Three teams claim state championships

By OHSAA sports

Three of seven Ohio High School Athletic Association boys basketball state championship games were played on Friday at UD Arena at the University of Dayton. The remaining four state championship games will be played on Saturday.

Louisville 63 Cincinnati Aiken 61 (Division III)

Louisville raced to a 21-point first-half lead, then withstood a second-half rally by Cincinnati Aiken and emerged with a 63-61 win in the Division III state championship game at University of Dayton Arena.

Louisville (24-5) won its first boys basketball state championship in its first trip to the state tournament. Aiken (27-2) finished runner-up in its second trip to the state tournament and first appearance in the championship game.

Louisville made 6 of its first 9 shots, including four three-pointers, and used a 13-2 run to build an 11-point lead, 15-6, just over five minutes into the game. Louisville was 8 of 12 from the field, including a perfect 5 for 5 from three, in the opening quarter and led 23-12 after eight minutes.

Louisville out-scored Aiken 12-3 over the first six minutes of the second quarter and grew the lead to as many as 21 points late in the first half. 

The game turned after halftime. Aiken opened the third quarter with a 15-0 run while forcing five Louisville turnovers and cut the deficit to four points, 38-34, with 3:33 remaining in the third quarter. Aiken would out-score Louisville 23-7 in the third period and Louisville led by just three, 45-42, entering the fourth quarter.

From the late stages of the third quarter to the midway point of the fourth quarter, Aiken cut the Louisville lead to three points or fewer six different times. Each time, Louisville answered with points on its next trip down the floor to extend its lead back to two possessions, and a 6-0 Louisville run gave the Leopards a 58-49 led with 1:23 remaining.

Aiken made four of its next five shots and cut the Louisville lead to two points with 26 seconds left and a single point with eight seconds remaining, but Louisville split four free throws in the closing seconds and Aiken was not able to get off a final shot after gaining possession on a jump ball with just one second remaining.

Tate Aljancic led Louisville in scoring with 17 points. He made 5 of 6 shots from the floor and 5 of 6 at the foul line. Beau Siegfried and Avery Andrejcik both scored 14 points, while Brayden Gross had nine points and 12 rebounds and Ashton Marshall finished with nine points and eight rebounds. Aljancic, Siegfried, Gross and Marshall all played at least 30 minutes for Louisville.

James Burnett, Jr. led all scorers with 23 points for Aiken. He also had six rebounds and three steals. Jaiden Arnold finished with 15 points and five rebounds, and Antonio Hutcherson, Jr. scored 13 points.

Attendance for the game was listed at 7,178.

Maysville 74 Glenville 67 (Division IV)

Junior guard Gator Nichols scored 36 points to lead Zanesville Maysville to a 74-67 win over Cleveland Glenville in the 2025 Division IV state championship game at University of Dayton Arena.

Nichols, who played all 32 minutes, made 11 of 21 shots from the floor, including 4 of 7 from three, and 10 of 12 foul shots. His 36 points is tied for the eighth most in boys basketball state championship game history, regardless of division.

Jordyn Watson joined Nichols in double figures with 19 points. He also had a team-high eight rebounds.

Xavier Vickerstaff made five three pointers and led Glenville with 21 points and a game-high 13 rebounds. Theodore Castro had 18 points and five assists, while Gary Pritchett was also in double figures with 10 points.

Maysville (27-3) claimed its first boys basketball state title in its second trip to the state tournament; the Panthers finished runner-up in Division II in 2024. Glenville, making its first appearance at the state tournament, finished its season 19-9 overall.

Glenville scored the game’s first five points, Maysville scored the next eight, and Glenville answered with its own 8-0 run to take a 13-8 lead late in the first quarter. Glenville stretched the lead to seven points twice in the second quarter and led 37-32 at halftime.

Maysville scored the first nine points in the second half as part of a 12-3 run—with all the points coming from Nichols and Watson—and led 44-40 at the 5:42 mark of the third quarter. The teams traded baskets the remainder of the third quarter and Maysville led, 56-54, entering the final period.

Back-to-back threes by Vickerstaff put Glenville up seven, 65-58, with 5:21 remaining, but Maysville drew within two points, 65-63, on Watson’s three-pointer with 3:00 left and went in front for good on the next possession. Nichols drew a foul while hitting a jumper and made the free throw to put Maysville up, 66-65, with 2:20 left.

The Panthers closed the game on a 16-2 scoring run.

Attendance for the game was listed at 6,164.

Westerville North 78 Massillon Perry 46 (Division II)

Micah Young scored 24 points to lead Westerville North to its 24th consecutive win, a 78-46 victory over Massillon Perry in the Division II state championship game at University of Dayton Arena.

After opening the season 1-2, Westerville North (25-2) won its final 24 games to claim its second boys basketball state title and first since 1994. Perry (14-14) finished runner-up in its first boys basketball state championship game appearance.

Westerville North raced to a 10-0 lead, scoring all 10 points in a span of 56 seconds, and led 23-8 after the first quarter. Perry scored the first five points of the second quarter to draw within 10 points, 23-13, but Westerville North scored the next 10—eight of which came from Tai Perkins—to stretch the lead back to 20, 33-13, midway through the second quarter. The lead would remain in double digits the rest of the game.

Westerville North led 47-28 at halftime after shooting 19 of 29 from the floor (65.5 percent) and scoring 24 points off 15 Perry turnovers. The Warriors were credited with assists on 14 of their 19 made baskets and scored 22 points on the fast break in the opening half.

For the game, Westerville North scored 37 of its 78 points off turnovers and 33 points on the fast break.

Young made 11 of 20 shots from the floor and 2 of 4 free throws for his game-high 24 points. He also led Westerville North with eight rebounds and added four assists and three steals. Perkins scored 19 points and had four assists and four steals, while Tony Cornett also reached double figures with 10 points. 

Six different players accounted for Westerville North’s 19 assists, while eight players had at least one steal as Westerville North finished with 24 steals as a team.

Drake Jacobsen led Perry with 13 points, while Luke Wolf finished with 11 points and a game-high nine rebounds.

Attendance for the game was not immediately.