State Tourney: D1 Regional Final

Final Score (2OT)
Centerville 70
Moeller 69
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There was a feeling in the air walking into Xavier University Saturday morning. While the season (and tournament) had unpredictable moments throughout, there was a feeling on gratitude for the Region 4 Championship. The 2 best teams in the Southwest District, Centerville (#1 seed from Dayton) and Moeller (#1 seed from Cincinnati) had battled their way through the Districts and first Regional matchup to setup a highly touted rematch. Centerville had defeated the Crusaders in the regular season 62-55. But more importantly, the last time these two teams faced off in the Regional Finals was 2021. That game, Moeller, the three-time defending state champions, were dethroned by Tom House on a buzzer beater, as the Elks would go on to win their first state title behind House and a slew of talent around him.
 
By time we got to tipoff on Saturday, both teams showed they were trying to rely on what makes them unique. Moeller kept patient in their offensive sets, moved the ball and opened up opportunities for shots on the perimeter. Alex Kazanecki (Jr) specifically got off on the right foot getting 7 points in the quarter. Centerville on the other hand, was winning the hustle battle by getting 50/50 balls and securing 2nd chance opportunities on the offensive glass against the Crusaders’ height. Both teams went back and forth with Moeller leading early 14-11.
 
Out of the 2nd quarter, Brook Cupps had a message to his team and made a timely adjustment surrounding one of the Elks’ role players.
 
Centerville seemingly settled in come 2nd half. Defensively, they held the Crusaders to a single digit quarter. Offensively though, the Elks utilized the extra attention on their stars Jonathan Powell (Sr) and Baboucarr Njie (Sr) and went to Jamar Montgomery (Jr) for production. The junior guard was averaging 6 points per game entering the game.
 
By halftime he had 8 points already.
 
Montgomery found space and made himself available for easy layups to give Centerville momentum. So much so, that the Elks started to pull away and took a 29-23 lead into the half.
 
The second half continued as a chess match with Centerville taking the lead by as much as 11 points in the quarter. Moeller would fight to get the deficit down to 4 with a sequence of Kingston Land (Jr) getting a transition dunk so powerful, one might’ve thought he had a personal vendetta with the rim. On the ensuing defensive possession, Eric Mahaffey (Sr) took a charge to get the ball back, followed by a Kazanecki 3-ball to get it down to 4. Njie would stop the bleeding with a tip-in at the buzzer to allow the Elks to maintain their lead 39-33.
 
If any fans thought the 3rd quarter was wild, they were going to be surprised in the last 2 minutes of the game. Up by double digits again in the quarter, Moeller had to stat fouling. One of their best defenders, AJ McBride (Sr), had fouled out.
 
The fouling worked.
 
Centerville started to find themselves going 1-for-2 at the free throw line. On the other end, Kazanecki and Mahaffey would score and the score began to slowly get closer.
 
At 1:25, Moeller had the deficit down to 6 points.
 
With just 25 seconds remaining, Moeller had the deficit down to just 1-point.
 
At 10 seconds, we were tied. The turnovers and missed free throws plagued the Elks and they found themselves entering OT with the Moeller faithful on their feet and excited to potentially steal the show.
 
They say in OT, typically the game is indeed decided by who has the momentum. Moeller was thinking they would prove this as they jumped out early in the lead. All of a sudden, the tides seemed to be turning and it looked like Moeller was going to be making a State appearance for the first time since 2019.
 
And then the free throw bug came to them.
 
Moeller started to miss free throws and it allowed Centerville to erase their deficit. In the final seconds, Eli Greenburg (Jr) buried two free throws to tie the game up. The discipline of the Elks showed as they defended a Moeller drive to the rim to win the ball game. And just like that a second OT was needed.
 
Both teams went back and forth with the second OT period, trading blows while facing adversity. Moeller, without McBride, then lost their starting PG Kyle Havens (Sr) to fouls. On the Centerville side, 4 players were sitting with 4 fouls.
 
With just seconds to play, Moeller had the lead 69-67. Centerville had the basketball in their possession. Most people in the gym knew who might be taking the final shot.
 
And just like that it happened.
 
Jonathan Powell, a Xavier commit playing on his future home court, caught the ball on the wing and put up a 3-ball with heavy pressure closing out on him and buried it. Centerville had the lead 70-69 and Moeller had one more chance to try and win this game. With roughly 4 seconds left, Mahaffey possessed the ball and attacked the rim for the Crusaders. He found the paint and even got his shot up.
 
It didn’t fall.
 
Centerville punched their ticket for the 4th straight year to the State Final Four. The celebrating began as did the stunning looks from the Moeller portion of the fanbase.
 
The Elks needed a full team win as 4 starters were in double figures, led by Powel with 20. Moeller in a losing effort, showed a glimpse of hope for the future. Alex Kazanecki was going to be a problem for the next several years. His 34 point performance on 11-of-16 shooting proved this.
 
For Centerville, the next step was clear. A showdown with Toledo Whitmer. Northwest Ohio’s best team beat one of Northeast Ohio’s best teams just a few hours later on a buzzer beater of their own.  All year questions have been risen on how the Elks would perform after the loss of such an incredible class, headlined by Gabe Cupps.
 
I guess we will find out on Saturday.