BOYS BASKETBALL STATE FINALS
Div. I
Massillon Jackson 39, Archbishop Moeller 38
COLUMBUS (AP) — Massillon Jackson’s Kyle Young made one free throw with 3.6 seconds left to lift the Polar Bears over Cincinnati Archbishop Moeller to a 39-38 Division I state championship victory on Saturday night at Value City Arena.
Following a timeout after Young’s second missed free throw, Moeller’s Keegan McDowell caught the ball past halfcourt with 2.5 seconds left and attempted a shot from 35 feet at the buzzer that missed left.
“We were nervous, but we knew how bad we wanted it,” Young said. “We just had to go and take it.”
Young was only 1 of 10 from the field with five points, but grabbed 10 rebounds. Logan Hill led the Polar Bears (27-2) with 12 points and Jaret Pallotta added 11.
McDowell and Miles McBride had 15 and 14 points, respectively, for the Crusaders (27-1) in their first loss of the season.
On the final play, Young said that head coach Tim Debevec told him to flash for the ball and go to basket. Whether that meant draw a foul or make a layup, Young knew he had to give his team the lead.
Moeller head coach Carl Kremer planned to deny Young any opportunity to score.
“We wanted to put pressure on Young,” Kremer said. “I don’t think we fouled him.”
Jackson grabbed the lead late in the first quarter and never trailed from that point. Where Young struggled from the field, Hill picked up the slack, grabbing three of his six rebounds on the offensive glass and finishing in traffic.
“All the rebounds he had, all the buckets he had were huge,” Young said of his teammate.
The two teams went into halftime tied at 20, each uncharacteristically shooting below 40 percent. Jackson was outrebounded 40-30 in its semifinal win over St. Edward, but the Polar Bears were the better team on the glass on Saturday night, outrebounding Moeller 29-25.
“It was a grind the entire time,” Hill said. “At halftime we were talking that the team with the most grit was going to pull out a victory. I think that’s what happened to us.”
It was the Crusaders second all-time state runner-up finish.
Div. II
Akron St. Vincent St. Mary 45, Wauseon 30
COLUMBUS (AP) — Senior guard Jayvon Graves didn’t want Akron St. Vincent-St. Mary to settle for almost again.
Graves poured in 25 points, grabbed six rebounds and had seven steals Saturday for the Irish in a 45-30 victory over Wauseon in the Division II final on Saturday.
St. Vincent-St. Mary won its record-tying seventh boys state championship and its first since 2011, but Graves wasn’t about to let the Irish fall short after losing in last year’s title game.
“It means a lot after coming down here two other years and finally getting it done,” Graves said. “The seniors, they stepped up big.”
The Irish swarmed Wauseon with tough defense and double-teams, forcing 23 Indians’ turnovers that led to a multitude of transition points.
St. Vincent-St. Mary struggled to knock down shots early and missed its first seven, but finished the game shooting 40 percent from the field.
The school’s seven titles tied it with Middletown for most in boys basketball in Ohio.
“For the school to have tied the record for the most state championships and to be a part of that, these guys . they understand they’re a part of something that’s bigger than themselves,” said coach Dru Joyce. “And they’ve been able to write their chapter, and I’m extremely proud of them.”
Graves, the Associated Press Division II co-player of the year, scored 47 points in the final two games, including the winning shot against Trotwood-Madison on Thursday.
Austin Rotroff led Wauseon with 18 points and nine rebounds while Carter Bzovi chipped in eight points.
“It’s been a lot of fun,” Rotroff said. “Great season, and look forward to getting back at this summer and trying to get back here next year.”
Bzovi had six points and five rebounds in the first half, but was essentially shutdown for much of the second half.
After the Indians had clawed their way back into the game and cut the deficit 35-30, Bzovi’s 3-pointer rimmed out. St. Vincent St. Mary ended up scoring in transition, eventually going on a 10-point run to end the game.
“It felt good off my hand,” Bzovi said. “Looked like it was going in from my angle. Would’ve been a big shot but, obviously, it didn’t go down.”
