Xavier McKinney calmly celebrates his game-winning shot that punched the Raiders’ ticket to the state title game. (Press Pros Feature Photos by Logan Howard)
Damon Griffin found an inexplicably wide-open Xavier McKinney alone under the basket and the Raiders erased a four-point deficit in the final 80 seconds to edge West Chester Lakota West 64-63 in a wildly entertaining state semifinal.
Fairborn, OH – The final second of a wild and crazy Division I state semifinal Sunday at Wright State University’s Nutter Center will live on eternally in the memories of Reynoldsburg’s players, coaches and fans.
Xavier McKinney hit a layup on an inbounds pass under the basket by Damon Griffin, giving the Raiders an insanely improbable 64-63 win over West Chester Lakota West and setting off a massive and well-earned celebration.
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But the big question remains. How in the world did McKinney get so wide open?
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“To tell you the truth, that wasn’t our first option,” Reynoldsburg coach Andy Moore said. “It was for Toby (Nwokolo) on a jumper. I was looking at him the whole play. But two guys got stuck in a screen and Xavier cut really hard to get to that spot.”
Griffin offered his viewpoint from directly behind the Raiders basket.
“Toby didn’t get off his screen, so I shifted to option B and I saw X-man’s man get stuck in a screen and he looped all the way around from the top of the key to the baseline right in front of me,” he said.
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And McKinney, whose father Will was a legendary girls basketball coach at Africentric?
“I came off a double screen and my opponent got stuck,” he said. “To be honest with you, I was surprised I was so open. But we’re ready for anything. We finished the job.”
Jorden Bowens puts one down with authority during the DI state semifinal.
Reynoldsburg (26-1) will face Olentangy Orange (25-2) in the first All-Central District big-school title game in history at 8:30 p.m. Saturday at the University of Dayton Arena. Orange beat defending champion Cleveland St. Ignatius 58-54 in overtime at Canton Fieldhouse. This was a dream matchup that observers statewide had pointed to all season long, but it took a lot of doing to make it a reality.
In a battle that featured 14 lead changes and seven ties, the Raiders seemed to have the upper hand holding a 51-42 lead heading to the fourth quarter.
But Lakota West (21-6) would not waver. A 12-2 run to open the fourth gave the Firebirds the lead with 4:05 left.
Reynoldsburg threw the ball away on successive possessions in the final minute, giving Lakota West a golden opportunity to pull off the upset. Two free throws by Josh Tyson gave the Firebirds a 63-59 lead with 20 seconds left.
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After racing downcourt, Griffin sank a pair of foul shots at the 15.2-second mark pulled the Raiders back to two. Then, two seconds later, West’s Isaiah Meade-Moss missed two foul shots, giving Reynoldsburg one last chance.
Jordan Fisher went strong to the basket but was met by Bryce Curry, who was called for a foul that West fans certainly will argue was a clean block.
For a moment, it felt like it could be a slam-fest for the Raiders, with this one getting flushed down by Toby Nwokolo.
Fisher made the first shot, but after being iced by Lakota West coach Kelven Moss, missed the second. The ensuing scrum resulted in the ball going out of bounds to Reynoldsburg.
And the final second, following a timeout, will be replayed forever by both sides.
“I give Reynoldsburg credit for what they drew up,” Moss said. “We thought it would be a lob over the top, probably to (Fisher). We failed to switch … failed to communicate. You’ve got to be sharp mentally in a situation like that and we weren’t.”
For Reynoldsburg, it was just the latest in a string of close shaves. The Raiders needed to scrap to beat Hilliard Bradley (57-51) and Dublin Coffman (60-54), then rallied from six down in the final 1:20 of overtime to ward off Olentangy Liberty (98-91) in double overtime of the regional final.
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“I guess we like to lull people into a false sense of security,” deadpanned Moore, after exhaling. “When we got down two or three (actually four), I began to wonder if we were going to let this get away. I thought we might be in trouble. We made some bad decisions to get us into that position, but our guys never wavered. That’s why we played the tough schedule we did, to prepare us for these kinds of games.”
Lakota West defenders arrived a bit too late to stop Jordan Fisher from deep.
Griffin, the only non-Division I college commit or signee in the starting lineup, had 16 points and eight assists to pace the balanced Raiders. Jorden Bowens added 15 points, Fisher 14 and McKinney 12. The latter three are headed to Ohio University and Nwokolo Toledo. OU coach Jeff Boals was on hand to congratulate his trio.
“I’ll tell you, Damon is the guy who makes us go,” Moore said. “He just makes plays. He’s an unsung hero of sorts. X probably has been our best player at both ends because of his defense and versatility. Both guys really stepped up today.”
Tyson scored 18 points and Meade-Moss 16 for Lakota West, which – like Reynoldsburg – was making its first appearance in the final four.
So, it comes down to this. A matchup only made possible by the Ohio High School Athletic Association’s expansion from four to seven divisions, which gave the Central District six regional qualifiers instead of four.
“They beat us in the district final last year, so this provides us a lot of motivation,” Griffin said. “It’s the game everybody’s been talking about.”
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