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COPLEY, Ohio– Trailing by eight points with 2:43 left in the fourth quarter, Hoban head coach T.K. Griffith never counted his team out.
They were able to make a quarter-ending run to force overtime and ultimately ended overtime outscoring Green 11-5 to advance to the regional final Saturday afternoon.
FINAL: Hoban defeats Green 60-54, advancing to the regional final Saturday afternoon. @HobanBasketball @SportsKee1 pic.twitter.com/M7UkYHNha5
— Michael Trivisonno (@MichaelTriv_) March 10, 2022
“We were able to never totally cave in when it got to 15 or 20,” Griffith said. “We just got guys that make plays.
They made so many hustle plays defensively and as a coach, I can’t wait to watch this film,” he added.
Two of those players, sophomore Jonas Nichols and junior guard Will Scott headlined the win for the Knights. Nichols paced the offense with 20 points while Scott had 17 points.
No shot was bigger than the shot Nichols sunk from the wing to tie the game at 49 in the closing seconds of regulation.
“I made a couple of threes, we were down three, had room and stepped back. Happy it went in,” Nichols said of the shot to force overtime.
Jonas Nichols ties the game at 49 with this step back 3, 15 seconds left. @HobanBasketball @SportsKee1
He’s only a sophomore making plays like this. pic.twitter.com/cJ8tVQRfXo— Michael Trivisonno (@MichaelTriv_) March 10, 2022
That shot came after Hoban forced one of a myriad of turnovers in the final three minutes of the game with leading scorer Trey Martin fouled out for Green.
From there, the momentum rode with the Knights where once they gained a lead to start overtime, there was no looking back. They controlled every aspect of the game down the stretch and in the final seven minutes of the game, including overtime, Hoban outscored Green 19-7.
“We’re exhausted but we’ll be ready tomorrow,” Griffith said. “We’re the lowest seed left in the region that I know of and we just never gave up.”
It took some time for Hoban to settle in offensively in the first quarter. With the Knights shooting woes, Green senior guard Trey Martin took the game over early on. He ended the first half with 12 of the team’s 29 points but was finding a rhythm all throughout the first half on both ends. He had eight of the team’s 14 points after the first quarter.
That’s when Green started to make a couple of runs. They opened the second quarter on an 11-5 run in the first four minutes, with Zack Oddo capping off the scoring run with a corner 3-pointer to give his team their largest lead of the first half, 25-17.
Hoban junior guard Will Scott’s and-one with two minutes left in the first half got the Knights within three, but they weren’t able to secure a lead before the half, especially with Jonas Nichols sitting the final three minutes of the half after picking up his third foul. Green never trailed and took a 29-22 lead at the break.
It was tough for anyone else to really get going in the second half besides Martin and Zack Oddo.
Otto–a Walsh University commit and Federal League Player of the Year–had eight points in the third quarter but as the game went on, he played a bit banged up and just couldn’t find a rhythm offensively.
For the game, Martin paced the offense with 20 points, Otto had 14 and Brady Rollyson rounded out the scoring with eight points, ending their season with just three losses.
As for Hoban, they head into Saturday’s regional final game on a 10-game winning streak and await either Mentor or St. Edward.
“It’s hard to believe, it’s surreal, it truly is,” Griffith said. “We went 17-4 (since starting the year 2-3).”
Great story! What a fun game to watch