Keegan Knupp goes hard to the the boards over Cruiser defender Ronyae Wilson. (Press Pros Feature Photos by Logan Gapen)
Devin Brown and Keegan Knupp led the way as the Pioneers beat Groveport to advance to the state tournament for the first time.
Springfield, OH – After having each of its past two seasons end one step short of the Division I state tournament, Olentangy Orange wasn’t about to leave anything up to chance.
The Pioneers looked sharp from the get-go, using their depth and superior length to build a 15-point halftime advantage against postseason-surprise Groveport and cruising to a 67-53 victory Saturday at Wittenberg University that gave the program its first state tournament berth.
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With the win, Orange will move into a state semifinal that will be held between March 14 and 16 at a site and time to be determined. The state championship game is set for 8:30 p.m. March 22 at the University of Dayton Arena.
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“We were going to leave no stone unturned today,” Orange coach Anthony Calo said. “They weren’t going to leave it to chance. It’s a big deal. We’ve got two games left, and we certainly don’t want it to end now. The third time’s a charm. I’m really proud of our guys.”
The combination of seniors Devin Brown and Keegan Knupp loomed large throughout, each finishing with 23 points and with Brown – a Davidson signee – assisting on a handful of Knupp’s baskets – including on back-to-back baskets during an early sequence of the fourth quarter when the Cruisers attempted to seize their last opportunity.
Groveport rallied to within 54-43 on a basket by senior guard Kamar Keyes with 4 minutes, 52 seconds remaining, but Knupp scored the Pioneers’ first six points of the final period and Orange junior Levi Davis produced back-to-back baskets – including turning a steal into a dunk – as his team pushed the lead back to 19.
Levi Davis runs a gauntlet between two Cruiser defenders.
“We share the ball, we play selfless basketball, and we trust each other to make the right plays,” Brown said. “We all want to win. We just come into every game knowing if we play our game, that we’re going to come out on top. It’s amazing. We’ve lost in this game two years in a row, so to finally get over that hump is amazing.”
Orange, which takes a 24-2 record into the state tournament, lost to Pickerington Central 57-53 in a 2023 regional final and to Delaware Hayes 74-56 in last year’s regional title game.
The district’s No. 1 seed, Orange blew past Cincinnati Sycamore 67-32 in a regional semifinal March 5.
Delaware was the district’s No. 4 seed but was upset by Groveport, the ninth seed, as the Cruisers won their first district title in 40 years.
Groveport, which finished 19-7, wound up one spot away from reaching its first state tournament since 1935.
Treyton Schroeder denies Groveport’s Tyreke Ruffin.
“I love this team and I’m very proud of them,” Cruisers fifth-year coach Lamont Hampton said. “It’s a very special group that accomplished a lot. (Orange is) a great team. Nothing but respect to that program. Coach Calo is a friend of mine. They just play great, and we didn’t shoot it as well as we’d have liked to. Usually we get to the basket a lot more. Their length kind of bothered us a little bit. We were second-guessing ourselves and got a couple charges on us early, which made us complacent. We were kicking it our more rather than trying to get to the rim, and that kind of hurt us.”
Groveport had eight seniors, but it was junior Tyreke Ruffin who provided one of the team’s biggest moments when he drilled a 70-footer at the buzzer to end the first quarter and cut the Pioneers’ lead to 13-7.
The Cruisers were within 22-15 with 4:37 to go in the first half, but Orange closed the quarter on a 12-4 run that included a basket by Brown off a pass from Knupp.
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Knupp, an Eastern Michigan baseball signee, played the entire game with a noseguard after dislocating his nose during practice earlier this week.
“It’s still a little crooked, but I played through it,” Knupp said. “I thought we played well. We knew they were a good team. They like to pressure a lot, and we knew we had to handle the pressure and just get the ball to whoever was open and pass the ball. (Devin and I have) been playing together since the third grade, and we’ve always had that chemistry. We love each other, too, and it just works out.”
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While Keyes scored 11 points and senior Jeremiah Moore added 10 to lead Groveport, Davis added 12 as the Pioneers won their 18th consecutive game.
The only other program from the Olentangy school district to make it to state was Liberty, which lost in a state semifinal in 2019. Orange’s girls team made its only state appearance in 2013, also losing in a state semi.
Orange is finally dancing after taking down Groveport in Regional Final play at Wittenberg University.
“Devin and Keegan both had 23, but Devin had a lot of assists as well,” Calo said. “We’re hard to guard because we can beat you with certain guys, and we also share the ball. What stuck out to me was our defense. We made it really, really hard on them. They needed an 80-footer to get to 7 in the first quarter. We were just really good in gaps. We’re not perfect, but we try to be really good defensively, and I thought we were very gutsy. Rebounding was also huge today.
“You start off at the beginning of the year and you think you can do something, but you’ve still got to follow through every single day. We’ve remained focused the entire year.”
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