Pickerington Central holds off Whitmer for Div. I title

Associated Press

Columbus

Substitute guard Javon Bess hit nothing but net on two free throws with 9.1 seconds left to seal Pickerington Central’s first boys basketball state championship, a 45-40 victory over Toledo Whitmer in the Division I final on Saturday night.

Bess, who also hit another foul shot, scored all three of his points in the last 40 seconds.

Caris LeVert had 20 points and Jae’Sean Tate 10 for the Tigers (26-2), making their first appearance ever at the state’s final four.

Leroy Alexander scored 19 points and Nigel Hayes added 15 for Whitmer (24-3), which was making its fourth trip to the state tournament, but has never won a title.

The Tigers trailed 37-36 with just over 21/2 minutes left.

DIVISION II Dayton Dunbar 54, Elida 52

Andre Yates’ bank shot in traffic with 5 seconds left powered top-ranked Dayton Dunbar, which needed an 18-0 second-half run to get back in the game.

After Elida all-stater and co-player of the year Reggie McAdams tied the game with a free throw with 11.8 seconds left, Dunbar’s Damarion Geter rebounded his second shot and passed to Yates.

Yates went the length of the court, flipping a left-handed shot high off the glass from the left block. It set off a wild celebration by Dunbar (28-0) fans.

After a timeout, the Bulldogs (24-4) inbounded to Dakota Mathias, but his 45-foot shot at the buzzer was wide of the mark.

Division III Cin. Summit Country Day 53, Portsmouth 37

After the championship trophy was presented, the nets were cut down and the celebration was just getting started, Holden Hertzel thought of his dad.

His father died earlier in the season. He had been a member of the last Cincinnati Summit Country Day team to make it to the state tournament. Only he never got a championship trophy, a piece of the net or a celebration because the Silver Knights lost the 1980 state title game.

But his son and this year’s Silver Knights made up for it.

Kevin Johnson had 11 points to go with eight assists, leading SCD to its first state championship.

“This is one of the happiest days of my life,” Holden Hertzel said. “My dad got here in 1980, but they lost [to Sandusky St. Mary, 62-56]. For me, it’s sort of like finishing the job, in my dad’s memory..”

Division IV Berlin Hiland 68, Jackson Center 36

Seger Bonifant scored seven points as Berlin Hiland got off to a 10-2 lead, finishing with 18 points as the Hawks captured their second consecutive state championship.

It was a battle of top teams in the final Associated Press regular-season poll. The Hawks (27-1) were No. 2 then, but not now.

First-team AP All-Ohioan Dylan Kaufman had 17 points and Neil Gingerich scored 12 for Hiland, which captured its third state title (1992, 2011).

It became just the second repeat small-school state champ since the tournament went to four divisions in 1988.