High School Basketball roundup: Northmont advances on buzzer beater; Wayne set to face Springfield

The Division I boys tournament produced the most exciting moment of the weekend.

Northmont’s Brandon Pooler made a buzzer-beating 3-pointer from the left corner to lift No. 5 Northmont to a 52-51 first-round victory over No. 7 Miamisburg on Friday night at Centerville High School.

Northmont (13-10) led 44-35 with six minutes left before Miamisburg (11-12) surged to the lead.

Brian Amin had 11 points and seven rebounds to lead the Thunderbolts. Dylan Hitchcock and Kennez Bozeman scored eight apiece off the bench to lead a 24-point production by the bench.

Northmont faces No. 6 Franklin (18-4) at 5:30 Monday at Centerville. Monday’s second game features No. 3 Wayne (15-7) against No. 10 Springfield (5-10) at 7:15. Springfield capped its season with a 59-51 upset of Wayne, which advanced Friday with a 75-42 win over West Carrollton (12-9).

There were no surprises Saturday in the other half of the Centerville bracket. No. 2 Fairmont (19-3) beat No. 16 Xenia (8-15) 80-28 and will face No. 17 Stebbins (4-15) at 5:30 Tuesday. The 7:15 game features No. 9 Springboro (9-14) and No. 4 Beavercreek (14-9), which split their two meetings this season. The Panthers handled No. 14 Butler (9-14) 78-54, and the Beavers beat No. 15 Troy (10-12) 71-40.

Division II boys: The top seeds won Saturday to set up a pair of intriguing second-round matchups Wednesday in the Dayton 3 sectional.

No. 3 Chaminade Julienne (15-7) handled No. 21 Ben Logan (2-21) 67-34 to earn a matchup with No. 6 Dunbar (15-6), a 73-37 winner over No. 19 Bellefontaine (4-19), at 7 p.m. Wednesday at Springfield High School. The winner will face the winner of No. 2 Oakwood (20-3) and No. 5 Tippecanoe (17-5), a 58-42 winner over No. 16 Eaton (9-14). Oakwood and Tipp play at 7 p.m. Wednesday at Fairmont’s Trent Arena.

Also advancing over the weekend in the Dayton 2 sectional were No. 1 Alter (20-2), No. 8 Bellbrook (15-8) and No. 9 Milton-Union (19-4). Advancing in the Dayton 1 sectional were No. 7 Trotwood-Madison (11-7), No. 10 Carroll (14-9) and No. 14 Graham (9-13) with a 78-76 overtime upset of No. 4 Ponitz (12-8).

Division IV boys: Troy was the site of one upset Saturday and nearly another. While No. 2 Catholic Central (21-2) escaped No. 8 Emmanuel Christian (10-13) 45-42, No. 6 Legacy Christian (12-10) lost a 23-point lead and fell 76-65 to No. 10 Tri-County North (5-18) in overtime.

TCN entered the tournament on a six-game losing streak and trailed 41-22 at halftime. But Luke Eby, Logan Flory and Jon Shirley led a furious comeback in the third quarter to cut Legacy’s lead to 50-46. The fourth quarter was tight as Legacy maintained a slim lead until Eby’s 3-pointer with five seconds left forced overtime.

Shirley’s 3-pointer gave the Panthers the lead for good at 64-61, then Flory scored in the lane and hit a 3-pointer with 1:20 left for a 71-63 lead.

The Panthers face Catholic Central in the second round at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday at Troy. Third-seeded Cedarville (19-4) played with a running clock in the second half and defeated No. 11 Miami Valley (2-16) 66-19. The Indians face No. 4 Yellow Springs (16-4) at 6 Wednesday in Troy.

Division III girls: Waynesville, Greenon and Preble Shawnee won Saturday and advanced to Saturday’s district finals at Springfield High School.

Second-seeded Waynesville (19-4) topped No. 6 Anna (14-11) 48-30 and will face Cincinnati Mariemont (21-4). No. 7 Preble Shawnee (18-6) upset No. 1 Arcanum (21-3) 70-62 and will face East Clinton (19-4). No. 3 Greenon (22-3) topped No. 5 Miami East (17-7) 47-32 and will face Cincinnati Purcell Marian (22-1).

Division IV girls: Bradford is the surprise team of the tournament. After knocking of No. 4 Southeastern and No. 3 Springfield Catholic Central, the No. 5 Lady Roaders advanced to the district finals with a 49-38 victory Saturday over No. 2 Covington at Trotwood-Madison.

Bradford’s next challenge is defending state champion Fort Loramie, the state’s top-ranked team, at 3 p.m. Saturday at Troy High School. The Redskins advanced with a 69-26 win over Houston.

Rylee Canan made a 3-pointer from half-court to put Bradford (16-9) up at the half. She made four 3-pointers and scored 13 points. Austy Miller led the Roaders with 26 points.

In the other district semifinal at Trotwood, top-seeded Tri-Village (23-2) defeated Newton 73-29. Meghan Downing led the Patriots with 23 points, Rylee Sagester had 15 and Morgan Hunt 14.

The Patriots play in the district final at 11 a.m. Saturday at Troy against the winner of Monday night’s game at Monroe between Fayetteville Perry and Cedarville. Second-seeded Russia defeated No. 3 Botkins 59-42 and will face the winner of Monday’s Cincinnati Country Day-Middletown Christian game in the 1 p.m. district final Saturday at Troy.

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