In one of the tournament’s most dominating exhibitions yet, Roger Bacon erased Archobold to advance to Saturday’s Division III final against Villa Angela-St. Joseph.
Columbus – It wasn’t very contested, and it left a lot of people wondering about the competitive parity of this 2017 state boys basketball tournament.
Just 90 minutes after Villa Angela-St. Joseph had crushed Fairland High School to advance to one half of Saturday’s championship bracket, another private school, Cincinnati’s Roger Bacon wiped out Archbold High School to complete that bracket, 68-43.
It was never close, and it was never really contested.
Roger Bacon (25-4) led at the end of the first quarter, 14-5, at the end of the first half, 35-16, and opened the third quarter with a 20-8 run that eliminated any hopes and thoughts of an Archbold second half resurgence.
Roger Bacon shot 68% from the floor – 28 of 41 attempts – negating a rather average percentage from three-point range (33%) and from the free throw line (56%). They had four players in double figures – Justin Johnson (15), James Johnson (15), Craig McGee (12), and Alex Pfriem (12).
Archbold (22-6) never led, and never tied the score. They shot just 29% from the floor, 35.7% from three-point range (10-28), and were sterling at the foul line (87.5%).
But the story of this game was the overwhelming physical superiority of Roger Bacon, who will move on now to face six-time state champion Villa Angela-St. Joseph in Saturday’s Division III final.
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Roger Bacon has two prior title of its own, coming in 1982 and 2002, and the Spartans were state runners-up way back in 1939.
As of Friday evening’s Division I semi-finals, the tournament has been thus far dominated by parochial and private school entries. In divisions II, III and IV, Wauseon is the only public school playing for a state title on Saturday. Pickerington Central (versus Moeller) and Massillon Jackson (versus Lakewood St. Ed) will seek to swing the tide in Division I.
Roger Bacon's Craig McGee gets to the rim for two of his 15 points in the Spartans' blowout win over Archbold. (Press Pros Feature Photos by Julie McMaken Wright)