CLIFTON — Four Greater Cincinnati Division III boys basketball clubs were vying for district championships and a regional tournament berth Saturday at Fifth Third Arena. Here's how the action unfolded:
More:OHSAA district finals: 14 area boys basketball teams bidding for district titles
More:OHSAA boys basketball: Woodward, Roger Bacon roll into regionals with district titles
Taft's "revenge tour" continues with district championship win over Indian Lake
It was the perfect example of déjà vu. Last year in the Division III district finals, Taft trailed Indian Lake by a point at halftime, then pulled away in the second half for a 62-55 victory.
On Saturday at Fifth Third Arena, Taft trailed by 10 at the end of the first quarter, but rallied to tie the game at halftime before pulling away for a 60-46 win and a second-straight district championship.
"It's just about us keeping the program together. It gets more fun each year," said Taft head coach Demarco Bradley Sr., who won his fifth district championship.
Every game is a new stop on Taft's "revenge tour," a mantra crowned in the summer after the Senators lost at the buzzer in the Final Four one season ago.
"We should've went all the way and won it last year, so it's a revenge tour and we're gonna do this year what we should've done last year," junior standout Rayvon Griffith said.
More:WATCH: Purcell Marian storms way past East Clinton to reach DIII girls state semifinal
It was Griffith, recently named the Southwest District Division III player of the year, who started the rally. With the Senators trailing, 20-10, after the first quarter, the junior scored 10 points in the second quarter to help tie it 25-25 going into the break.
"I felt like at the beginning of the game I was taking too many jump shots, so then I was trying to get to the rim and get my team involved," Griffith said.
Griffith led a trio of Senators in double figures with a game-high 22 points and six rebounds. Guard Brandon Cromer had 10, Hudson Norton chimed in with eight and junior Eian Elmer had a double-double with 12 points and 12 rebounds.
"Eian Elmer is the glue of this team," Bradley said of the 6-foot-7-inch forward. "Elmer, if you go watch, it's every game — he rebounds, he blocks shots; he doesn't even like to score. I just love the kid to death."
The deciding sequence came in the third quarter with Taft leading, 36-35. Cromer leaped over an Indian Lake defender for a poster-esque slam. That kicked off a 14-2 Taft run that stretched into the fourth quarter. Indian Lake, after scoring 18 of its first 31 points from beyond the arc, got cold from downtown while Taft used a press-breaker for several transition buckets to start the celebration.
Defensively, Taft out-rebounded Indian Lake, 39-29, and forced 14 turnovers. Elmer led the team with four steals, as well. Indian Lake finished 7-of-26 from deep. Sophomore guard Camden Tuttle led the Lakers with 15 points and Caiden Nicol had 14 on 7-of-14 shooting.
Taft was just 11-8 during the regular season, but suffered six combined losses to Division I and II clubs and did not face a Division III opponent until the tournament. The Senators are now 4-0 against DIII competition and have outscored those foes by a combined score of 309-116.
Taft 60, Indian Lake 46
Taft (15-8): Elmer 5 2 12, Cromer 4 0 10, Griffith 8 6 22, Elmore 3 0 6, Norton 3 0 8, Burnett Jr. 1 0 2. Totals: 24 8 60.
Indian Lake (16-9): Tuttle 6 0 15, Jackson 2 0 6, Evans 1 0 3, Nicol 7 0 14, Wurster 3 1 8. Totals: 19 1 46.
Halftime: Tied 25-25. 3-pointers: T 4 (Cromer 2, Norton 2), IL 7 (Tuttle 3, Jackson 2, Evans, Wurster).
Georgetown tops Versailles for 1st district title since 2007
Georgetown boys basketball captured its first district championship in 15 years Saturday afternoon with a 58-49 win over Versailles at Fifth Third Arena.
It was Georgetown's first-ever Division III district title and its first appearance since 2015. Georgetown won a Division IV state championship in 2017. Versailles was making its fifth consecutive district finals appearance.
Versailles (22-2) had won eight straight games since suffering its only loss of the regular season.
"It feel great," Georgetown head coach Cory Copas said. "I told them at the start of the fourth quarter that we've been through a lot of adversity. I said, 'I don't know how we're gonna do it, but we're gonna find a way,' and we did. I'm just so proud of them."
Georgetown committed four turnovers on its first six possessions of the game and trailed out of the gates, 7-0. The G-Men climbed out of that early hole and took a 24-21 lead midway through the second quarter on a 3-pointer from Aiden McGinnis.
The game featured 11 total lead changes, with Versailles leading by as many as eight (41-33) in the third quarter after senior guard Noah McEldowney hit his third triple of the game.
Georgetown responded with a 9-0 run that stretched into the fourth quarter, then took the lead for good on senior Blaise Burrow's lay-up to make it 46-45. McGinnis and senior forward Nate Kratzer followed with consecutive three-pointers consecutive three-pointers to make it 52-45 with 2:18 to play.
The G-Men were led by junior guard Carson Miles, a third-team all-district selection who scored a game-high 28 points and was 6-for-6 from the foul line down the stretch.
"Any time you make a tournament run you have to have good guard play," Copas said. "I think he (Miles) is extremely underrated, he plays his butt off and we ask him to do a lot. He's a great kid, a great leader and I'm proud of him and what these guys have accomplished."
Georgetown 58, Versailles 49
Georgetown (21-3): Miles 9 10 28, Burrows 2 1 5, McGinnis 4 0 11, Malott 1 0 2, Kratzer 5 0 12. Totals: 21 11 58.
Versailles (22-2): N. McEldowney 5 0 14, E. McEldowney 3 0 6, Ruhenkamp 2 2 7, Litten 3 6 14, Stonebraker 2 4 8. Totals: 15 12 49.
Halftime: V 31-25. 3-pointers: G 5 (McGinnis 3, Kratzer 2), V 7 (N. McEldowney 4, Litten 2, Ruhenkamp)
Source link
