The article isn't quite right about OG. They lost to Lima Central Catholic. Colin White missed the 3 point shot at the end that would have won it for them.
Who wins D3?
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The article isn't quite right about OG. They lost to Lima Central Catholic. Colin White missed the 3 point shot at the end that would have won it for them.
Maybe OG should bring in kids from all of Putnam County (population 34,000) to compete with HP...that's bringing in kids from a population of a million lol
Stirred not Shaken
Well-known member
Lutheran East is the best team in D3. Now watch HP beat them.
Awww
FlightCrew
Well-known member
A PC all star team wouldn’t beat HP today. NOBODY else besides White showed up.
ShoelessJoe
Active member
That isn't even a close comparison. OG would have be bring in players from all of NW Ohio to come close to the 500,000 plus area HP draws from.
Stirred not Shaken
Well-known member
Wrong Putnam Co. has some good bball player besides White, and if OG had another scorer they probably win.
Captain Obvious
Active member
The size of the pool HP is selecting players from is way, way smaller unless Rod Parsley is flying all over Columbus to pick up preschoolers and retired folks in his helicopter. You can shrink that 500K or 2 million in the metro area to probably a two digit number. Using those numbers for effect won’t change the reality HP casts a much smaller net. There are many quality public and private school programs in the greater Columbus area so there aren’t that many kids looking to take their talents to HP and HP would be interested in only taking a few anyways. Just because you want to play at HP doesn’t mean you can. Great career for Collin White and a lot to proud of if you’re an O-G fan.
From cleveland.com:
DAYTON, Ohio — If Lutheran East can win a fifth state championship in the history of its boys basketball program, this one will have special meaning to Sam Liggins. The school’s coach and a 2005 graduate has led the Falcons to their last two state crowns, and a successful title defense Sunday afternoon against Canal Winchester Harvest Prep would be a first for the Falcons. However, that’s not the only reason Liggins values this chance to win one with a cherished senior class. “We read tweets all the time about home-grown teams, and all seven of these guys enrolled at Lutheran East as ninth-graders,” Liggins said, “and they were able to finish here as 12th graders, so I’m proud of this group.”
Four of those seniors started Friday night in Lutheran East’s 63-44 win against Camden Preble Shawnee. It advanced them to the OHSAA Division III state title game at 2 p.m. Sunday inside the University of Dayton Arena against Harvest Prep (24-4), which ran into Liggins’ squad last year in the state semifinals. Lutheran East won that meeting, 65-44.
Harvest Prep comes into this rematch, not the one that Lutheran East might have expected with the Warriors holding on for a 61-59 victory Friday against Ottawa-Glandorf, with the swagger of beating Mr. Basketball. Ohio State recruit Colin White scored 32 points with 13 rebounds, but he missed a last-second 3-pointer that could have won it for the Titans and given them their chance at a rematch with the Falcons. Instead, it’s the one team in this Division III state final four that didn’t have a Mr. Basketball finalist getting a rematch with Lutheran East (22-5). Expect a defensive struggle, as both teams like to get after it with their perimeter defenses. Junior guard Brandon Roddy and 6-foot-2 senior Adonus Abrams are back from the team that lost last season to the Falcons. Abrams scored 26 points with six steals Friday against O-G to pace Harvest Prep.
Lutheran East didn’t allow a field goal in the first quarter to Preble Shawnee, which shot 0 of 7 and fell into a 17-0 hole before knocking down two free throws. “We build them up every day to be able to play in those games,” Liggins said. “You’ve got to be able to guard. They’ll tell you. If you can’t guard, you can’t play for me. Defense is our staple. ”It starts up front with a tenacious effort from those seniors, including Chauncey Brashers and Anthony Bruce, with freshman Chris Hill. It concludes in the middle with 6-10 Jesse McCulloch lurking around the basket. McCulloch pulled down 11 rebounds and blocked three shots against Preble Shawnee. He is headed to Michigan State after graduating this year from Lutheran East, where he spent countless hours shaping his body. His teammates picked up on that work ethic.
“All of those late nights, it helped us get down here and be dominant,” said senior wing Ronald Taylor, who scored a game-high 21 points against Preble Shawnee. “I’ve got to give a big thanks to Jesse, our senior here. He’s a good leader, tried to get us in the gym every night.” They have one more chance at a late night in the gym, if Liggins can find one Saturday night before the final high school game for his seven seniors. “It’s bittersweet for sure,” McCulloch said, “but knowing this is going to be my last high school game on Sunday, I’m just going to leave it all on the floor. That’s all I can do, and after that get ready for the next level.” “These dudes, I don’t think it’s legal how much they work out,” Liggins said. “They’re in the gym at crazy hours at the end of the night.”
