On day one Division Three and Two would take center court on the campus of The Ohio State University. With four total games set for tip fans would see several top players and some great hoops action.
DIVISION THREE
Game One Division Three
Cleveland Villa Angela-St. Joseph vs. Findlay Liberty-Benton
Final 63-56
In the opening game top-ranked Findlay Liberty-Benton entered looking to keep their undefeated streak alive and advance to the final set for Saturday. After a slow start Aaron Craft got Benton on the board. Villa Angela knew from experience not to panic too much but struggled getting on the board until Ashen Ward made a layup with 3:31 left in the first period. By then Benton had scored eleven unanswered points and Villa Angela would have to wait until just over a minute left in the game to cut the lead down to a game low of four.
For the game Nate Barnes would lead Villa Angela with fifteen points followed by Maurice Haynes and Ward each with twelve. Benton was paced by Nathan Hyde with a game high of twenty-seven points and eleven rebounds for the day. Following Hyde was TJ Recker as the only other player on Benton to hit in double figures with 13.
Game Two
North College Hill vs. Wheelersburg
Final 69-66 OT
O.J. Who! Before the basketball season began you’d be hard pressed to find anyone outside of North College Hill who felt the Trojans would be making a bus trip up I-71 for this year’s tournament championship. But someone forgot to tell the Trojans that without Bill Walker (K-State) and O.J. Mayo (HS- West Virginia) they’d never advance to this weekend’s game. But here were the Trojans and they fought with Wheelersburg until the end of an overtime period advanced the Trojans into Saturday’s title match-up with Liberty-Benton.
For Wheelersburg Camden Miller led the way with twenty-six points followed by Drew Spradlin (14) and Seth Cowgill (13) total points. For North College Hill Damon Butler would match the output of Miller with twenty-six but also get double digit scoring from Nate Glover (15), Dwayne Parks (11) and Alfonso McPherson (10) on the day.
DIVISION TWO
Game One Division Two
Dayton Dunbar vs. Columbus St. Francis DeSales
Final 56-43
Dayton Dunbar is back for a return trip and the chance of repeating as Division Two champion in the process. On Thursday Dunbar would have to battle St. Francis DeSales before thinking of cutting down the nets and found a good test as the two teams battled during much of the early periods of the game. Dunbar would only trail for a couple of minutes early in the first period (6-5) before taking the lead and holding off DeSales in a hard fought battle. At the 3:11 mark of the fourth period Dunbar would pull away for good and earning a chance to win back-to-back titles.
St. Francis DeSales was led by Elijah Allen with sixteen points while also getting double digit points from Dane Johnson with ten while Dunbar received twenty-four points from Norris Cole II and thirteen points from Joshua Benson while shooting over forty-eight percent from the field for the game.
Game Two Division Two
Poland Seminary vs. Upper Sandusky
Final 89-58
Ohio State fans got a chance to see Mr. Basketball and Ohio State recruit Jon Diebler on the court he’ll call home starting next season. While much has been talked about as Diebler set the All-Time Ohio Scoring mark and found his recruiting take him to center court at The Ohio State University the goal for Upper Sandusky is simple. Win another state championship after not making it to Columbus in 2006.
Poland Seminary would stay close early in the game but see Upper Sandusky pull away and never look back. Seminary had three players score in double digits as Ben Umbel scored sixteen points and Lou Coppola and David White would both post eleven points on the night.
Upper Sandusky had four players score in double figures as Diebler would lead the way with twenty-four points while Alex Falk and Travis Bachtell would both toss in twenty and Jarryd Nelson score fourteen as Upper Sandusky will look to win their second state tile in three years on Saturday at 2:00 p.m. as fans should be treated to a great game.