DAYTON, Ohio — Believe it or not, there was a strong basketball program at St. Vincent-St. Mary High School in Akron long before LeBron James.
Behind a roster of Jerome Lane (Pittsburgh), Curtis Wilson (Ohio State), Frank Stams (Notre Dame football), Ed Taggart (Ohio State football), Pat Bangston (Kent State baseball) and others, the Fighting Irish made their first state tournament appearance in 1983.
One year later, Lane and Stams led SVSM to the school’s first state title.
However, you can’t deny the LeBron James impact. Since his freshman year of 1999-2000, The Irish have made the state tournament 15 times. When you throw out 2020 (canceled due to the pandemic), that’s 15 appearances in the last 22 seasons in the Final Four, a remarkable achievement.
All-time, those 15 appearances would be fewer than only two other schools. However, the actual number is 18, second to only Canton McKinley’s 28.
St. Vincent-St. Mary will look for its second straight state title, and tenth overall, which would extend its own record. No other school has more than seven. A year ago, it was the future Big Ten Freshman of the Year (Ohio State) Malaki Branham with the 37-point performance against Columbus DeSales in the championship game.
The Fighting Irish are one of the headliners in Friday’s OHSAA Boys Basketball Semifinals, with Divisions III and II on the schedule.
All four games on Friday are available on Spectrum channel 314 and through ohsaa.tv with direct links for each game below.
Division III State Semifinal: Ottawa-Glandorf (24-2) vs. Africentric (23-5); Friday at 10:45 a.m.
Ottawa-Glandorf returns to the state tournament, after falling in the semifinals last year to eventual champion Lutheran East. It’s the ninth appearance overall for the Titans, three of which resulted in state titles (2013, 2008 and 2004).
Head coach Tyson McGlaughlin is 235-52 in his 11 seasons, with four Final Four trips and a 2013 state championship. His 2021-22 team features one of the top sophomores in Ohio, Colin White, who averages 19 points a game.
Ottawa-Glandorf punched its ticket to the state tournament by knocking off the Division III Ohio Associated Press poll champion Colonel Crawford in the regional final.
From one of the top tenth-graders in the state to one of the best juniors, Columbus Africentric’s Dailyn Swain is garnering a lot of attention. That includes from his hometown school, Ohio State. Swain is a tall guard (6’8”) averaging 20.8 points per game, to go with 7.7 rebounds a contest and 5.2 assists per.
The Nubians are looking for their first official state championship, although Africentric won the Division IV title in 2005, but later had to forfeit. It’s the school's fourth appearance in the Final Four since 2011, with the most recent in 2018.
Division III State Semifinal: Cincinnati Taft (17-8) vs. Lutheran East (16-9); Friday at 2 p.m.
One school’s joy in the 2021 Division III state semifinals (Worthington Christian), was another’s heartbreak (Cincinnati Taft).
The Warriors’ DJ Moore’s buzzer-beater ended the Senators state title hopes:
Almost instantly, Taft began plotting a “revenge tour” to get back to Dayton and win a state championship. That tour almost didn’t get off the ground with the Senators sitting at 9-8 with just two games left in the regular season, before capturing the last eight, including all six tournament games by double figures.
Six-foot-six junior Rayvon Griffin averages nearly (19.6) 20 points a game, while six-foot-eight freshman Kierran Granville-Britten goes for 7.5 points and 10.4 rebounds per outing.
Taft hopes to ride an explosive offense (eight games with 80 or more points) to a second state title (2011).
The Senators’ opponent was also in the state tournament last year and was the last one standing in Division III. Lutheran East won a third state championship (2017, 2005) and has made five straight Final Fours, not counting the event in 2020 that was not held.
The Falcons only returned Jordan Cannon and Trayshon Tucker among players with significant minutes a year ago, and have five new starters. Junior Cody Head is the leading scorer at 19 points per game, while six-foot-nine Jesse McCullough contributes 11.7 PPG and 10.5 rebounds a game and is another standout in the Class of 2024.
Lutheran East played a challenging schedule, with four other teams in Dayton appearing on it. The Falcons beat Gilmour Academy, and also played St. Ignatius and St. Edward in Division I, and St. Vincent-St. Mary in Division II.
