inside Harvey Keller Gymnasium in Norwalk. On their ride back home, Crabbs and Nolan received word that the Flyers had won the Division VI Game Day Building state championship for a second straight year. The pair then both contributed to a sectional championship win that saw the Flyers turn away the Stockaders three times in the final 30 seconds. "One of the most exhausting days I've ever experienced, but also definitely the most exciting," Crabbs said. Just before the pair took their turn up the ladder to cut down their piece of the basketball net, Allyson Takacs and Chloe Hazelwood, the other two senior cheer members, arrived at the gym and gave Crabbs and Nolan their state championship cheer medals. "There was good and bad to it," Crabbs said. "I'm excited we won at cheer, but sad I'm not with my teammates. Then you have to focus in because you don't want your basketball career to end at home in the tournament like this." Crabbs said her first reaction to the schedule conflict was "terrified" because she didn't know if she'd be able to make both events. The basketball game was scheduled on Feb. 8, but the cheer schedule did not come out until four days later. As it turned out, Crabbs and Nolan were both back around the normal report time of 1 p.m. for the basketball game. "That's the dedication they've shown all year," St. Paul girls basketball head coach Steve Frazee said. "Not just those two, but all 11 work hard, and one of them stayed after practice (Friday) and got some more shots up when she didn't have to be here. "But those two exemplify that mentality by what they did today, and it's a big reason why we've been able to have the success we've had this season." The Flyers (11-12) had won just eight games in the previous three seasons and are in a district semifinal for the first time in five years. They play at 6 p.m. Wednesday against St. Mary Central Catholic (11-13) at Gibsonburg High School. Crabbs admitted it was hard to get into the basketball mentality right away. And though she felt strongly about the cheer routine, experiences taught her not to be too confident. "It sounds like it'd be easy to turn it on and off from cheer to basketball, but I had to really get going in warm-ups to make that mental change," she said. "Our performance was great, but I never want to be too sure, because we've lost by small margins there before. "I didn't want to get my hopes up, but yeah, we all felt like it was probably the best routine we had all season today." The two basketball players also weren't the only ones rushing back. After the weather canceled nearly a full week of practices, four other members of the cheer team had to be back to St. Paul by 3 p.m. for "Wizard of Oz" spring musical practice. That meant six of the 15 members of the cheer team had double duty on Saturday. The day before, four cheer members participated in a regional mock trial competition in Bowling Green. They then went straight to Ashland Crestview for a basketball game before Saturday's early trip to Sunbury. "We are a school whose students are active and involved," SPH cheer coach Katie Weisenberger said. "Many times their activities interchange. We were fortunate that our schedule worked out so that our two girls were able to make it back for their sectional game — and their second win of the day. "I am so proud of them and all the kids that are able to balance multiple activities, clubs, travel teams, musicals, and still be able to have good grades. I think our team racks up an impressive resume when it comes to activities. But it was great to see Georgia be able to make it back and also cut down the net as a senior after winning another state title." Frazee echoed those sentiments. Crabbs has been a starter for him this season. As a freshman, Nolan came in for minutes off the bench in the win. Crabbs split a pair of free throws, grabbed five rebounds, and didn't commit a turnover. The Flyers were a plus-9 in net point differential when she was on the court in the victory. "I've coached a really long time, and she's one of my favorite players I've ever had," Frazee said. "Georgia is always positive and always wants to learn. Every time we do free throws, she asks us to watch and see what she is doing wrong. "She always wants to get better, and I just love that about her. For her to go do that with cheer and come back here so quickly and play well, it was awesome to see. She earned it." After helping cheer break through with the first two state titles in the program's short history, Crabbs and classmates Morgan Endsley, Taegan Mansfield-Bush, and Peyton Barman have helped the basketball team dig out of a rough three years. St. Paul went from 8-63 overall and 3-39 in the Firelands Conference from 2022-24 to its current record of 11-12, while also going 7-7 in FC play. "We're definitely proving ourselves," Crabbs said. "A lot of these girls put in some serious work in the offseason. We're showing that we're not a team you can take lightly anymore. "But I love competition cheer, and I love basketball. Proving myself on both ends means a lot to me, and I know it does to my teammates as well." Crabbs, who also missed a couple of games along with Mansfield-Bush and other classmates on a mission trip to Belize in January, also plans to turn Saturday into some bragging rights at home. Her older brothers, Thane, Eric, Camden, and Quincey, were all stars on the football field for the Flyers. The youngest sibling of parents Tim and Teresia has no plans to listen to their banter. "When they go argue about touchdowns and yards, I'll ask who has more state titles," she said with a smile.