By Dean Eversole
MaxPreps.com
The Greater Catholic League came into Saturday's District play at Univeristy of Dayton Arena with four teams and left with three still alive.
St. Xavier, Elder, and Archbishop Moeller made another statement as to just how competitive the GCL is.
Elder 67, Wayne 51
Elder did some serious work in with paint Saturday afternoon. The Panthers outscored Wayne 32-18 in the post, propelling them to a 67-51 victory.
Kyle Rudolph did most of the damage for Elder with 22 points and 20 rebounds, leading his team to the District Championship. Rudolph was a perfect 10 of 10 from the free line.
Elder had a five-point lead after one period and a seven-point lead at half. The game stayed a seven point affair after the two teams played to a 17-17 in third stanza. But, in the final stanza Elder closed out the game, giving the GCL its first Regional qualifier.
Treon Leslie paced the Warriors in the losing effort with 14 points.
St. Xavier 44, Hamilton 37
Hamilton's basketball tradition runs deep and the chance of them being intimidated by St. Xavier was zero.
What might have been intimidating to both teams were the rims in Dayton. The two squads combined to go 26 of 73 from the field in the game. In the first half alone there were only 13 field goals as Hamilton took an 18-17 advantage to the break.
In the second half the offenses showed up, but not until the final eight minutes. Breaking a tie after three, the fourth period was all Bombers.
The Blue could not hold off St. Xavier, who finally found its offense putting up 18 points in the final eight minutes to pull away and garner the win.
Xavier's Brad Loesing led all scorers with 22 points.
Trotwood Madison 60, Centerville 39
Defense. That's what the Trotwood Madison Rams are all about and they put their philosophy on full display Saturday by suffocating Centerville, 60-39, in a District Final.
With All-Everything forward Chris Wright held in check, point guard Duane Morgan picked up the slack and led the Rams with 23 points.
"Chris is like a big brother and when he wasn't getting it done I knew I had to do something," Morgan said.
The defensive clinic by the Rams was a lesson in the chaos created by supremely conditioned athletes on the basketball court. The Rams forced 20 Centerville turnovers and in the second half held them to a stunning 5 of 27 from the floor. There was no doubt the Elks were frustrated by the constant pressure from the Ram defenders.
"Our practices are very, very intense. We spend a lot of time on defensive drills," Trotwood coach Larry Ham said. "I actually let my assistant coach Travis Trice, who played at Butler University, run my practices."
After a tight first half that saw Trotwood up 27-22, the second half swung completely to the Rams and they cruised to an easy victory.
Withrow 55, La Salle 48 (Overtime)
The game swung back and forth with neither La Salle nor Withrow able to gain an upper hand for 32 minutes. When the buzzer signaled the end of regulation, it also seemed to serve as a wake-up call for Withrow, who controlled the game in overtime for a 55-48 win.
It was a fitting way to decide a game that witnessed six lead changes and five ties. In the extra session, Withrow rediscovered what got them to the Districts; Yancey Gates. The 6-9 center powered in 24 points, but none bigger than a thunderous dunk that gave his team a 50-45 lead late in the overtime.
"I just wanted to post up and play hard," Gates said. "I felt that our defense picked up and I just wanted to go to the bucket."
After getting the five points, the Tigers used defense to protect it and advanced one step closer to Columbus.
Archbishop Moeller 49, Kettering Fairmont 32
The Crusaders of Archbishop Moeller had a brief scare Saturday night from Kettering Fairmont before dispersing of the Firebirds with a solid second half.
Using a four guard set, Fairmont's speed created some problems for coach Carl Kremer and his Moeller squad.
Although Fairmont had the quickness, they had no answer for 6-5 Tony Martin in the post, who tallied 19 points and 12 rebounds.
In the early going Fairmont found success with its guard-oriented offense and were able to attack the basket off the dribble. But a number of unfinished plays prevented the Firebirds from building an even larger advantage in the first period.
As the game headed toward the half, Moeller continued to attack from all areas using a deep bench and pressuring defense and the Firebirds began to feel the effects. The Crusaders outscored Fairmont in the second period 11-6 and started take control.
The scenario remained the same in the second half. Looking to put the upstart Fairmont squad away, Moeller held the Birds to a mere five points, while dropping in 14 and taking a 31-21 lead into the final stanza.
Moeller closed out the night with a 49-32 win and became the third GCL South Division team to earn a slot in Regional play.