Division II State Semifinal: Akron SVSM (21-4) vs. Alter (25-2); Friday at 5:15 p.m.
There are some constants you can depend on with St. Vincent-St. Mary besides the aforementioned success, and these two factors lead directly to it: talent and schedule.
With Branham off to Ohio State, it’s Sincere Harris (Illinois signee) and Ramar Pryor’s (Cleveland State signee) turn. Those two combine for nearly 36 points a game. Junior Lance “LA” Hayes is waiting in the wings, and he scores it a 13.3 per game clip.
As for the schedule, the Fighting Irish have battled six other state tournament qualifiers, beating Division I teams St. Edward and St. Ignatius (coached by Dru Joyce’s son and former SVSM player Cameron Joyce), Division III’s Lutheran East and Division IV participant Richmond Heights.
St. Vincent-St. Mary dropped decisions to the other two Division I state semifinalists, losing to Pickerington Central and Centerville. The Irish also played Oak Hill Academy (Virginia) and Sierra Canyon from California, which features a player named LeBron James, Jr.
SVSM has blown through all five opponents in the tournament, winning by an average of 39.2 points a game, with the closest score at 38.
Alter will attempt to become just the fourth school in OHSAA history to capture state basketball championships for both the girls' and boys’ teams. The Knights took home the girls Division II title last Saturday, and with two more wins the boys can join Upper Scioto Valley (1994), Delphos St. John’s (2002) and Marion Local (2003) in that club.
The two teams this year are a combined 53-3 entering Friday’s game.
The boys made the short trip from Kettering on an 18-game winning streak, in which only one game was decided by single digits, a 60-53 win over Linden in the regional semifinal.
Marshall-bound Jacob Conner is averaging 16.5 points a game, and 8.6 rebounds, while junior Anthony Ruffolo adds a 16.1 scoring average.
Eric Coulter is in his ninth year as head coach, having served previously as an assistant under the legendary Joe Petrocelli, including in 2003 when Alter lost the Division II state championship game in LeBron James’ final high school performance.
Division II State Semifinal: Gilmour (22-5) vs. Waverly (23-4); Friday at 8:30 p.m.
Gilmour Academy celebrated the 30th anniversary of the school’s only Final Four appearance by returning to the state tournament.
The Lancers—on the same day the school’s hockey team won the OHSAA title—beat St. Marys Memorial in the regional final.
Head coach Dan DeCrane looks back at the 2021 postseason as a turning point for his program. Gilmour knocked off a talented Warrensville Heights team in a district semifinal and made it to the regional final before bowing out against St. Vincent-St. Mary.
Junior Brandon Rose (15.9 PPG) and senior Ryan Mueller (15.7 PPG) lead the way for the Lancers.
There was jubilation in Pike County, as Waverly made the Final Four for the first time in 52 years. The Tigers have been one of the hotter teams in the state, winning 18 of their last 19 games after beginning the season 5-3.
It’s been a thrilling tournament run for the Robertson family, with both Waverly wins in the regional tournament coming in overtime. Travis coaches two sons Trey (senior) and Braylon (freshman), with Trey the school’s all-time leading scorer at 2,053 points. His 253 made three-pointers are 14th-most in state history.
On Saturday, Division IV semifinals take place at 10:45 a.m. (Berlin Hiland vs. Richmond Heights) and 2 p.m. (Antwerp vs. Tri-Village). Those games will be on Spectrum channel 314 and ohsaa.tv as well.
The Division I semifinals will be live on Spectrum News 1 and the Spectrum News App:
5:15 p.m. – St. Edward vs. Pickerington Central
8:30 p.m. – St. Ignatius vs. Centerville
All four state championship games on Sunday will also be live on Spectrum News 1 and the Spectrum News App:
10:45 a.m. – Division III State Championship
2 p.m. – Division II State Championship
5:15 p.m. – Division IV State Championship
8:30 p.m. – Division I State Championship
Watch OHSAA Championship Gameday with MaryLee Melendez and former Ohio State player George Reese 15 minutes prior to each game, and then they’ll return immediately following for post-game interviews and analysis.