Author: Matt Bollmann

by Matt Bollmann

Tri-Village Advances to the Division IV State Final in a Thriller Over Antwerp

Dayton, OH — In one word, head coach Josh Sagester described the Patriots first trip back to the State Championship as “elated.” Tri-Village won in a thriller over the Antwerp Archers by the final score of 44-41 behind a game high 20 points from Senior, Layne Sarver.

Layne Sarver started off the game by hitting the first two buckets, both three pointers, for the Patriots, which would set the tone for the rest of the game. He would end the first quarter with 8 points to lead the team as they took a 14-10 lead into the second quarter.

Tri-Village would then go on a 12-0 scoring run in the second quarter to stretch the lead out to 22-10. Antwerp was only held to four points in the second quarter as they would go into the half down 22-14. Layne Sarver led all scorers at the half with 13 points and the Archers leading scorer, Jagger Landers, was held to just 5 points at the half on 2-of-5 from the field.

The Archers came out of the half with some second half adjustments that sped up the Patriots offense and allowed them to close the gap, and eventually overtake the lead with 5:29 remaining in the second quarter, on a converted and-one three pointer from Sophomore, Landon Brewer. That lead wouldn’t last long as Tri-Village would eventually take a 35-28 lead into the fourth quarter behind some big buckets from Wilson Suggs, Justin Finkbine and Josh Scantland.

As the fourth quarter was nearing the final two minutes, the Archers wouldn’t go away and ended up tying the game on a corner three from Landon Brewer, which ended up tying the game at 37-37. On the ensuing Patriots possession, Layne Sarver hit a three to put the Patriots back on top at 40-37. With 5.5 seconds remaining in the game and the Patriots up 44-41, Layne Sarver missed two free throws to allow the Archers one final shot to send the game to overtime, which fell just short out of the hands of Jagger Landers from the top of the key.

With the win, Tri-Village will advance to play in the State Championship game on Sunday, March 20th at 5:15pm as they will face Richmond Heights.

Results

Team1234T
Antwerp104141341
Tri-Village14813944

Antwerp

PositionPTS
 0

Tri-Village

# PlayerPositionPTS
3Dalton DeLongGuard2
4Wilson SuggsGuard5
5Josh ScantlandForward7
10Jason HaleGuard0
15Layne SarverForward20
21Seth CookGuard0
33Tanner PrintzGuard2
35Justin FinkbineForward8
 Total 44
by Matt Bollmann

Alter’s Historic State Title Run Ended by SVSM

Dayton, Ohio —- The Alter boys basketball team had an outstanding season end at the hands of Akron St. Vincent-St. Mary on Friday night as the Fighting Irish knocked off the Knights by the final score of 72-47. In front of a crowd at UD Arena of 5,131, the 25-2 Alter Knights were looking to reach the State Final, but St. Vincent-St. Mary was looking to reach their sixth straight State Final Game.

Alter came out hot to start the game as Anthony Ruffolo hit a corner three about two minutes into the game to open up the scoring on either side. Ruffolo would hit another three from the wing Alter’s next time down the court as he hit back-to-back three pointers to open up the Alter lead at 6-2. Alter would go on a 10-2 run to open the game before the Irish started to get into a rhythm offensively and closed the first quarter out shooting 23.1% as a team and had a 13-8 deficit on the scoreboard.

The second quarter was a game of adjustments for the Irish as they completely flipped the script and outscored Alter 19-6 in the quarter. The Irish shot 56.3% in the second quarter compared to Alter’s 30%, and the Irish stepped up their intensity and pressure on the defensive side of the ball and forcing turnovers. The Irish would go into the half up 27-19 as Alter looked to rebound from the 9 turnovers and 24 points allowed in the paint.

The second half ultimately was a game of runs on both sides. The Irish once again came out hot and shot the ball well and extended the lead up to 11 points, but Alter went on a run. With 3:30 remaining in the third quarter the Knights would go on a run to cut the lead to 36-31 before the Irish went on a run of their own and ended the quarter with an 11 point lead at 46-35.

The Irish would continue to exert their size and athleticism in the fourth quarter as any time Alter continued to make a run the Irish would respond with a run of their own. The Knights were outscored in the fourth quarter 26-12 en route to the Irish win at 72-47, as 21 forced turnovers by the Irish helped to seal the win. Ramar Pryor finished with a game high 23 points for the Irish as the Knights were led offensively by Anthony Ruffolo and A.J. Leen, each scoring 13 points.

