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.
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.
