Harvest Prep stops O-G on final play

DAYTON – Tyson McGlaughlin pulled a page from the history books on Friday. Unfortunately for McGlaughlin and his Ottawa-Glandorf Titans, David Dennis Sr. had read that chapter before, and knew what to expect. "When we played them two years ago, they ran the exact same play," Dennis said after Colin White's last-second shot came up short, preserving Canal Winchester Harvest Prep's 61-59 win over O-G in a Division III state semifinal battle at the University of Dayton. "I credit my coaches and their film study for knowing what to do." Trailing by 11 points entering the fourth quarter, Ottawa-Glandorf mounted a heroic comeback. The Titans pulled within two points on four occasions in the final 3:47, and twice cut the deficit to one. Harvest Prep's Ephraim Campbell restored a two-point edge when he converted one of two free those with four seconds on the clock. O-G inbounded the ball, got is past mid-court and called a time out. Two seconds remained. When play resumed, O-G ran White off a screen on the near side. The 6-foot-6 senior caught a pass on the far side, but was hounded by Campbell, a 6-4 sophomore who was Harvest Prep's longest and lankiest player. White turned and put a shot from well beyond the 3-point arc, but the shot – and O-G's hopes of making a third straight appearance in the Division III state championship game – fell short. "We had a couple of things we thought we could run," McGlaughlin said of O-G's final play. "With their length, especially on the ball, and just two seconds left, the most important thing I wanted was a shot, and I wanted Colin to have that opportunity." Two years ago, O-G and Harvest Prep squared off in the Winter Classic, an eight-team basketball showcase hosted by Ottawa-Glandorf. With the score tie 61-61, McGlaughlin sent in the same play he called Friday. "We got it in a little closer to the basket, a little off the block," McGlaughlin recalled. "(White) gave a little pump fake, went up and it went in at the buzzer. "I'm still going to go down swinging. I'll take that route every day." Friday's win not only allowed Harvest Prep to avenge that 2022 Winter Classic loss to O-G, it earned the Warriors (24-4) a spot in Sunday's 2 p.m. Division III final against No. 2-ranked Cleveland Heights Lutheran East (22-5). There they can avenge an even bigger setback, a 65-44 loss to Lutheran East in last year's state semifinals. Ottawa-Glandorf, state runner-up the past two years and making its fourth straight appearance in the Final Four, ended its season at 24-4. "Wow, what a game between two high-level basketball programs," Dennis said of Friday's win over O-G. "We got the right stop at the right time. We needed to do everything possible to win that game and we did that." Harvest Prep also got a right-time, right-place kind of game from Adonus Abrams, a 6-2 senior guard who not only scored 26 points, but seemed to be the answer to every O-G run or rally. When O-G took an early 8-3 lead on Caden Erford's 3-pointer, a basket by Grady Toumazos and White's and-one 3-point play, Harvest Prep answered with an 8-0 run of its own, punctuated by Abrams' steal and slam dunk. An Abrams' 3-pointer capped an 8-6 run that put the Warriors up 19-14 after a quarter. O-G's defense did a pretty good job of denying a quick Harvest Prep team dribble drive penetration, but the Warriors made 5-of-14 3-pointers in opening a 10-point 31-21 lead at the half. Abrams figured in that second-quarter run as well, winning a battle for an offensive rebound and putting it back up and in with 2.9 seconds on the clock. "Harvest Prep was very good, especially in the first half of taking us out of our rhythm and pushing us out of areas we needed to be," McGlaughlin said. "I thought we played a little bit passive, so at halftime I told them let's get back to O-G basketball and be the aggressors. "The last thing I told the guys was I don't care about