DAYTON – Ottawa Glandorf rallied late in the fourth quarter but were unable to hold off Taft as the Senators claimed the Division 3 championship 48-45 on the floor at the University of Dayton Arena Sunday afternoon.
Trailing by three with under ten seconds remaining the Titans found themselves with a pair of attempts to tie the contest but neither shot from sophomore standout Colin White found the bottom of the net before the time expired.
In two games this weekend the Titans, a team that shoots 35% from three struggled from behind the arc as they combined to shoot just 7 of 29 as a squad against Africentric and Taft respectively.
Taft started hot in the first quarter as top rated junior Rayvon Griffith and senior guard Brandon Cromer pushed the Senators ahead 4-0 through the opening minutes and flipped the script from the nearly four minutes it took to produce a bucket in the semifinals against Lutheran East.
Ottawa Glandorf pulled within two at 8-6 on a triple by Hunter Stechschulte with 2:05 remaining and even at 8-8 moments later on a basket by Theo Maag but surrendered a basket just before the buzzer to 6’8 freshman Kieran Granville-Britten that sent the game to the first stoppage with Taft on top 10-8.
Starting with a basket and free throw by senior Eli Schmenk the blue and gold pushed ahead 11-10 and kicked off a 7-0 run to end the second period that was punctuated by a slice down the lane and a dunk over a pair of defenders to give OG a 17-10 lead with 4:54 remaining.
Moments after White’s slam the Taft fans collectively held their breath as a foul on an attempted blocked shot saw Rayvon Griffith land hard on the floor on his wrist before being helped to the bench for a rest before returning late in the stanza.
Thurgood Marshall transfer Mekhi Elmore took over the scoring load for the Senators as he engineered a personal seven point run to tie the contest at 19-19 with 2:57 before the halftime break.
Baskets by Granville-Britten and the returning Griffith made it 24-21 Taft before OG’s Maag connected for the final Titan points to cut the lead to one again.
Trailing by four to open the third the Titans cut into their deficit and ultimately snagged a trio of leads in a back and forth eight minutes on baskets by Eli Schmenk, Colin White, and ultimately Theo Maag before the first basket of the game from 6’7 junior Eian Elmer tied the score at 38-38.
Elmore, the All-Ohio selection from a season ago opened the fourth with a second big run to put the Senators back on top as he accounted for eight of his game high 20 points while showing the many college coaches in attendance his ability to protect the basketball and quickly get from end to end.
Colin White, a highly sought after prospect in his own right pulled the Titans even at 40-40 and within the final three points after a Carson Fuka triple as the last of his team high 18 markers on the afternoon.
Taft ends the year at 19-8 with a 10-game winning streak to earn their first state championship trophy since 2011 and the first under head coach Demarco Bradley.
Ottawa Glandorf finishes at 25-3 and a second consecutive trip to the state final four. The Titans will say goodbye to a five man senior class of Carson Fuka, Carter Schimmoeller, Caleb Kuhlman, Eli Schmenk, and Landen Jordan that amassed a 91-13 record and a state runner-up alongside the suspended regional finals appearance of the COVID season of 2020.
With their four three pointers in the finals the Titans finished with 193 triples on the season, the third highest total in Putnam County history and trailing only the Titans teams of 2019 and 2020 that hit 221 and 204 respectively.
Scoring:
Taft (45):
Brandon Cromer 4
Rayvon Griffith 12
Mekhi Elmore 20
Eian Elmer 4
Kieran Granville-Britten 8
FG: 21/45
3PT: 4/13 (Griffith 2, Elmore 2)
FT: 2/3
REB: 27
TO: 10
OG (45):
Carson Fuka 3
Carter Schimmoeller 2
Caleb Kuhlman 2
Eli Schmenk 8
Caden Erford 2
Colin White 18
Hunter Stechschulte 5
Theo Maag 5
FG: 16/45
3PT: 3/13 (Fuka, Schmenk, Stechschulte)
FT: 10/12
REB: 28
TO: 13