Beavercreek comes up just short in regional final

That sent Groveport-Madison into a celebration of a 52-49 win that earned them a spot in the final eight in the state.

“I went in at the end of the game, and I didn’t say nothing negative,” said Beavercreek coach Isaiah Williams, whose team won a district title for the first time since 2000.

Credit: Marcus Hartman

Credit: Marcus Hartman

The Beavers finished sixth in the GWOC and were 8-14 overall in the regular season before upsetting Springboro and Princeton to advance to the regional semifinals for only the fifth time in school history.

“I’m so happy for these guys,” the coach of the Beavers said. “Nobody expected us to be here. I don’t care what poll, what blog you’re on. Nobody thought we was gonna be here. So I just say, ‘Hey, man, I’m proud that we got here, that y’all believed, and we banded together to be in this moment.”

Beavercreek fell behind 11-3, but the Beavers ended the first quarter on a 12-4 run to tie the game at 15.

Williams put Beavercreek on top with a layup in the first minute of the second quarter, but that did not last long as Troy Hines Jr. made a 3 to give the Cruisers the lead back.

That started an 8-0 run for Groveport that ended with a Williams layup.

Credit: Marcus Hartman

Credit: Marcus Hartman

After another Groveport basket, Williams scored twice to get the Beavers within 27-23 at halftime.

The Cruisers led by as many as eight in the third quarter, but Beavercreek came back to tie it at 39 on a layup by Kaleb Bryant with just over six minutes to go.

The teams traded the lead several times after that before Tyreke Ruffin hit a 3-pointer from the left wing to put the Cruisers up for good with under three minutes to go.

In the final minutes, Bryant put back a Williams miss to draw the Beavers within two at 51-49, and they thought they might get the ball back after a timeout with 14.5 seconds to go.

But the officials ruled the inbound pass went out of bounds off a Beavercreek player, and Jeremiah Moore made one of two free throws to make it a three-point game.

That set up the final sequence that did not result in a Beavercreek shot.

“We didn’t hit the shots we normally hit,” Isaiah Williams said after his team finished with just one 3-pointer. “We missed a lot around the rim, and we missed some 3-point shots that during the tournament have been going down for us, but end of the day, like I said, they executed.

“I really thought that went off his knee, and I’m not gonna say we could have scored from that situation, but that ball went off that boy’s knee, and he called it the other way. So that’s what it is.

“But that’s not the reason we lost. That’s not what I’m saying. But that ball went off his knee or it would have gave us another opportunity to try to score a basket.”

No. 9 seed Groveport-Madison improved to 19-6 and will play No. 1 seed Lewis Center Olentangy Orange or Cincinnati Sycamore next on Saturday at Wittenberg. Those teams are scheduled to play Wednesday night in Springfield.

Moore led the Cruisers with 13 points while Ruffin and Sir Cox both had 12 against Beavercreek.

Ellerbe added 19 for the Beavers.