La Salle 62, Northmont 33:
Michael McKay’s DAYTON — deep 3-pointer and Leonard Taylor’s free throws in the final minute of overtime were the difference as Springfield prevented a sweep of Greater Western Ohio Conference teams by beating Cincinnati Oak Hills 46-42 in a boys high school basketball Division I district final Saturday night.
That was the finale of four D-I district finals that saw Northmont and Centerville both eliminated.
Springfield (23-3) goes into a regional semifinal against Cincinnati La Salle (23-3) at 8 p.m. Wednesday at Wright State University’s Nutter Center. Moeller (25-0) will play Mason (21-2) in the other semi at 6:15 p.m.
Moeller eliminated Walnut Hills 57-44 in Saturday’s opener. Mason did the same to Centerville 44-38 and La Salle over whelmed Northmont 62-33.
It was the second straight OT win for Springfield, which dodged Xenia 73-72 in last week’s sectional final. Taylor poked the ball away from an Oak Hills player, which led to Michael Wallace’s two free throws with 8.2 seconds left.
Danny Davis ignited a fourth-quarter charge with a deep 3-pointer. He led the Wildcats with 16 points. Taylor added 15 points, nine rebounds, five steals and four assists.
Oak Hills (22-4), winner of the Greater Miami Conference, was paced by Ryan Batte’s 15 points.
Northmont (205) couldn’t get any consistent offense together, going 1 for 17 in 3-pointers. Vinson Walker and Anthony Dorsey led the T-Bolts with six points apiece.
Northmont had the second-most wins in program history. “It’s a special group and it was a great season,” Northmont coach Collin Abels said. “It’s hard not to be sad, but we’re going to celebrate. They obviously paved the way for the future.”
Tre Crigler led La Salle (23-3) with 17 points.
Mason 44, Centerville 38:
The Elks (17-9) couldn’t maintain a halftime advantage and had a five-game winning streak snapped. Donnie Shelton led Centerville with 13 points and Keegan Saben added 12.