DAYTON, Ohio — Hoban used an explosive fourth quarter to win the Knights’ first state championship in 34 years, beating Pickerington Central, 53-47, in the Ohio High School Athletic Association boys’ basketball Division I state championship game.

With the contest tied at 31, the Knights (26-3) scored the first six points of the fourth quarter, and took a 49-37 lead, thanks to a 16-4 run.

That followed an ugly third quarter, with just 11 total combined points scored, six from the Tigers, which leveled the score after trailing 26-25 at halftime.

Pickerington Central (24-6), the defending state champion in Division I, turned up the pressure and got back to within six at 51-45, but Hoban staved off the rally.

Logan Vowles led all scorers with 17 points on five made 3-pointers, while Will Scott, Jr. added 13 and eight rebounds. Freshman Sam Greer scored 12.

For the Tigers, Ohio’s Mr. Basketball Devin Royal scored 15, but was bothered on nearly every touch by a physical Hoban defense. The future Ohio State Buckeyes player made five of 15 shots. Gavin Headings finished with 12 and Markell Johnson had 11.

Lamar Sperling, who played two-and-a-half minutes, becomes just the second Mr. Football (St. Henry’s Bobby Hoying in 1990-91) to win a state championship in basketball after being named the top player on the gridiron in the same school year.

For Hoban, the winner of five football state championships, it’s the second title in boys’ basketball.

Head Coach T.K. Griffith was a player on the 1989 state championship team, and now the school’s principal adds a title as coach in his 30th season on the bench at his alma mater.

The Knights bested Toledo St. John’s, 49-36, in the semifinal to get to Sunday’s championship game.

On the day, all four state champions hail from northeast Ohio. Hoban in Division I, Akron neighbors Buchtel in Division II, Lutheran East from Cleveland Heights in Division III, and Richmond Heights in Division IV.