Landon Vanderwarker gets a shot up and over Keegan Knupp during one of two big runs in the second half that punched the Pacers’ ticket to the Final Four. (Press Pros Feature Photos by Brian Bayless)
Explosive Delaware Hayes opened the third quarter with an 11-0 run to seize the momentum and added a 14-0 burst to open the fourth in claiming the program’s first regional championship. Four players scored in double figures for the 27-1 Pacers.
Columbus, OH – Delaware Hayes plays a zone defense only on special occasions, and that time was Saturday night with the Pacers trailing Olentangy Orange by four points at halftime of the Division I regional championship game.
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“Coach told us at halftime that we’re the No. 1 team in Columbus and we’re going to prove it to everybody,” Delaware junior forward Landon Vanderwarker said. “It was at that time we went to our unbeatable matchup. We use it only whenever we need to and this was that time.”
Orange 6-foot-5 swingman Devin Brown had taken over the game by muscling and outmaneuvering defenders from the high post down low for easy baskets. An adjustment had to be made.
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“The zone was intended to keep guys between (Brown) and the basket and to change the pace of the game,” Pacers coach Adam Vincenzo said.
The ploy worked like a charm as Delaware turned the tables on Orange and steamrolled to a 74-56 victory before a jam-packed crowd at Ohio Dominican University.
Orange’s Devin Brown seemed to score at will in the first half with plays like this one where he sliced past Pacer defenders Jesse Burris and Jake Lowman for a score.
Sixth-ranked Hayes (27-1) advanced to its first state tournament where it will face No. 2 Cleveland St. Ignatius (24-3) at 5:15 p.m. Saturday at the University of Dayton Arena. Centerville takes on Toledo Whitmer in the other semifinal.
The up-tempo, highly entertaining first half featured nine lead changes and three ties. Orange led by as many as seven.
But the Pacers came out smoking in the third quarter, using an 11-0 run to take a lead they would never relinquish. Vanderwarker, a 6-7 junior transfer from Northside Christian, converted two putbacks in the surge and Jake Lowman hit a deep three.
Perhaps just as important was the fact that Brown – Orange’s top player – picked up his third foul at the 6:54 mark and went to the bench.
“The zone took them completely out of their rhythm and then we started knocking down shots, got some momentum and didn’t look back,” Ohio University-bound Delaware senior guard Jesse Burris said.
Fourth-ranked Orange (26-2) hung around, pulling to six on a buzzer-beating layup by Brown just before the third quarter buzzer.
The Pacers, however, socked the Pioneers with a 14-0 punch to open the fourth quarter and douse any hopes Orange had of rallying. Jeremiah Russell scored seven points in that run.
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“I knew it was going to be a game of runs,” Vincenzo said. “It was a feeling-out process for a while. We don’t get too high or low. But when we had our (first) run at the beginning of the second half, we never let up. Something I’ve said all year is that we’re a bunch of guys who are fearless.”
Ultimately, Delaware’s arsenal proved too much for Orange. Burris had 17 points and six rebounds, Vanderwarker 16 points and 12 rebounds, Russell 14 points and Lowman 12 along with four assists.
Jake Lowman ignites the Hayes’ crowd as he connects on a three-point shot over Ellis Appiah.
Orange came in allowing just 42.6 points per game. No opponent had reached 60 points.
“Their personnel is very dangerous,” Orange coach Anthony Calo said. “They’re very hard to guard. They’ve got two star players who complement each other very well. Every role player they have shoots it well and stretches the floor.”
Calo tried to make sense of the massive momentum swing in the third quarter.
“They went to the 2-3 matchup zone and we seemed to get solid shots, but we just went cold, and, obviously, they got hot as a pistol,” he said. “Given our foul trouble (with Brown), it was kind of a perfect storm. I surely would have loved to play them full strength.”
Hayes’ Head Coach Adam Vincenzo glances at the scoreboard after his squad extended their second half lead into double-digits over Olentangy Orange.
Even sidelined for a large chunk of the second half, Brown scored a game-high 21 points to pace Orange. Dylan Joy (11 points), Keegan Knupp (10 points, 10 rebounds) and Levi Davis (10) also hit double figures. It was a bittersweet end to a season not expected by many after the graduation of nine seniors from the 2023 regional runner-up.
For Delaware, which ran its win streak to 21 games dating to Dec. 22, 2023, it extends a historic season. Only one previous team in the history of the former Willis High School (built in 1883) and Hayes (built in 1963) had won a district championship and that came in 1986.
“It’s a special group for sure,” Vincenzo said. “No doubt, we’ll celebrate tonight but we’ll be back to work tomorrow to figure out what awaits us in Dayton.”
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