Anderson Davis came up big for Academy, pouring in 25 points to help send the Vikings to the state final. (Press Pros Feature Photos by Brian Bayless)
With a 63-51 victory over Summit Country Day, the Vikings advances to play March 22 in what will be their first state final since 1981.
Springfield, OH – As one of the greatest seasons in Columbus Academy’s history has continued to march on, senior Theo Falkenhain purposefully has taken a look at the stands during each national anthem to soak in as much of the experience as possible.
Senior teammate Anderson Davis almost couldn’t believe some of the faces he saw in the crowd Friday night at Wittenberg University.
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“I saw my barber out there,” Davis said. “It’s crazy. I saw guys I haven’t seen in years, and my dad’s friend from 30 years ago. I love it.”
The increasing attention hasn’t proven to be a distraction, though.
Veteran central Ohio columnist Jarrod Ulrey writes the OCC and sports at large for Press Pros
Although the Vikings hadn’t made it past the district in any of coach Jeff Warstler’s first 12 seasons, they are on the brink of a championship after controlling athletic Cincinnati Summit Country Day 63-51 in a Division V state semifinal.
The win sends Academy into the championship game at 10:45 a.m. March 22 at the University of Dayton against Cleveland Heights Lutheran East or Minford. While Minford is in the state tournament for the first time, Lutheran East won the last two Division III state titles and has five championships to its credit.
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The Vikings, meanwhile, are 28-0 and have won each of their last nine games by double digits heading into the state final, which will be the second in program history – with the other coming in 1981 when they lost the Class A title for their only loss that season.
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Dallas Goins shows his frustration as Theo Falkenhain scores again early in the fourth quarter to stretch the Vikings’ lead.
“It means the world to us,” said Warstler, who has guided the program to a 231-94 mark in 13 seasons. “The school’s been good to me. We relish the opportunity to be able to play in a game like that. Our crowds have gotten increasingly larger as time has gone along. People are excited, these guys are excited, and I’m excited for them. We’re just going to go back to work.”
Summit Country Day, which reached its first state tournament since 2012 and finished with a 17-8 mark, has one of the state’s top freshman forwards in Max Joiner and a talented junior guard in L.J. Stocks.
The Vikings countered with a lineup that featured five players averaging between seven and 14 points, with Falkenhain and Davis setting the pace early on.
Falkenhain hit a 3-pointer just before the first-period buzzer to give Academy a 16-9 lead and made another three to open the second quarter to continue what would become an 8-0 run.
Academy led 25-11 with 2:55 to go before halftime.
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“Credit to Jeff’s team, they’re a very physical team,” Country Day coach Kevin Johnson said. “They play that up-the-line denial and they came very prepared. I’ve got to credit them for coming in strong. With (Falkenhain), and Davis around the boards, they were just very active. I just truly think they’re a team that came out tough and prepared, and we couldn’t respond as well as we would have liked to.”
Jason Singleton fires a shot over Country Day defender Rayyan Cisse as Academy pulled away quickly after the tipoff.
Davis had eight points in the first quarter but picked up his second foul early in the second period.
Both teams battled foul issues in the second half, with three players eventually fouling out, but Davis went 4-for-4 from the free-throw line in the third period and made another four in the fourth quarter on his way to finishing with 25 points and nine rebounds.
Although Davis went 10-for-12 from the foul line, the Vikings shot just 16 of 31 overall in that department.
“We just have to box out, that’s 80 percent of what you’ve got to do to get second-chance points,” Davis said. “When we were in foul trouble, you have to stay on your feet and don’t jump, just stay disciplined.”
Academy expanded its lead to 30-13 with 7:26 to go in the third period and led 44-29 heading into the final quarter.
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Falkenhain went 8-for-9 from the floor and finished with 20 points for the Vikings, who shot 22-for-41 (53.6 percent) from the field.
Harmon Gouhin takes one for the team with a friendly-fire shot to the face from Jason Singleton during the second half of the Division V state semifinal.
Stocks had 21 points and Cayleb Walters added 15 for the Knights, who got to within 10 points during the final two minutes before the Vikings closed it out.
“It’s about taking the right shot in the flow of the game,” Falkenhain said. “If I’m open in a situation, I’m going to take it, and shoutout to my teammates for getting me the open looks.”
The Vikings, who have a seven-member senior class including six who are key contributors, held Summit Country Day to 4-for-16 shooting from 3-point range.
“This means the world—just the support has been insane the whole season really, but especially for this playoff run,” Falkenhain said. “Even today we had a clap-out at school, and the team got to walk through with little kids high-fiving and stuff. Everyone knows everyone at our school. I’m saying hi to lower-school kids that maybe look up to me, and the middle schoolers. You see it out there — the crowd is just insane.”
Aggressive play was on full display during every possession in the DV state semifinal between Columbus Academy and Summit Country Day.
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