Boys Basketball District Championship: Northmor falls to Patriot Prep in OT

COLUMBUS — History was going to be made Friday night regardless.

Patriot Prep was playing in its second boys basketball district championship game ever, having lost to Grandview Heights two years ago. Northmor was making its first district final appearance in the 60-year history of boys basketball at the Morrow County school district.

Patriot Prep will continue to write its story after using overtime to pull away from the Golden Knights 50-38 Friday night at Ohio Dominican University's Alumni Hall in a Division IV game.

"It means a lot because I tell the boys we’re the small school," Patriot Prep head coach Curt Caffey said, who is in his fourth season. "When kids get to eighth grade, they see the greener pasture at (Pickerington) North or Reynoldsburg. I always tell them that if we put in the work and we win, scouts will find you. I also always tell them you can go to Pick North or Reynoldsburg and get in the line of legacy, but at Patriot Prep you can create the legacy."

The second-seeded Eagles (19-6) will face Jackson Center in a D-IV regional semifinal game Tuesday at 5:30 p.m. at Kettering Fairmont's Trent Arena after Jackson Center beat Cincinnati College Prep 56-34 to claim its own district title Friday night in southwest Ohio.

"This year we worked extra hard," Caffey said.

The same could be said for the third seeded Golden Knights (15-10).

"I’ve got immense pride in our team. Fifteen wins. They’ve been in a position that no other Golden Knights have been to," third-year Northmor coach Blade Tackett said.

Northmor did all it could to reach the Sweet 16.

"We executed our game plan to perfection," Tackett said. "Our zone worked well. We rebounded out of it. We defended the drive. Our goals going in were, this team will not beat us shooting layups; this team will not beat us on the offensive boards, this team will not beat us by turning us over. We had a little bit of that, but for the most part we executed that."

Indeed, that was the case.

Northmor scored the game's first five points in less than 90 seconds, and besides two brief ties, it led throughout the first quarter. The Knights started the second period with a 6-0 run to claim a 19-12 lead, but went scoreless over the last 5:24. Still, Northmor led 19-18 at the half.

"We came into the game tonight knowing they like explosive first quarters," Caffey said of the Knights. "The main thing was to hold them to a 10- or 12-point first quarter. We figured if we could do that, then from an energy standpoint, we could last. They scored 13 points in the first quarter, so that was goal No. 1."

Patriot Prep started the second half with a 6-0 run in little over two minutes to take a 24-19 lead, but a Jax Wenger 3-pointer from the left wing and a Grant Bentley runout off a Maxton Lower outlet pass tied it at 24 with 2:16 left in the third quarter.

"The only thing I can ask for is a chance to win in the fourth. Our guys produce that. We had it. We were very close, and I’m very proud of them for that," Tackett said.

The Eagles led 28-26 heading into the fourth quarter, but a Bentley 3-pointer from the corner gave Northmor the edge at 29-28. Two more cut-and-layups from Bentley kept the Knights in front 33-31 with less than four minutes to go.

It was still that score when the Knights had chances to extend it from the foul line, but missed the front end of two one-and-ones in the last 1:16. Patriot Prep's Keith Prysock Jr. drove to the basket and made an off-balance left-hander to tie it with 41 seconds left, and Northmor turned it over 11 seconds later. The Eagles couldn't get a shot to go in the closing seconds, and the game went into overtime.

"I really believe we made them work for everything, and that’s exactly what we wanted to do. I think our guys should be proud of that," Tackett said.

In overtime, the Eagles handled their business at the foul line, making 9 of 10 after going just 4 of 11 in regulation.

Prep's Cameron Thomas got it started with a pair of makes 17 seconds into OT, then he blocked a Bentley baseline jumper at the other end. Prysock followed with another drive and layup to put Prep up 37-33 with 2:50 left.

"I told the boys we’ve got them where we want," Caffey said. "We got it into overtime. They’re a little tired. I know how I work my boys, and in that overtime, it was a matter of getting the lead and spreading the floor."

Northmor could only manage five points over the final four minutes, and the Eagles took the gold trophy.

"It was just grit," Caffey said of his squad. "I told them in the locker room that it was going to come down to me or you and may the best man win."

Prep's Christian Stokes scored eight points in overtime, going 6-for-6 from the line to lead his team with 16 points. Also for the Eagles were Dominic Sammons with 14 and Prysock with 12.

"Sometimes the ball bounces your way and sometimes it doesn’t. I can sleep all night okay with that result," Tackett said, adding, "They got to the free throw line and finished. They had some tough layups inside and a couple boards, but nothing that they did was easy. We made them work for everything. I don’t know if they had a shot that wasn’t contested."

Bentley finished with 20 points, and Wenger backed him with 11.

With just one senior on the roster — Lower ― Tackett hopes it doesn't take another 60 years for the Knights to return to a district championship game.

"The one thing about this is our juniors and sophomores and underclassmen and our ball boys on the bench and our young people in the stands, they’ve been here and experienced it. Now I hope it drives them for a desire to get back here," he said.

The coach said it's going to be something he puts on the white board for all to see: Patriot Prep 50, Northmor 38 in overtime for a district championship. It won't be erased.

"I hope we inspired some people to work hard and get back here and be that team that can get here on a yearly basis. If not, we’ll go down fighting and trying. It’s not easy. We haven’t been here for 60 years. We may never be back, but we’re going to try," Tackett said.

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This article originally appeared on Marion Star: Boys District Championship: Northmor falls to Patriot Prep in OT