DAYTON, Ohio — If Lutheran East can win a fifth state championship in the history of its boys basketball program, this one will have special meaning to Sam Liggins. The school’s coach and a 2005 graduate has led the Falcons to their last two state crowns, and a successful title defense Sunday afternoon against Canal Winchester Harvest Prep would be a first for the Falcons. However, that’s not the only reason Liggins values this chance to win one with a cherished senior class. “We read tweets all the time about home-grown teams, and all seven of these guys enrolled at Lutheran East as ninth-graders,” Liggins said, “and they were able to finish here as 12th graders, so I’m proud of this group.”
Four of those seniors started Friday night in Lutheran East’s 63-44 win against Camden Preble Shawnee. It advanced them to the OHSAA Division III state title game at 2 p.m. Sunday inside the University of Dayton Arena against Harvest Prep (24-4), which ran into Liggins’ squad last year in the state semifinals. Lutheran East won that meeting, 65-44.
Harvest Prep comes into this rematch, not the one that Lutheran East might have expected with the Warriors holding on for a 61-59 victory Friday against Ottawa-Glandorf, with the swagger of beating Mr. Basketball. Ohio State recruit Colin White scored 32 points with 13 rebounds, but he missed a last-second 3-pointer that could have won it for the Titans and given them their chance at a rematch with the Falcons. Instead, it’s the one team in this Division III state final four that didn’t have a Mr. Basketball finalist getting a rematch with Lutheran East (22-5). Expect a defensive struggle, as both teams like to get after it with their perimeter defenses. Junior guard Brandon Roddy and 6-foot-2 senior Adonus Abrams are back from the team that lost last season to the Falcons. Abrams scored 26 points with six steals Friday against O-G to pace Harvest Prep.
Lutheran East didn’t allow a field goal in the first quarter to Preble Shawnee, which shot 0 of 7 and fell into a 17-0 hole before knocking down two free throws. “We build them up every day to be able to play in those games,” Liggins said. “You’ve got to be able to guard. They’ll tell you. If you can’t guard, you can’t play for me. Defense is our staple. ”It starts up front with a tenacious effort from those seniors, including Chauncey Brashers and Anthony Bruce, with freshman Chris Hill. It concludes in the middle with 6-10 Jesse McCulloch lurking around the basket. McCulloch pulled down 11 rebounds and blocked three shots against Preble Shawnee. He is headed to Michigan State after graduating this year from Lutheran East, where he spent countless hours shaping his body. His teammates picked up on that work ethic.
“All of those late nights, it helped us get down here and be dominant,” said senior wing Ronald Taylor, who scored a game-high 21 points against Preble Shawnee. “I’ve got to give a big thanks to Jesse, our senior here. He’s a good leader, tried to get us in the gym every night.” They have one more chance at a late night in the gym, if Liggins can find one Saturday night before the final high school game for his seven seniors. “It’s bittersweet for sure,” McCulloch said, “but knowing this is going to be my last high school game on Sunday, I’m just going to leave it all on the floor. That’s all I can do, and after that get ready for the next level.” “These dudes, I don’t think it’s legal how much they work out,” Liggins said. “They’re in the gym at crazy hours at the end of the night.”
cleveland.com:
To play for Sam Liggins at Lutheran East, you have to defend your opponent with relentless effort. Harvest Prep provided a mirror image of that mindset Sunday in the OHSAA Division III boys basketball state championship, and Lutheran East senior guard Chauncey Brashers and freshman Chris Hill smashed that mirror. The two combined for seven steals in a game that saw 17 of them. They also kept Harvest Prep’s leading scorer to just five shots and won their second straight state championship with a 45-36 win at the University of Dayton Arena. “They did it with a brand of basketball that you can appreciate because we play hard,” Liggins said. “We play defense.”
Harvest Prep senior guard Adonus Abrams, who scored 26 points in the state semifinals against Ottawa-Glandorf, finished with six points Sunday on 3-of-5 shooting. “I was getting pressured more in this game,” Abrams said, “and it kind of slowed me down.”
Lutheran East’s defensive brand came complete with 6-foot-10 Jesse McCulloch behind those guards. He blocked three shots while waiting around the rim. The guards might have kept him from having more, as they denied Abrams and junior standout Brandon Roddy many looks beyond drives to the basket in transition. “Coach Sam preaches about defense,” said Hill, who scored 10 points with three steals. “Pregame talks really get me amped up, and just want to go out and lock up somebody.”
