BOYS BASKETBALL | Friday’s state semifinals

Division I

Lakewood St. Edward 68,
Cin. St. Xavier 59

COLUMBUS — Lakewood St. Edward was down by 11 points in the first quarter in its semifinal against Cincinnati St. Xavier. The Eagles had the Bombers right where they wanted them. First-team All-Ohioan Tom Pritchard scored 26 points and had 14 rebounds, and St. Ed got major contributions from almost everyone on the roster to roar back. St. Ed outscored the Bombers by 18 points over the last 13 minutes. The Eagles (22-4) have overcome all season, losing two starters in their first game — including their top player, Michigan State-bound Delvon Roe — for the rest of the year. In the last three games, they’ve also made comebacks. They were down six points with 3 minutes left in the district title game against Parma Heights Valley Forge, down 16 late in the third period against Elyria in a regional semifinal and behind 17 late in the first half against Warren Harding. Pritchard’s 14 rebounds were just seven fewer than St. Xavier’s team total. Frankie Dobbs added 16 points, Conor Tilow 15 and Mike Hartnett 11 for the Eagles, trying to take the rare wrestling-boys basketball state championship double.

Newark 63, Tol. Whitmer 44

After waiting 65 years, Newark is back playing for a state championship. Point guard Cody Dennison scored a career-high 22 points as Newark advanced to its first state championship game since 1943. The Wildcats (23-4) blew open a competitive game with a 14-0 run late in the second quarter and at the start of the third period to build the lead to 21 points.

Division III

Sugarcreek Garaway 50,
Cle. VASJ 47

Chase Stingel made a pressure-packed 3-pointer from the left corner with 1.5 seconds left, powering Garaway past Cleveland Villa Angela-St. Joseph in a Division III state semifinal. Garaway (23-3) led most of the game until VASJ (18-8) went ahead 45-44 midway through a defense-dominated fourth quarter. With the score tied, VASJ worked the ball, hoping for a last-second shot. But with 15 seconds left, first-team All-Ohioan Nate Barnes lost the handle on the ball and it squirted through the hands of several players to the left corner. The Vikings’ Ashen Ward then controlled it for an instant before it bounced out of bounds, off teammate Klein Harper, with 13.4 seconds remaining. Suddenly, it was Garaway’s game to win. The Pirates, tied for third in the final Associated Press regular-season poll, brought the ball over midcourt before calling a timeout with 9.4 seconds left. They inbounded from the side in the backcourt, with first-team all-stater Tyler Gerber — who shared Division III player of the year honors with Barnes — dribbling to his left to the top of the key, where he fired a hard pass to Stingel, who moved behind a pick in the corner. With VASJ’s 6-foot-8 Dominick Haynes flying at him, Stingel never hesitated, arching the shot over Haynes. It caught nothing but net, going through with a little over a second remaining, setting off a wild celebration in the nearby Garaway cheering section. After deliberating at midcourt, the officials put a half-second on the clock. Haynes inbounded under the Garaway basket, throwing a 50-foot pass that was too high for Harper. David Gerber picked up the loose ball for Garaway as the final buzzer sounded.

Ottawa-Glandorf 65, Anna 57

Jake Meyer came off the bench to score 15 points, hitting three 3-pointers in the final period, to lead Ottawa-Glandorf. The Titans (22-5) advance to meet Sugarcreek Garaway for the state title today. They will be going for their second state championship — they also won it in 2004 — in their fifth trip to the final four.

Associated Press