Mar. 4—MILLBURY — Central Catholic pulled the upset of the 2021 boys basketball tournament thus far, making big plays down the stretch in a 59-58 Division II district semifinal victory over fifth-ranked Rossford Wednesday night at Lake High School.
The Fighting Irish (6-11), who were led by sophomore guard Chico Johnson’s 20 points, advanced to meet Tiffin Columbian (20-4) in Saturday’s 7 p.m. district final here.
The Tornadoes advanced by topping Sandusky Bay Conference Lake Division foe Sandusky, 52-45, in Wednesday’s earlier semifinal at Lake.
As for Three Rivers Athletic Conference member Central, which recorded just four wins in 15 regular-season games, the odds of upsetting the two-time defending Northern Buckeye Conference champion Bulldogs (20-3) were long.
The Irish, who have no seniors on their roster, entered the season with Johnson as their only player with varsity experience, and recently lost two regular starters. Michael Greenlee had to stop playing after 11 games because of the Ohio High School Athletic Association transfer rules, and Ja’Vaughn Jones was lost for the season to a knee injury sustained in practice last week.
“We’re still a team that’s trying to figure out who we are,” Central coach Mike Floyd said. “We were coming in with so much inexperience, and Chico is our only returning guy who played significant minutes last year, and when you lose two guys like that you’re trying to reinvent yourself.”
But what they had on the court Wednesday night was all that counted for the Irish, who had been primed by a strong TRAC and nonleague schedule.
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Stepping up for Central were junior Micah Thames (10 points), sophomore Keller Komives (eight points), freshman sub Isaiah Brenneman (six points), and 6-6 junior twins Josh Lee (six points, six rebounds) and Sam Lee (four points, seven rebounds).
“We played very good teams in our league, and there’s nights off,” Floyd said. “I think that really prepared us for this game. These guys have learned throughout the year, and have gained some valuable experience.
“They’re used to playing against size and athleticism and being sped up. We have a tough group, and I’m really proud of then because this was a very physical game.”
The Irish never backed down from the opening tip, and hit eight 3-pointers to help their cause.
“I’m just disappointed in the fact that the kids didn’t get the opportunity to continue to play,” Rossford coach Brian Vorst said. “They’ve done everything we’ve asked of them this year, and tonight just wasn’t our night.”
“[Central] had guys step up and knock down shots who we didn’t expect to hit shots, and this time of the year that’s what happens. You have someone step up and do more than what’s expected of them. They got that tonight, and we struggled a bit offensively. The game was really physical, and I don’t think we adjusted to that well.”
None of the Central 3-pointers was bigger than the fall-away triple Johnson banked in from above the key while being fouled by Rossford’s Ben Morrison with 53 seconds remaining. That shot gave Central a 54-53 lead.
“I was very surprised that went in,” Johnson said. “Defense won the game. All we did was stick together, and we had a lot of heart. This means a lot.”
Leg cramps forced Johnson out after that play, and sub Noah Langford was inserted to shoot the free throw. Langford missed, but Sam Lee rebounded and scored on a put-back for a 56-53 Irish edge.
After a Rossford miss, Central’s Brian Bishop (five points) was fouled and sank two free throws with 38 seconds left for a five-point Irish edge.
But Central still had to withstand the heroics from Rossford’s senior two-time NBC player of the year CamRon Gaston, who scored on a put-back with 27 seconds left then, after Johnson sank one of two free throws, drained a long 3-pointer to get the Bulldogs within a point with 12.1 seconds remaining.
Rossford’s defense forced a five-second call on the Irish, but a subsequent shot from the lane by Bulldogs junior Nic Borojevich rimmed out, and Central rebounded.
A long inbounds pass by the Irish was intercepted by Borojevich, but Rossford had no timeouts left, and his half-court heave at the buzzer missed the mark.
Gaston scored 15 of his game-high 21 points in the frenetic final quarter.
Borojevich had 12 points for the Bulldogs, Morrison had eight points, and Jamari Croom added seven points and seven rebounds.
Central led 13-11 after one quarter, but Rossford regrouped to take 26-24 lead to halftime. The Bulldogs got a late third-quarter bucket from Croom to take a 39-37 edge to the fourth.
First Published March 3, 2021, 10:20pm