The Warriors (24-5) briefly led in the second quarter, but a big block by McCulloch led to Hill scoring on the other end at the 6:06 mark. Lutheran East (23-5) retook a 15-14 lead and built on that advantage the rest of the way.
McCulloch, playing his final high school game with Michigan State coach Tom Izzo watching while sitting next to McCulloch’s parents, scored a game-high 18 points with nine rebounds. He also blocked four shots. The performance contrasted from last year’s state championship win vs. Ottawa-Glandorf, when McCulloch fouled out and had to watch the final 4 minutes, 19 seconds of a 67-61 victory. “That was my first year in Dayton,” McCulloch said. “I just knew how the stripes go. Came here, walled up and didn’t give up any tacky fouls. I played hard and learned from last year.” The Falcons beat Harvest Prep last year in the state semifinals, 65-44, on the way to an OHSAA championship. This time, McCulloch found a different kind of trouble in staying on the court. He rolled his ankle in the second half while going for a rebound and limped through the pain to stay on the court. “I was thinking, this is my last (high school) game ever,” said McCulloch, who is headed to Michigan State, “so I’ve got to leave it all on the floor.”
McCulloch played on three state-title teams in his four years at Lutheran East, which finished off an unparalleled run before the OHSAA expands to seven divisions next season for the postseason. Not counting the coronavirus pandemic-shortened postseason of 2020, when Lutheran East made the Division II regionals before the OHSAA stopped that postseason, the Falcons have seven straight seasons with a state semifinal appearance or better. They have played in five state championships during that time, winning four of them.
Only St. Vincent-St. Mary’s four championships with six straight runs to the state finals through 2022 compares to what Lutheran East has done. Even Villa Angela-St. Joseph’s five-year run to Columbus from 2013 to ‘17 with three titles falls just short of the Falcons, led by Liggins and former head coach Anthony Jones, who now sits on the bench as an assistant and athletic director.
The school, which goes by “The Lue,” has five state championships total. “That was always the goal,” Liggins said. “We just knew we were going to try to outwork everybody. That’s our motto. Put your head down and work.”
To play for Sam Liggins at Lutheran East, you have to defend your opponent with relentless effort. Harvest Prep provided a mirror image of that mindset Sunday in the OHSAA Division III boys basketball state championship, and Lutheran East senior guard Chauncey Brashers and freshman Chris Hill smashed that mirror. The two combined for seven steals in a game that saw 17 of them. They also kept Harvest Prep’s leading scorer to just five shots and won their second straight state championship with a 45-36 win at the University of Dayton Arena. “They did it with a brand of basketball that you can appreciate because we play hard,” Liggins said. “We play defense.”
Harvest Prep senior guard Adonus Abrams, who scored 26 points in the state semifinals against Ottawa-Glandorf, finished with six points Sunday on 3-of-5 shooting. “I was getting pressured more in this game,” Abrams said, “and it kind of slowed me down.”
Lutheran East’s defensive brand came complete with 6-foot-10 Jesse McCulloch behind those guards. He blocked three shots while waiting around the rim. The guards might have kept him from having more, as they denied Abrams and junior standout Brandon Roddy many looks beyond drives to the basket in transition. “Coach Sam preaches about defense,” said Hill, who scored 10 points with three steals. “Pregame talks really get me amped up, and just want to go out and lock up somebody.”
The Warriors (24-5) briefly led in the second quarter, but a big block by McCulloch led to Hill scoring on the other end at the 6:06 mark. Lutheran East (23-5) retook a 15-14 lead and built on that advantage the rest of the way.
McCulloch, playing his final high school game with Michigan State coach Tom Izzo watching while sitting next to McCulloch’s parents, scored a game-high 18 points with nine rebounds. He also blocked four shots. The performance contrasted from last year’s state championship win vs. Ottawa-Glandorf, when McCulloch fouled out and had to watch the final 4 minutes, 19 seconds of a 67-61 victory. “That was my first year in Dayton,” McCulloch said. “I just knew how the stripes go. Came here, walled up and didn’t give up any tacky fouls. I played hard and learned from last year.” The Falcons beat Harvest Prep last year in the state semifinals, 65-44, on the way to an OHSAA championship. This time, McCulloch found a different kind of trouble in staying on the court. He rolled his ankle in the second half while going for a rebound and limped through the pain to stay on the court. “I was thinking, this is my last (high school) game ever,” said McCulloch, who is headed to Michigan State, “so I’ve got to leave it all on the floor.”