While Alter’s season ended earlier than they would have liked, they certainly have nothing to hang their heads about as they ended an incredible season at 25-3, outright GCL Champions at 10-0 in conference play, with their only two regular season losses coming at the hands of Fairmont and Providence Day (NC). Alter will look to make another run next year as they return all but two starters in Jacob Conner, heading to Marshall, and Senior Ryan Chew.

Results

Team1234T
Alter136161247
St. Vincent-St. Mary819192672

Alter

# PlayerPositionPTS
2Ryan ChewGuard10
3Anthony RuffoloGuard13
4Rudy HamiltonGuard0
12Gavin GeiselGuard6
15A.J. RoccoForward0
21A.J. LeenGuard13
24Jacob ConnerGuard5
10Brody BerneckerGuard0
13Braeden BakosGuard0
23Danny GrossGuard0
32Gavin LeenGuard0
32Ethan WillitsGuard0
 Total 47

St. Vincent-St. Mary

PositionPTS
 0
by Matt Bollmann

Tom House leads Centerville as Elks advance to State Championship

Dayton, Ohio — The Centerville Elks appeared in their first ever state final four in school history on Saturday evening as they faced an undefeated Mentor Cardinals team who came in at 25-0 on the season. Mentor, led by Senior and Youngstown State commit Luke Chicone can score in bunches as they scored more than 90 points 13 times this season. No doubt a tough matchup for the Elks in their first ever final four appearance, Tom House and Gabe Cupps stepped up big time in their chance to lead the team to the state championship game.

Tom House came out firing, opening up the game with a quick three point shot to give the Elks an early 3-0 lead which turned quickly to an 11-2 early lead for the Elks against a tough Cardinals offense. Gabe Cupps hit a driving floater as time expired in the first quarter to extend their lead to 15-7 at the end of the quarter. House scored an early 7 points as Cupps added 6 in the quarter.

The Elks defense came to play as they tightened up their defense on Mentor in the second quarter holding the Cardinals scoreless for a majority of the quarter. The Cardinals defense tightened up as well in the second only allowing two points in the first 6:30 of the quarter.

Mentor finally was able to remove the lid off the basket as Kyle Culler hit a corner three with 1:44 remaining in the half, cutting into the ten point lead to bring the Cardinals to within seven at 17-10. That opened up the scoring for both sides as the Elks went on a quick 5-0 run before Cael Gray hit a three at the buzzer to pull Mentor back within seven to close the half at 22-15.

The Elks came out of the break and went on a quick 8-0 run to open the second half to open their lead up to 15 within the first four minutes of the third quarter. The Cardinals offense again was quiet to open up the second half as they went nearly four minutes without a bucket until Steven Key hit a three to pull the Cardinals to within 12. Gabe Cupps picked up his fourth foul with 9.5 seconds remaining in the third, but the Elks remained strong both offensively and defensively throughout the quarter as they held a 36-24 lead going to the final quarter.

Gabe Cupps sat on the bench the majority of the fourth quarter, but in the end did not need much production from Cupps down the stretch as Tom House continued to lead the Elks offensively. The Cardinals full court press gave the Elks some problems a few times as it forced their offense to speed up, but every time the Cardinals would make a run, the Elks seemed to have an answer.

The Elks were up 54-39 when the Cardinals went on a quick 6-0 run forcing a few turnovers with the press on the defensive end of the ball and pulled to within nine points at 54-45. In the end, Tom House was too much as he finished with a double-double, finishing with 21 points and 10 rebounds. Cupps added 11 points as the Elks advance to the D1 state championship on Sunday evening at 8:30pm.

by Matt Bollmann

Miamisburg Defense Leads to 11th Win

Bellbrook, Ohio — The Miamisburg Vikings (11-2) of the GWOC traveled to Bellbrook High School Tuesday evening to take on the Golden Eagles (5-7) of the SWBL. Miamisburg came into action Tuesday evening averaging 53.2 ppg as a team and allowing only 44.5 a game. Tuesday evening was no different, as their defense rose to the occasion against Bellbrook.

Alex Ball, leading scorer for Miamisburg, opened up the evening with a hot start. Hitting two three-pointers early on in the game, Miamisburg opened up to a 12-2 lead, leading Bellbrook to call an early timeout to stop the momentum of the Vikings. Miamisburg continued their hot start shooting the ball, as they opened up to a commanding 20-7 lead at the end of the first quarter, and that was really all they would need. Ball finished the quarter with 8 points, going two-for-two from deep. Evan Logan, the 6’4″ Senior, added 4 points of his own in the first.

Miamisburg’s defense came out even stronger in the second quarter, only allowing 4 total points in the second quarter. Jackson McGohan, 2023 forward, added 4 points in the second quarter, two of which were on a huge steal and fast break dunk. Ball added 4 points of his own, and led all scorers at the half with 12 points. The Vikings would go into the half with a 23 point lead by the score of 34-11.

