SHAWNEE BOYS PURSUE HISTORY
A new generation of Shawnee players aim to make history tonight.
The Shawnee High School boys basketball team is seeking its first district title since 1977.
To put that in perspective, Braves head coach Chris McGuire — who has already amassed more than
240 wins in his career — wasn’t even born yet.
“It’s been a long time,” he said. “We’ve had some cracks at it over the last 16 years since I’ve been here and haven’t been able to get it done for whatever reason. We’re excited for the opportu
nity. We’ve been telling the boys this opportunity doesn’t come around every year.”
The Braves (15-4) will face Cincinnati Summit Country Day in a Division III district final game at 8 p.m. today at the Vandalia Butler Student Activity Center.
“We’re really excited,” McGuire said. “It’s the first time in six years since we’ve been there. The guys have done a great job this year of battling through adversity and giving ourselves a chance to win a district title.”
The Braves are making their first district final appearance since 2015. They also advanced in 2009, 2010 and 2013. Shawnee will have to play strong defense and exe
cute on offense to advance to the regional semifinals for the first time in 44 years.
“We’re going to try to treat it like any other game,” he said. “You know you’re going to be playing a really good team. In general cases, you have to play well and you have to eliminate mistakes.”
The Braves got off to a rough start this season. They practiced without several players early in the season as the Shawnee football team advanced to the D-V regional final. They also were forced to play on the road the first month of the season as the construction project at the Shawnee High School gymnasium wrapped up this winter. In mid-January, they were quarantined due to COVID-19 protocols.
Despite the hurdles, the Braves went 13-4 in the regular season
and earned the No. 1 seed in the D-III Dayton sectional draw. They have four players averaging nine or more points per game — senior Jamon Miller (14.8 ppg), sophomore Zion Crowe (14.1 ppg), sophomore R.J. Griffin (9.6 ppg) and senior Drew Mitch (9.1 ppg). Junior guard
Patrick Fultz ranks among the CBC leaders in both assists (4.0 pg) and steals (2.8 pg).
“They’ve come together as a team collectively trusting in each other and being great teammates,” McGuire said.
Cincinnati Summit Country Day, which won a state title in 2012, is playing its first district final game since 2017. The Silver Knights (17-5) beat Georgetown 52-38 last weekend in the district semifinal game at Western Brown.
They’re led by senior guards Gates Flynn (10.7 points, 5.0 assists per game) and Matt Dahling (9.0 ppg). The Silver Knights won the Miami Valley Conference Scarlet Division championship this season.
“They’re very fundamental and very disciplined,” McGuire said. “They don’t make very many mistakes or beat themselves. They want to play a slower pace. They do a great job defensively of protecting the rim and making teams shoot over top of them.
“We know we’re going to have to play well, and we’re going to have to execute,” McGuire said. “That’s what we’re striving for in practice this week is to do those things and be ready to go.”
Greeneview (17-6) will face (20-5) Anna at 5:30 p.m. today in the other district final game in Vandalia. The Rams beat Purcell Marian 57-56 in overtime last weekend to advance to their district final game since 2011.
Anna, the co-Shelby County Athletic League regular season champion, is back in the district finals for the second straight season. Anna beat National Trail last season in the districts before falling to Stivers 71-63 in a D-III regional final game — the last to be played at UD Arena before the season was shut down due to the COVID19 pandemic.
The Rams are led by seniors Cole Allen (16.2 ppg) and Rhett Burtch (15.5 ppg).
Division IV
Cedarville (22-1), the Ohio Heritage Conference South Division regular season champions, will get another shot at Jackson Center in a D-IV district rematch at 4 p.m. Saturday at Vandalia Butler.
A year ago, the Indians lost to the Tigers 33-30 in a district final game. The Tigers advanced to the D-IV regional final before the season was cancelled.
Jackson Center (19-6) beat Russia 41-31 to advance to the district final for the third straight season and eighth time in 10 years.
Cedarville has won 16 straight games since falling to Northeastern on Jan. 5. They’re led by seniors Trent Koning (18.6 ppg) and Isaiah Ramey (15.9 ppg)