St. Edward tops Hoban in Division I boys basketball regional final

COPLEY — A man named Knight helped end the Archbishop Hoban Knights boys basketball season on Saturday afternoon at Copley High School.

Senior Jair Knight led Lakewood St. Edward to a 63-46 win in a Division I regional final that put a halt on Hoban's 10-game winning streak before a crowd of 1,754.

St. Edward put together a 15-0 run to conclude the third quarter and extend its lead to 46-28 heading into the fourth quarter.

Hoban (20-8) was unable to recover in the fourth quarter and St. Edward (21-5) punched its ticket to a state semifinal appearance at 5:15 p.m. on March 19 against Pickerington Central or Gahanna Lincoln at the University of Dayton Arena.

The Knights opened their season 3-3 and then went 15-5 during their final 20 games. Six of the top seven rotation players are slated to return next season.

"No thoughts about next year right now," Hoban coach T.K. Griffith said. "It is one day at a time and I am thankful that we had this run.

"To be able to get the Hoban community to care about [boys] basketball again was very important to me. To be able to do it with a bunch of kids who I know are Hoban kids that love their school, to look up and see 2,500 people at that Green game [Wednesday night] and a lot of Hoban fans were here today, it just means a lot that the community comes out to support us and that we were able to do something pretty special.

"For a 12 seed [in the district] to be in the Elite Eight, I don't know if that has happened before. Next year is next year, and even if you're talented you can get upset. Look at everybody that got upset this year with a lot of talent. Obviously, it is nice to have a lot of guys back, but I am focused right now on what we accomplished."

Hoban's 10-game win streak started with regular season victories over Cleveland Villa Angela-St. Joseph, Cleveland Benedictine, Perry, Jackson and Elyria Catholic. The Knights then earned wins over Cuyahoga Falls, North Canton Hoover, Aurora, Jackson and Green in the tournament.

Eagles seniors Knight, Michael Bova and Zyion Freer-Brown and 6-foot-7 junior Cam Grant took turns giving the Knights fits.

Knight, a 6-2 guard and Emory University recruit, scored a game-high 18 points and grabbed seven rebounds.

Bova, a 6-1 guard and Bellarmine University recruit, had 14 points and three assists.

The 6-1 Freer-Brown totaled 12 points, six rebounds and three steals and Grant chipped in nine points, seven rebounds and three assists.

Jonas Nichols, a 6-3 sophomore, paced Hoban with 13 points, six rebounds, two assists and two steals.

Knights junior Jayvian Crable contributed 11 points, seven rebounds and two steals and junior Will Scott finished with 11 points and three assists.

Scott scored seven points in the opening eight minutes as Hoban built a 13-11 lead.

Knight and Grant scored eight and six points, respectively, in the second quarter to propel St. Edward to a 29-22 halftime lead.

Nichols made a jumper to trim Hoban's deficit to 31-28 midway through the third quarter before St. Edward scored the next 15 points to take control. Bova made a jumper, a layup and three free throws during the surge, Freer-Brown added a layup and a 3-pointer and 6-5 junior Danny Lavelle swished a 3-pointer.

"I love how we competed up until that moment," Griffith said of St. Edward's 15-0 run. "We were three points away. We had a 3 go out, scrambling for a rebound and then they started their run. I feel like a lot of momentum built on their side and I feel like we eventually tired out. The magic kind of wore off right around there."

Knight flashed his athleticism in the fourth quarter on consecutive possessions with two two-hand slam dunks to extend St. Edward's lead to 55-31 with 4:03 remaining.

"This is really big for us getting down to Dayton," Knight said. "Coach Flan [Eric Flannery] talked about getting to Dayton first, and now we are here and it is time to put some work in, go back to the gym and do our best.

"That second half was really good. Everybody was contributing. Zyion hit a big 3, Danny hit a big 3 and everybody was playing well. We were playing some great basketball."

Hoban is set to return four starters next season in Nichols, Scott and juniors Logan Vowles and Andrew Griffith and its top reserves in Crable and junior Colin Coyne.

"I love what I saw out of Jonas and Will. I love what I saw out of Logan and Andrew just as far as their wanting to be good for Hoban, wanting to compete for Hoban and wanting to represent Hoban," T.K. Griffith said. "I love Crable's athleticism. His athleticism helped us get here."

The Knights will bid farewell to senior starter Andrew Hardman and senior reserves Kaden Lehman and Steven Scott.

"Everybody did everything they could," Griffith said. "It wasn't from a lack of effort. I feel like the overwhelming momentum of talent from Ed's eventually wore us down."

Michael Beaven can be reached at mbeaven@thebeaconjournal.com. Follow him on Twitter at www.twitter.com/MBeavenABJ.

This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: St. Edward tops Hoban in Division I boys basketball regional final