McCulloch played on three state-title teams in his four years at Lutheran East, which finished off an unparalleled run before the OHSAA expands to seven divisions next season for the postseason. Not counting the coronavirus pandemic-shortened postseason of 2020, when Lutheran East made the Division II regionals before the OHSAA stopped that postseason, the Falcons have seven straight seasons with a state semifinal appearance or better. They have played in five state championships during that time, winning four of them.
Only St. Vincent-St. Mary’s four championships with six straight runs to the state finals through 2022 compares to what Lutheran East has done. Even Villa Angela-St. Joseph’s five-year run to Columbus from 2013 to ‘17 with three titles falls just short of the Falcons, led by Liggins and former head coach Anthony Jones, who now sits on the bench as an assistant and athletic director.
The school, which goes by “The Lue,” has five state championships total. “That was always the goal,” Liggins said. “We just knew we were going to try to outwork everybody. That’s our motto. Put your head down and work.”
Blue Jay Fan
Well-known member
Around here most, if not all, players enroll at their school in kindergarten. Does Lutheran East have a grade school or feeder system? Did all of these kids come from that grade school/feeder system?
No grade school. A few Lutheran grade schools throughout the city, but no specific ones attached to East or West.
"Around here" isnt the whole state
All Lutheran grade school/feeder schools have closed on east side. All 7 seniors played all 4 years at Lutheran East. Not a single one of the 7 seniors started on Varsity their freshman year. Only 2 of the 7 played any varsity minutes their sophomore year. These kids have literally grown through the system from freshman to JV to Varsity. Also, in the past several years Lutheran East has 6-8 kids transfer out every year from the freshman and JV teams because they know they will never see a minute of Varsity basketball and immediately become starters on Varsity level at area schools. So, Lutheran East coach is not only developing players at Lutheran East, but also for many area programs as well. This doesn't fit the narrative of recruiting all-stars when they came in as freshman and played freshman.
Lutheran East probably does lose more players than transfer in now that you mention it. I am a Heights High grad but I have a lot of respect for the LE program and the school actually. Very well coached over the last several years I have watched them going back to the pandemic team that was set to face Malaki Branham's SVSM in a regional final when the season was stopped SMH. That game would have been a defacto D2 state championship game.
ShoelessJoe
Active member
The bottom line is LE (as well as LW, HP, Africentric, RH) draws players from a very large population area. It has nothing to do when they enroll. The OHSAA is getting what they allow, the D3 and D4 championshp games had the lowest attendance in OHSAA history. The OHSAA needs to base divisional classification on the population of the geographical area schools draw players from not enrollment numbers. And going to 7 divisions is a massive mistake. It will result in less revenue for OHSAA and meaningless watered down championships. I guess just give everyone a trophy and don't even play a tournament.
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We were robbed of that game and Mentor-Shaker round 3. Also think Eds couldve won it all. Well never know though SMH indeed.
Why does it matter?
Around here, things are different Blue Jay Fan. I have no idea where kids are from. When I go to watch my alma mater Heights High play football, I have no idea which of the multiple elementary schools they came through, if they were to a CH-UH middle school, if they moved in from Colorado, came back to public from time at Lutheran East or just moved up from the Glenville. When I watch Heights play I honestly am enjoying high school sports and not reflecting on if they went to Roxboro Middle.or Canterbury Elementary or Gesu or Hawken K-8 and how they ended up at Heights. But thats me. My closest friend growing up lived 5 houses down from me (300 feet or so)..never went to school a day with him. His parents sent him to Gesu K-8 and Ignatius 9-12. Sister went to Beaumont. It is what it is. Great guy. His schools team won a lot of stuff in the 90s. I survived lol.
Even when I grew up we had like 11 elementary school that fed into 3 middle schools in 1 HS. I had varsity teammates who where same district as me K-8 who I had never met because they lived in a different part of the Heights. Do you think every Mentor or Centerville kid grew up together in elementary school lmao.
And as I say before, growing up in University Heights I knew neighborhood kids OR elementary school friends who went to VASJ, Benedictine, Hawken. St Ignatius, University and St Edward. My childhood and youth sports memories weren't ruined personally.
But around your way things are different and it's OK.
We get it no one leaves their dying small towns.
Always with the shots. Why? Plenty of small towns ‘around here’ are thriving.
I only take shots when others give them. If they can't take it or get into their feelings then maybe they should logout
Well, I'm not a Blue Jay fan I'm a Reds fan although I love Joey Votto...... as for your soliloquy, I understand your sentiments on where they came from or come from, it brings back childhood memories.
An eye for an eye, eh? I’m not sure you’re getting into anyone’s feelings - you’re just wrong. Many of the small towns you deride are doing quite well and are far from dying.