Harvest Prep holds off Ottawa-Glandorf to reach Division III boys basketball state final
Dave PurpuraDAYTON – Likely all of the 6,981 fans in attendance for Friday’s Division III boys basketball state semifinal at University of Dayton Arena knew that with 2 seconds left and Harvest Prep ahead by two, Ottawa-Glandorf was going to get the ball to Mr. Basketball Colin White.
Most importantly for Harvest Prep, sophomore wing Ephraim Campbell knew.
With the 6-foot-4 Campbell shadowing the 6-6 White, at least part of the time in mid-air, Campbell seemed to force White farther from the basket than he wanted. White’s last-second 3-point attempt became an air ball as the Warriors (24-4) fended off a furious Titans comeback to win 61-59 and reach the state final for the first time since capturing their only title in 2019.
“These young men stepped up and made the right play at the right time, got the right stop at the right time and they found a way to win,” Harvest Prep coach David Dennis Sr. said. “We dug down. It was a matter of pride.”
Warriors guard Adonus Abrams found himself in something of a one-on-one battle with White, although the two were not matched up defensively. Abrams finished with 26 points, making 11 of 17 shots from the floor, and had four steals, three assists and two rebounds to power Harvest Prep into Sunday’s 2 p.m. final against defending champion Cleveland Heights Lutheran East.
“They gave me openings and I took the openings they gave me,” Abrams said. “Shots were dropping.”
Lutheran East defeated Camden Preble Shawnee 63-44 in Friday’s second semifinal.
White, an Ohio State signee, finished with 32 points, surpassing 2,000 for his career late in the first quarter, and 13 rebounds.
Ottawa-Glandorf coach Tyson McLaughlin, whose team trailed by as many as 12 points early in the third quarter and got within two five times in the fourth, said the game’s final play was identical to one he ran in a regular-season win over Harvest Prep two years ago.
“Our options were kind of limited as far as ways we could get Colin the ball,” McLaughlin said. “They did a good job of defending and pushing us a little further than we wanted (to be). Our hopes were to get Colin isolated on the back side of the floor and then just make a play. The result kind of spoke for itself there, I guess.”
Khalil Daniels added 10 points and four rebounds for Harvest Prep before fouling out halfway through the fourth.
The Warriors scored 20 points off 15 Ottawa-Glandorf turnovers, 12 of which were steals, and led for all but 2:19.
“They come out at you in waves,” McLaughlin said. “I expected it in the full-court and (for them) not (to be) as aggressive in the half-court, but it was kind of the exact opposite. We didn’t have a ton of problems in the full-court; it was more when we got into our scoring areas that they did a great job disrupting our flow.”
Ottawa-Glandorf (24-4) outscored Harvest Prep 24-15 in the fourth, when the Warriors made only 3 of 13 free throws.
Just as the Warriors drew motivation from their 2022 loss to the Titans, the memories of last year’s 65-44 semifinal loss to Lutheran East will be fresh on their minds all weekend.
“We felt like we let a lot of people down and let ourselves down,” said Dennis, whose team is at state for the sixth time since 2014 and eighth time overall. “Getting back to this point, getting another opportunity to advance was a priority of ours. It’s hard to get here.”