Trojans rally to district title game

GALION — For the first time in four years, the South Central boys basketball team will play for a district championship. The Trojans rallied from a 12-point deficit with three-plus minutes left in the first half for a 62-58 win over Crestline in a Division VII district semifinal Thursday night at Galion High School. South Central (12-12) advanced to Saturday's 7 p.m. title game against Arlington (21-3) at Lima Senior High School. The Red Devils — led by 6-foot-10 center Calvin Willow (18.8 points) — are the No. 4-ranked team in Div. VII according to MaxPreps and reached the state semifinals last season. The Trojans, who were just 4-19 last season and 3-20 in 2023-24, reached three district title games in a four-year span from 2019-22. In Thursday's game, Crestline (13-11) led 9-1 midway through the first quarter and 18-12 entering the second quarter. The Bulldogs then pushed the lead to 27-16 and extended it to 30-18 with 3:20 left in the half when Cody Lawhorn buried a corner 3-pointer. But the Trojans were able to close the half on an 11-3 scoring run, which included a Crestline player accidentally scoring at his own basket to give the Trojans two points. South Central trailed 33-29 at halftime, then outscored the Bulldogs by two to pull within 46-44 after three quarters. The Trojans finally surged ahead at 56-52 with 3:23 left, only for the Bulldogs to tie the score entering the final minute. That's when Wyatt Hall made a mid-range jumper with 47.3 seconds left to give South Central the lead back at 60-58. South Central's Tanner Back then stole the ball and got it over to Bryan Chaffee, who was fouled with 15.5 seconds left. He split the pair, and the Bulldogs had one more chance down 61-58. However, Chaffee then poked the ball free and Back secured it this time and was fouled with 5.2 seconds left. He also split the pair, but the Trojans were up four and clinched the game. As has been the case all season, South Central was led by Wes June (18 points) and Chaffee (13 points). Dom Paynter added nine points. During the regular season, South Central defeated Crestline, 70-57, in the second game of the season for both teams on Dec. 2 in Greenwich. SOUTH CENTRAL (12-12) Brayden Viock 1-3—5; Wyatt Hall 2-0—4; Wes June 7-2—18; Dom Paynter 2-4—9; Tanner Back 0-1—1; Bryan Chaffee 5-3—13; Gavin Olney 1-3—6; Troy Ayers 1-2—4; Opposite team 1-0—2. TOTALS 20-18—62. CRESTLINE (13-11) Kody Lawhorn 7-1—16; Weston Clark 2-2—7; Kordaie Robinson 6-4—16; Kieran Barnett 4-1—9; Quentin Kapp 4-1—10. TOTALS 23-9—58. S. Central 12 17 15 18 — 62 Crestline 18 15 13 12 — 58 Three-point FGs: (CR) Lawhorn, Clark, Kapp; (SC) June 2, Paynter, Olney. Calvert 48, Plymouth 42 In the first game at Galion, the Big Red trailed by eight at halftime, and still with three minutes left in the third quarter before a late comeback fell short. Down 31-23, Plymouth (15-9) went on a 7-2 run to pull within 33-30 before the Senecas (16-7) scored just before the quarter buzzer to lead by five. The Big Red then cut the deficit to 40-37 with 2:49 remaining. Both teams then struggled to score from the floor and at the foul line, and Calvert still held a 43-40 lead with 1:02 left. Trailing 45-42, the Big Red then forced a turnover near half-court to give themselves a chance at the tie, but they were unable to convert and forced to foul, allowing the Senecas to score the final three points. Jarrett Burrer paced Plymouth with 14 points in his final game of his career that saw him exceed 1,000 career points. Izaya Reynolds added 11 points, and Cainan Kilgore scored eight. The Senecas will rematch with SBC River Division rival Old Fort (16-8) in a district title game Saturday in Galion. The Stockaders won both regular season meetings by seven and eight points, respectively. PLYMOUTH (15-9) Keegan Beverly 0-1—1; Jarrett Burrer 4-6—14; Jackson Bays 1-0—3; Izaya Reynolds 3-7—11; Dasean Winfield 0-1—1; Lex Grose 2-0—4; Cainan Kilgore 3-0—8. TOTALS 13-17—42. TIFFIN CALVERT (16-7) Grady Otterbacher 3-1—9; Logan Ritzler 6-5—18; Max Herbert 1-0—2; Tucker Coleman 0-1—1; Logan DeMoss 2-4—8; Vincenzo Lyons 4-2—10. TOTALS 16-13—48. Plymouth 11 5 14 12 — 42 T. Calvert 13 11 11 13 — 48 Three-point FGs: (PL) Bays, Reynolds; (TC) Otterbacher 2, Ritzler.