Purple Pain....Perhaps gassed from an emotional semifinal win over top-ranked Centerville the previous night, Pickerington Central could not recover from an 11-3 fourth quarter run by a motivated Akron Hoban team that fed off an underdog role to capture its first state title since 1989. Read Steve Blackledge on Press Pros.

Oh, what a relief.....Akron Buchtel's Steven Diamond's expression of relief over review of the final shot. It was ruled late, giving Diamond and the Akron Buchtel Griffins the Division II state title in basketball. Jeff Gilbert writes for Press Pros.

The rematch of 2022's big-school title game predictably came down to the wire again. While the last two Mr. Basketball winners, Devin Royal of Pickerington Central and Gabe Cupps of Centerville, put on a show, it was Markell Johnson's 10-foot, left-handed hook shot in the lane with 1.3 seconds that gave the Tigers a 57-53 win. Pickerington's Gavin Headings (above) tips in the final two points of the Pick Central win.