Coming out of halftime, Bellbrook stepped up their intensity and pressure on defense only allowing 9 third quarter points, but still only scoring 7 points of their own in the quarter as they would head to the final quarter down by the score of 43-18.

Heading to the fourth quarter, Bellbrook continued their strong defense, outscoring Miamisburg in the final quarter by the score of 14-8. The Golden Eagles outscored the Vikings 21-17 in the second half, but it was far too little, too late. The Vikings improved to 11-2 on the season with a big 19 point win, 51-32.

Key Players:

Alex Ball/5’11” Guard/2021: Alex Ball finished the game with a game high 18 points. His ability to spot up from deep or attack the basket off the dribble and create space, create shots, and create plays for his teammates was the key all evening for the Vikings offense.

Evan Logan/6’4″ Forward/2021: Evan Logan finished the evening with 8 points, but was a key factor both offensively and defensively for Miamisburg. His size in the middle on defense was too much all evening for the Golden Eagles to contend with, and his movement without the ball created some good looks and easy layups all evening.

Jackson McGohan/6’3″ Forward/2023: Jackson McGohan, when he was in the game was a force defensively. In the first half he had a nice block coming from behind the defender, blocking it off Bellbrook and causing a turnover. In the second quarter, he jumped the passing lane and was able to cause a steal leading to a fast break dunk, for two of his 6 points on the evening.

by Matt Bollmann

Jackson Center survives close District Final win

Jackson Center junior forward Aidan Reichert
Cedarville senior guard Colby Cross
Cedarville junior guard Trent Koenig

Vandalia, Ohio — On Friday evening at Vandalia Butler High School, another Division IV District Final took place between the Jackson Center Tigers and the Cedarville Indians. Both teams came into the game having very good regular season performances, both coming in with records of 20-5. Jackson Center, led by Junior, and Shelby County Athletic League’s player of the year in Aidan Reichert were looking to try and advance against another solid opponent in Cedarville led by Senior, Colby Cross who had averaged 17.2 points in the regular season.

The first quarter got off to a fast start as Aidan Reichert and Colby Cross both traded some buckets back and forth, but ultimately at the end of the first quarter Jackson Center held a narrow 15-9 lead. Aidan Reichert led the Tigers with 5 points at the end of the quarter while Colby Cross had 4 of his teams points.

Moving on to the second quarter with the Tigers leading by seven, Colby Cross hit a three pointer with 6:13 remaining in the half to cut the deficit to four, followed by a turnover in the backcourt leading to a Trent Koning fast break layup to cut the deficit to two points. The Tigers though were determined to not let this game slip away as Christopher Elchert hit his one of his two three-pointers in the game with 4:45 remaining in the first half to put his team up six. The Tigers went in to the half with a lead over the Indians by the score of 22-18. It was again Aidan Reichert and Colby Cross leading the way for each of their respective teams with nine points each heading into the second half.

The third quarter proved to be all Tigers as they opened up a big lead as Aidan Reichert scored eight of his teams nine points in the third quarter. Defensively the Tigers appeared determined to not let Colby Cross take control of the game as they held him scoreless in the third quarter as they opened up a 31-22 lead heading to the final quarter.

As the Indians opened up the fourth quarter it was clear the game plan was to clear the lane and let Colby Cross try and take control. Eight seconds into the quarter, Cross had a drive to the basket and got fouled on an and-one layup which cut the deficit to six with 7:52 left in the quarter. It was more of the same for much of the quarter as the Indians defensive intensity picked up quite a bit. With 3:45 remaining in the game Colby Cross hit a three pointer to commence and 8-0 run to open the quarter, with all eight points scored by Cross. With the Tigers leading by two points at 33-30 the Indians fouled Reichert with 13.2 remaining and he missed the front end of the one-and-one. The Indians came drove down court and called a timeout with 6.8 seconds remaining, and out of the timeout Trent Koning inbounded the ball right over Isaiah Ramey’s head leading to a turnover. With 5.4 seconds left the Indians sent Clay Akers to the line again missing the front end of a one-and-one. After a couple Tigers fouls, Cedarville had one final attempt with 0.4 seconds remaining in the game. The Indians inbounded the ball at half court to none other than Colby Cross who heaved a desperation three that missed wide left of the basket giving the Jackson Center Tigers a 33-30 victory.

Aidan Reichert and Colby Cross each finished with a team high 17 points for each of their respective teams. The victory sends Jackson Center on to the Sweet-16 with a matchup on Tuesday evening at UD Arena against the Cincinnati Christian Cougars.