“AIR OLDING!” CJ Olding takes flight through the lane on the way to 22 points. (Press Pros Feature Photos By Julie Wright-Daniel)
Lehman Catholic and Botkins won Division VII District championships, and will face each other in the regional semifinals. Lehman’s high-octane offense will come face-to-face with Botkins’ stout defense.
Alan Brads writes OHSAA sports and sports at large for Press Pros Magazine.com.
Piqua, OH – Lehman Catholic hadn’t won a district title since 1981. Botkins had won three in the last five years. But the past doesn’t matter in March. In the present, they’re both Division VII District champions.
Lehman toppled Jackson Center 60-37, and Botkins beat Miami Valley Christian Academy 64-41 in district finals at Piqua High School.
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Their wins set up a collision course for each other; they’ll meet in the regional semifinals at Butler High School on Wednesday, March 11.
The Lehman Catholic Cavaliers (20-5) clinched their historic win first.
“We’ve been looking at the banners in our gym this week and reflecting,” first-year head coach Jeremy Hughes said. “The last time we won a district title, I wasn’t even born yet.”
Not only did they make school history, they also avenged a district final loss from two years ago.
“Remembering that loss at UD got me going in practice this week,” senior Cavalier CJ Olding said. “I knew I had to get my get-back.”
Shane Frantz and Carter Klopfenstein wrestle for a loose ball. Lehman came away with most of them.
The road the Cavs took to get revenge was marked by over 20 takeaways, which kept the game moving at their preferred speed.
“They kept up at our pace for most of that quarter,” Hughes said. “We just couldn’t panic because we knew at some point they would have to slow down.”
Meanwhile, the Cavs maintained the blistering pace for 32 minutes despite primarily rotating just six players.
The Cavs led just 24-22 at halftime despite 11 takeaways. But they caught fire from deep, draining five of six attempts in the third quarter, to inflate the lead. They outscored Jackson Center 22-8 in the third quarter, and 14-7 in the fourth.
A free-throw advantage played a role in pulling away as well.
“Our M.O. this tournament has been shooting threes,” Hughes said. “But almost every time we attacked the basket today we were getting fouled.”
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They made 13/21 free throws to Jackson Center’s 3/7.
Olding led Lehman with 24 points, overwhelmingly on deep threes, free throws and fast breaks. In the first half he threw down a fast break dunk that not only frenzied the gigantic Lehman crowd, but made the whole gym hold its breath every time he got out in transition thereafter. Shane Frantz tacked on 13 points, Evan O’Leary scored eight, and Jackson Kennedy had seven.
Evan O’Leary lofts a floater. He helped the Cavs pull away with four points in their monstrous third quarter.
“Our practice this week was really intense,” Olding said. “We had a couple guys come in that are bigger and tougher than us. We knew they’re a tough team so we had to practice like it.”
When the Tigers got the ball inside to Carter Klopfenstein and Anderson Fark early, they flexed their height advantage and found some success. But the guards found it increasingly difficult to hang on to the ball long enough to work it to the block.
“They’re just very athletic and they have good instincts,” Jackson Center coach Aaron Klopfenstein said. “You just can’t simulate it in practice.”
Klopfenstein scored 10, Brendan Serr had nine, Fark tallied seven and Preston Serr scored six.
Jackson Center finished the season as 14-11 district runner-up.
“At one point, we were sitting there just below .500,” Klopfenstein said. “It would’ve been so easy for our seniors to start thinking about spring sports and post-graduation. And they never did that. They fought tooth and nail all the way down to the end including tonight. I just couldn’t be more proud of [seniors] Tristan Wooley, Ian Stengel, Carter Klopfenstein and Preston Serr.”
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Once Lehman chopped up the net and the next one was strung, Botkins (23-2) and Miami Valley Christian Academy (19-5) took the floor inside the jam-packed Garbry Gymnasium.
Among the six fantastic crowds throughout the day, Botkins’ took the cake.
If someone announced to the Trojan faithful before the game that SCAL player of the year Eli Pitts wouldn’t score a field goal, the excitement would have turned to jitters. Although their two-point head start thanks to a technical foul for a pregame dunk would’ve helped with that. And 63 points en route to a win proved it to be no big deal.
Will Monnin fires a runner over MVCA’s Colin Gearding. Monnin scored 12 points.
The district final victory marked head coach Phil Groves’ 100th win at Botkins in just five years at the helm.
“It’s really special, but those wins are impossible if you don’t have great kids to coach,” Groves said. “So all credit goes to our players.”
A stifling defense and a host of scorers rose to the occasion and steadily constructed a lead, much to the liking of Botkins’ construction-themed student section. They led by two after a quarter, seven at the half, 15 after three and 23 at the end. They were every bit consistent as Lehman was explosive.
That consistency started on the defensive end where they prevented MVCA’s already perimeter-heavy offense from even having a chance to impact the game from the paint. Senior forwards Owen Zimpfer and James Steinke kept it on lockdown, and hindered any offensive rebounding effort by the Lions.
MVCA scored just a single two-point field goal in the first half.
Zimpfer led all scorers with 17 points. Seven of those points came off his own offensive rebounds.
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“This game I got to contribute but I gotta give all honors to my team,” Zimpfer said. “They did a great job out there holding [MVCA] to around 40 points. I think that was the key factor in the game.”
Will Monnin scored 12 and Pitts scored 10, all coming from 16 free throw attempts.
“Even when Eli’s not scoring, he’s in there affecting the defense and allowing us to make plays,” Zimpfer said.
Tucker Huelskamp takes a blow from a Lion defender. The Trojans shot 28 free throws.
Tucker Huelskamp tacked on nine points, and Steinke provided eight.
“Any one of our guys are capable of leading our team in scoring any night,” Groves said. “And that was the instance tonight.”
For MVCA, Casey Heap led with 13, and Colin Gearding dropped eight.
Offensive versatility could prove crucial in the regional semis, where Lehman’s defensive standout, Olding, will likely take on the task of subduing Pitts, especially on his signature dribble drive.
After toying around on offense for a quarter and a half, the Trojans executed an 18-0 run – split exactly down the middle by halftime. The run took Botkins from trailing to leading 30-14.
“Early on we didn’t make our shots and stood around, and didn’t have good ball movement,” Groves said. “In the second half I think we did a much better job.”
Owen Zimpfer scores an easy bucket from the paint. He led all scorers with 17 points.
Botkins rebounded efficiently – grabbing 15 on the offensive side, including four by Zimpfer in the fourth quarter that aided in cutting the final ropes supporting MVCA’s bridge of hope. Then the Trojans moved on to cutting the next thing: a one-game-old net.
Both Botkins and Lehman can expect a battle of styles in their regional matchup. The Cavs want an up-tempo shootout. The Trojans prefer a more moderate pace, and want both teams to share the ball.
“We just gotta focus on us,” Hughes said. “We saw today if we can just execute offensively, we can be fine.”
But they haven’t faced many teams as defensively sound as Botkins.
“We’re just gonna try to defend at high level and rebound their first shot,” Groves said. “They have great players, so it’s gonna be a challenge for us.”
Botkins ranks second in the state for Division VII, and Lehman Catholic ranks ninth.
The winner in the semifinals will face either top-ranked Delphos St. John’s, or Cincinnati College Prep.
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