DAYTON, Ohio — Tate Aljancic led the Leopards with 17 points and Louisville held off a Cincinnati Aiken rally to win 63-61 and its first state title in the OHSAA Division III boys’ basketball state championship game at UD Arena on Friday.
Louisville (24-5) led by 18 points at halftime and as many as nine with 1:23 left in the fourth quarter before the Falcons began their final comeback bid. Cincinnati Aiken had trailed at halftime in each of its past five postseason games, advancing and winning each, and both teams knew it would be close down the stretch of the championship game
“I’ll be honest with you, in Cincinnati Aiken, we knew we were in for a dogfight,” Louisville head coach Tom Siegfried said. “Eighteen points felt like three at half. I knew they were coming after us. I told these guys you can warn them all you want, but when that bite hit, I was going to find out how much grit we had.”
Antwan Hinton made an and-one layup and followed with the free throw, as Louisville led 61-59 with 26 seconds remaining.
Hinton missed a potential game-tying free throw with 6 seconds left. A jump ball call resulted in Louisville taking over possession.
Arnold fouled Ashton Marshall who made his first free throw but missed the second. Another jump ball call resulted in Cincinnati Aiken (27-2) taking over possession.
James Burnett Jr. took the inbounds pass and shot a potential game-winning 3-pointer near midcourt but missed at the buzzer.
“That internal toughness, it’s built into them,” Siegfried said. “And as I told them in the locker room, state championship’s great. Don’t get me wrong, like, this is going to be awesome. We’re all going to love getting rings and all the congratulatory remarks, but they’re going to become leaders of a community.”
Siegfried, a veteran coach of 18 seasons, and his senior son Beau Siegfried shared a hug after the game. Beau Siegfried finished with 14 points on 50% shooting while Avery Andrejcik also added three triples totaling 14 points.
Aljancic went 5-for-6 on the floor including 2-for-2 from 3-point range. Louisville shot 55% in the game and 50% from distance including going 5-for-5 after the first quarter.
“It’s all my teammates,” Aljancic said. “Some games I don’t get as many shots just how the game flows, but I think my guys did a great job in finding me today, especially Beau. Sad to see the backdoor cuts; that was probably the last one in the fourth quarter, but you know, I just love these guys.”
Cincinnati Aiken made its first appearance in the state tournament since 2016 by avenging the only loss of the season against Trotwood in the Regional Final.
Burnett led the Falcons with 23 points on over 55% shooting. Purdue Fort-Wayne commitment Jaiden Arnold was held scoreless in the first half but scored 15 in the second, while Antonio Hutcherson Jr. contributed 13 points.
“We knew that 3-point shooting was kind of a facade and it would balance out, and we went into the locker room and I told them, ‘Man, you got to prove that you’re the best second half team,’” Cincinnati Aiken head coach Derrell Black said. “And we proved it, but it wasn’t enough to get a win.”
