“These guys banded together,” said Beavers coach Isaiah Williams. “It was all about being us. We understood that our season was tough, but we played some tough teams. We believed we were battle-tested, we just had to execute at the right time.”
The Beavers advanced to play either Delaware Hayes or Groveport-Madison in a regional semifinal game at 7 p.m. Tuesday night at Wittenberg University’s Pam Evans Smith Arena.
“It’s surreal,” Isaiah-Michael Williams said. “This is a dream come true. We were battling a bad season and now to win districts, it’s crazy.”
The Beavers trailed by six points late in the second quarter, but Beavercreek went on a 10-1 run, grabbing a three-point lead at 30-27. They extended the lead to 39-33 on a layup by Isaiah-Michael Williams with less than four minutes remaining. Princeton, the Greater Miami Conference champion, would cut the lead to one at 41-40 with about two minutes remaining.
The Beavers went a perfect 10-for-10 from the free throw line in the fourth quarter. Ellerbe went 6-for-6, including four down the stretch to seal the win.
“This game meant way too much to miss them, so I had to make them,” Ellerbe said.
Despite finishing sixth in the Greater Western Ohio Conference, the Beavers are the conference’s only remaining team in the postseason. They stayed together as a team and “it all came together at the end,” Ellerbe said.
“This means a lot,” he said. “We haven’t won districts since 2000. A lot of people said we wouldn’t win districts, especially after the season we had and to prove them wrong means everything.”
Final: Beavercreek 49, Princeton 43. Isaiah-Michael Williams had 22 points and Kaden Ellerbe had 16 as the Beavers won a rare Division I district title. Ellerbe hit several free throws down the stretch to seal the win. pic.twitter.com/JoUDyTmpPM
— Michael Cooper (@ByMichaelCooper) March 1, 2025
Sycamore 53, Wayne 50: The Aviators jumped out to a nine-point lead in the first half and held off a late charge by the Warriors to win their first district title since 2004.
Warriors senior Myles “Boots” Perkins scored 15 points for Wayne, which finished its season 14-10.
“I thought Sycamore did a great job,” said Wayne coach Nathan Martindale. “Coach (Tim) Austing does a really nice job. Their kids are really, really well coached and I thought they made some big time shots. We had a couple unforced errors here and there, but in a tournament game, that’s just the way it goes. I thought our kids played their hearts out.”
Aviators senior Tariq Kimbrough had a game-high 20 points, senior Samuel Imade had 12 and junior Ryan Lynn added 11 for Sycamore (11-12), which advanced to play either Olentangy Orange or Lancaster in a regional semifinal game on Wednesday night at Wittenberg.
Wayne tied the score three times in the fourth quarter, but were unable to take the lead. Sycamore went on a 7-0 run to take a 48-41 lead with less than two minutes remaining. The Aviators went 5-for-6 from the free throw line down the stretch to seal the win.
Wayne’s four seniors — Perkins, Jay’Sean Price, Mykell Shackleford and Jayden Walton — were a “phenomenal group” because they were able to max out their potential, Martindale said.
“I think all of our guys battled,” he said. “As a coach, you’re going to win some and you’re going to lose some. This one is going to hurt for a while, but I just felt like I couldn’t be more proud as a coach. I couldn’t be more proud of our team and the way our guys battled. They’re hurting right now. There’s lots of guys in (the locker room) crying. As coaches, we’re hurting because we hurt for them. They don’t have another game.
“We wanted one more practice, one more opportunity to be around each other. This time of the year that’s how it is. I just feel extremely blessed to coach these young men with Wayne on their jersey.”
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