the final outcome. You'll walk out of this locker room and you'll have no regrets. They laid it all out there those final 16 minutes. "That was O-G basketball." Attacking inside White scored on two drives, Toumazos on another and Errford nailed a 3-pointer as O-G halved that 10-point halftime deficit, pulling within 35-30. Abrams remained a thorn in O-G's side, though, bombing in a 3-pointer to push the lead back to eight (38-30), answering White's 3-pointer with a free throw, then splitting two defenders for a finger-roll lay-up and a 45-33 Harvest Prep lead late in the third quarter. White announced O-G's fourth-quarter comeback bid in style, throwing down a dunk to beat the Harvest Prep press. Grant Schroeder then came up with three steals, scoring lay-ups off two of them and canning two free throws after being fouled on the other. With 4:40 left, O-G trailed 48-43. Abrams answered again, this time with a free throw. But Erford knocked down two free throws after Harvest Prep's Khalil Daniels was whistled for his fifth foul. The game was becoming an intense battle of catch-me-if-you-can, with Harvest Prep staying just out of reach. O-G pulled with 49-47 on two free throws by Erford and two by White, but Abrams answered with a floater in the lane. It was 51-49 after White's drive and basket, but Abrams scored after a block by Alan Chiles and then scored on a steal. Erford's drive and White's two foul shots got O-G within 55-53 with 1:35 left, but Abrams drove the baseline, backed up when he was cut off, then did a reverse spin, drove again and scored. That made it 57-53 and then 59-53 on Roddy's free throws with 58 seconds remaining. A short bank shot by Erford and White's driving lay-up again made it a two-point game (59-57) with 30.5 on the clock. Roddy's free throw made it a three-point lead; White's basket cut it back to one. Harvest Prep would make only 6-of-14 free throws in the fourth quarter. But the one Campbell made with four seconds left provided the final margin. White, who was named Ohio's Mr. Basketball earlier in the week, lived up to the honor, scoring 32 points, grabbing 13 rebounds and coming up with four steals. "Playing the sport I love with these guys that I love, it's been the best four years of my life," said White, who will play his college ball at Ohio State. "It's sad it had to come to an end now, but we've been together a long time, and it was cool to go out there together one last time." White's 32 points gave him 2,027 for his career, the most by any player in Putnam County basketball history. Erford had 12 points and 10 rebounds for the Titans, who will graduate six players from a program that during their prep careers was state runner-up twice, a state semifinalist four times, and won four straight league, district and regional titles. "These guys are all a coach could ever ask for, and more importantly, they do it the right way," McGlaughlin said. "These guys have raised the bar of our program so much. It doesn't happen everywhere. I'm just glad I had these guys in my corner." O-GLANDORF (24-4) Schroeder 2-4 3-6 7, Toumazos 3-6 0-0 6, Westrick 0-0 0-0 0, White 12-20 7-7 32, Erford 4-16 2-2 12, Maag 0-1 0-0 0, Wagner 0-1 0-0 0, Fortman 1-2 0-0 2. TOTALS: 22-50 12-15—59. HARVEST PREP (24-4) Abrams 11-17 1-3 26, Foggie 2-5 0-0 5, Daniels 4-7 1-4 10, Roddy 2-7 3-5 7, Campbell 2-6 2-4 6, Jones 1-2 0-0 3, Chiles 1-2 0-2 2, Pollard 0-4 0-0 0, Sims 1-1 0-0 2. TOTALS: 24-51 7-18—61. Ottawa-Glandorf &emsp;&emsp;14 &emsp;&emsp;7 &emsp;&emsp;14 &emsp;&emsp;24—59 Harvest Prep &emsp;&emsp;19 &emsp;&emsp;12 &emsp;&emsp;15 &emsp;&emsp;15—61 3-POINT GOALS: Ottawa-Glandorf 3-12 (Erford 2-7, Schroeder 0-1, Toumazos 0-1, White 1-3). Harvest Prep 6-20 (Abrams 3-5, Foggie 1-4, Daniels 1-3, Roddy 0-2, Jones 1-1, Chiles 0-1, Pollard 0-4). REBOUNDS: Ottawa-Glandorf 39 (White 13, Erford 10); Harvest Prep 25 (Campbell 5). TURNOVERS: Ottawa-Glandorf 15; Harvest Prep 9.