Div. III
Villa-Angela-St. Joseph 54, Roger Bacon 52
COLUMBUS (AP) — Cleveland Villa Angela St. Joseph defeated Roger Bacon, 54-52 in the Ohio high school Division III boys basketball state championship game on Saturday at Value City Arena for the school’s record-tying seventh state championship.
Jerry Higgins scored 16 points, Alonzo Gaffney had 12 points and 10 rebounds and William Butler added 10 points.
Alec Pfriem had a double-double for the runner-up with 12 points and 11 rebounds. Justin Johnson and James Johnson added 14 and 13 points, respectively.
Leading by two with 1:07 to go, Higgins got behind the defense on an inbounds pass and scored a layup to make it a two-possession game. The Vikings made seven free throws in the final minute and led by as much as 10 before Bacon hit three 3-pointers in the final 31 seconds, but fell one possession short.
The Vikings scored 19 points fewer than their semifinal game against Fairland. VASJ head coach Babe Kwasniak said Roger Bacon was the best defensive team they had played all year.
“You include the national teams we’ve played, we’ve never been guarded like that,” he said.
St. Joseph led by two points heading into the fourth quarter when Butler knocked down a 3, then Noah Newlon hit two triples to give the Vikings an eight point lead with 5:36 to play.
“I thought the two 3s Noah made were as big as shots in any state championships we’ve ever won, just because it was so hard to find points,” Kwasniak said. “Those felt like touchdowns when we made them.”
Roger Bacon was outmatched in the paint with the 6-foot-8 Gaffney on VASJ’s sideline, but the Spartans still outrebounded the Vikings 28-26.
“We did a great job except in one area, and that was blocking him out,” head coach Brian Neal said. “(Gaffney) got three or four putbacks that were key. I can’t believe we outrebounded them. He had five huge offensive rebounds.”
The game was back-and-forth for three quarters, with the lead changing hands eight times. It was Newlon’s two triple that broke the game open for the state champs. The Spartans charged back with a 6-0 run, but couldn’t get over the hump.
“We were shooting pretty well throughout the tournament, but today, shots weren’t falling for us,” Justin Johnson said.
Roger Bacon shot 68 percent in the semifinal, but shot only 43 percent on Saturday.
Div. IV
Lutheran East 43, Columbus Wellington 38
COLUMBUS (AP) — Led by junior forward Jordan Burge, Cleveland Heights Lutheran East won the Division IV state title on Saturday with a 43-38 victory over Columbus Wellington.
Burge had 13 points, four steals and four rebounds for the Falcons, after scoring 16 in the semifinals.
“We decided to come together as a team, and followed the game plan the coaches set up for us and applied the pressure and came up with the victory,” Burge said.
After defeating Lima Perry in the state semifinal, Wellington was looking for its first state title. However, turnovers and poor shooting quickly dashed those dreams.
“We just weren’t in our rhythm, and we were out of our comfort zone like coach said,” said senior forward Dustin Harder.
The Jaguars were led by Harder with 14 points and 11 rebounds. Junior guard Solomon Pierre-Louis and junior forward Noah Berry each had seven points. The biggest downfall for Wellington was turnovers, giving the ball away 26 times.
“We found out struggles versus their pressure,” said Wellington coach Artie Taylor. “And it was something that no matter what we did — press break, adjustments, sets and half court — it just really threw our rhythm off.”
Lutheran East senior guard Maurcio Tate, who had a pair of steals and eight rebounds himself, said he knew defense would be the key to the game for the Falcons.
“Our defense really makes our offense,” he said. “We knew if we got stops and turnovers, that we could convert those to points. And we did.”
After trailing by 11 early in the first, Lutheran East clawed its way back into the game and took an 18-17 lead on the team’s lone 3-pointer in the first half. In the third, the Falcons closed out the quarter on a 6-0 run for a 29-24 lead, a lead they would never relinquish.
“I guess it was just the tale of two tapes out there for us,” Taylor said.
The win gives Lutheran East its second state title, and first since 2005. After going through one of the toughest regular season schedules in Division IV boys’ basketball, Falcons’ coach Anthony Jones knew his team would be ready.
“Nothing is easy when you get to the tournament,” Jones said. “Our first game wasn’t easy, our last game sure wasn’t easy. The preparation and the process is what got us here.”