by Canton, Ohio – Louisville completed a fourth-quarter comeback to defeat Garfield Heights, 49-48, in the Division III state semifinals at Canton Memorial Fieldhouse.
It was a back and forth contest throughout the first quarter, with Louisville leading 14-13 after the end of the frame.
Louisville led by as much as 31-24 in the second quarter, thanks to triples from Beau Siegfried and Avery Andrejcik. However, a five- point swing by Garfield Heights trimmed the deficit to 31-29 at the half.
With the score tied at 31, Brayden Gross sank a triple to give Louisville a 34-31 lead in the third quarter. Garfield Heights would counter with a 13-0 run, catalyzed by Marcus Johnson. The Ohio State commit hit key buckets to push the Bulldogs’ lead to 44-34 with 1:19 left in the third quarter. Freshman guard CJ Williams also added a triple during their push.
Tate Aljancic broke the Leopards’ scoring drought with a bucket 17 seconds later. Marcus Johnson capped his 14-point quarter with a fadeaway jumper before the end of the frame.
Garfield Heights led 48-37 with six minutes to go thanks to a Nasir Hines basket. The Leopards thanks to baskets from Ashton Marshall and Brayden Gross, trimming their deficit to 48-41. An Ashton Marshall steal and two free throws after drawing contact made the score 48-43. Brayden Gross then came up with a huge block. The transition offense led to a Beau Siegfried triple to cut the deficit to 48-46 with 3:22 left.
The Leopards completed their rally with a triple from senior Avery Andrejcik, taking a 49-48 lead with 1:32 left. After a pair of defensive stops, Louisville had the ball with 11 seconds left, forcing Garfield Heights to foul. However, the inbounds pass was thrown out of bounds, giving the Bulldogs another chance. However, Marcus Johnson’s game winning three-point attempt was off, setting off a wild celebration from the Leopard faithful.
The Leopards were led by senior forward and Walsh commit Brayden Gross, who finished with 24 points. Senior guard Beau Siegfried chipped in ten points.
Garfield Heights was led by junior guard and Ohio State commit Marcus Johnson, who finished with 25 points.
Louisville advances to the state championship against Aiken on Friday, March 21st to at the University of Dayton Arena at 1:00pm.
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