The Indians fell a step short of their goal to reach state in a 55-39 loss to defending state champion Centerville at Cintas Center. They were trying to take Fairfield to state for the third time and the first time since 2012.
After playing in two regional tournaments at Cincinnati Christian, Woods came to Fairfield last year with the goal of getting to state. The Indians (23-5) won the Greater Miami Conference and five tournament games in coach D.J. Wyrick’s third season.
“It was just a blessing, and I was honored to be a part of this program and the Cincinnati Christian program,” said Woods, who will play at Wright State next year. “Everywhere I go I just want to have a winning program, a winning mindset, and that’s what I brought here.”
Credit: Nick Graham
Credit: Nick Graham
The top-ranked Elks (28-0) take their 44-game winning streak into an 8:30 p.m. semifinal Saturday at UD Arena against Cleveland St. Ignatius (17-11), which lost in the state semifinals last year. The other semifinal is at 5:15 p.m. between Lakewood St. Edward (21-5) and Pickerington Central (24-2). The final is Sunday at 8:30.
Centerville was coming off its worst shooting night of the season in a two-point semifinal victory over Fairmont that required a last-second shot by Tom House. The Elks started fast Saturday with two 3-pointers by Rich Rolf (22 points, 11 rebounds) and shot a more customary 48.7%. The Elks led 16-7 at the end of the first quarter.
“They were ready to play,” Wyrick said. “I told the guys in there they’ve been here before, so they were going to be comfortable. The next time we play in this game we have experience and that means a lot doing something for the first time.”
Wyrick loses Woods and other seniors Kollin Tolbert and Owen Bronston. But he brings back starters Deshawne Crim, who scored a team-high 10 points, Ray Coney and Aamir Rogers to go with other young talent.
“We’ll have some experience, and we have younger guys that want to work and want to get better,” Wyrick said. “We’ll be back at it next week trying to get right back here.
“We challenged ourselves with our nonconference schedule playing in some events that we thought would kind of replicate this, but there’s nothing that can replicate this.”
Credit: Nick Graham
Credit: Nick Graham
The crowd that filled the bottom half of the Cintas Center and leaked into the upper deck was immediately into the game when Rolf hit those opening 3-pointers. But the Elks weren’t the only energized team. Fairfield rallied with an 8-0 run to tie the score at 20.
But the Elks took the momentum back on two 3-point plays by Rolf to lead 26-20 at halftime. The second came with 1.1 seconds left when Gabe Cupps lobbed a pass on in inbounds play from the baseline in front of the basket and Rolf tipped it in at the buzzer, was fouled and made the free throw.
The Elks led 39-29 after three and built the lead to 45-29 with an 11-0 run to start the fourth. The Indians rallied to 45-37 with 2:54 left, but the Elks finished with an 8-2 run.
“What I’m most proud of with our team is Centerville went on runs but I never felt like we were defeated,” Wyrick said. “Down to the last minute of the game our guys continued to compete, and they were resilient. They emptied their tanks. I told them they’ve got everything to be proud of. They shouldn’t have any regrets from this game.”
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