Championship run: Hoban rides fourth-quarter burst to OHSAA boys basketball state title

DAYTON — The Archbishop Hoban boys basketball team compiled a run to remember in the fourth quarter Sunday night at the University of Dayton Arena.

Hoban’s barrage of scoring propelled it to a 53-47 win over defending champion Pickerington Central in the Division I state championship game.

Hoban (26-3) put together an 18-6 run in the opening five minutes of the final quarter to gain separation from Pickerington Central (24-6) and win the second state title in program history in front of 3,925 spectators.

The 2023 Hoban team joins the 1989 team as state champions.

T.K. Griffith is Hoban’s coach now. He was a senior player on the 1989 Knights team that won the Division III state championship. His youngest son, Andrew, is a 6-foot-7 senior starter on this Hoban team.

The Griffiths hugged after the final buzzer sounded and cut down the nets with overjoyed Hoban players and coaches on Blackburn Court.

"This is some sort of spiritual experience and a blessing for our entire Hoban community," said T.K. Griffith, who completed his 30th season as Hoban's coach and is also the school's principal.

"I am so thankful to have my family here from Arizona, Texas and Florida. People came to support us and I was so scared about that because you don't want to let them down. One of the things about coaching is you don't want to let people down. I am exhausted and tired right now, but this means so much to the Hoban community and this means so much to these kids.

"We have five kids who are legacy kids. Their dads, their moms, their grandparents went to Hoban. I can not believe this. I need to go back to my hotel room and just really think about this and cry for a while, to be honest with you. This is extremely emotional for me because this has been my whole life."

Logan Vowles, a 6-2 senior, made two 3-pointers during the game-changing run. Freshman Sam Greer also scored six points, 6-2 senior Will Scott Jr. contributed four points and 6-3 junior Jonas Nichols added his only two points of the game as Hoban's lead reached 49-37 with 3:46 to go in the fourth quarter.

Moments later, Vowles, Greer, Griffith, Scott and Nichols accepted the state championship trophy and medals with their teammates.

“We were just playing good as a team and everything was going our way,” said Greer, who is 6-foot-8 and 290 pounds. “I am just so happy to be here right now.”

Greer and other Knights, such as senior Lamar Sperling and junior Joey Hardman, defended Ohio Mr. Basketball Devin Royal, a 6-6 Ohio State recruit who scored 15 points on 5-of-15 shooting from the field and 4-of-7 shooting from the free-throw line.

“I am surprised they put a freshman on him, but it worked,” said Greer, who had 12 points, five rebounds, three steals and two assists.

Nichols' lone field goal came during the huge run with 6:34 to go in the fourth quarter. His stat line also included five assists, four steals and three rebounds.

“I came out not hitting a shot,” Nichols said. “I told Will, ‘Will, you take over the offense and I got the defense.’ I came out and had [four] steals. I told you before when we played St. Ed’s and I had a bad game. I told you defense is our key. I locked in on defense and we got the W.

“... Logan and Andrew are knock down shooters. They had the hot hand tonight. I am happy for them. I tried to contribute as much as I could, and that was on defense tonight, getting steals and facilitating the offense.”

Seniors Logan Vowles, Will Scott Jr. lead Hoban to state championship

Vowles made 5-of-9 3-point shots and led Hoban with 17 points and seven rebounds. T.K. Griffith said Vowles succeeds with a "competitive streak inside of him and a belief in himself."

"We always feed the hot hand," Vowles said. "The first couple of playoff games it was Will, the district championship game it was Andrew, the regional games it was Will and Jonas, Jonas was the last game and I guess tonight was my night. The love we have for each other shows on the court."

Scott scored 13 points and grabbed eight rebounds. Andrew Griffith made two 3s and totaled nine points and five rebounds.

"Guys like Logan and Will, their mentality on offense is to keep on attacking," Andrew Griffith said. "I trust them to give them the ball and I play my role. That goes for Jonas too. We have not changed our mentality and it showed tonight.

"... This championship is so special for my dad. For him to win in '89 in his senior year, I did think about what if we could do this this year? I thought what if my dad and I could do something special like that? Doing it in Division I and playing against Mr. Basketball who is going to Ohio State is so special."

T.K. Griffith loved the leadership he saw in his starters, including his son.

"Andrew is not a star player," T.K. Griffith said. "He played on the freshmen team as a freshman and he played on the JV team as a sophomore. He averages 5.1 points, but he does so many little things. He loves Hoban. ... I can't believe that we won a state championship in his last year. It is beautiful. It is a beautiful ending.

"I had a couple of teary moments today knowing this is the last time I am ever going to coach my son. This is the last time I am going to coach Brody Franjesh. This is the last time I am going to coach Logan Vowles. This is the last time I am going to coach Will Scott."

Griffith also coached Hoban seniors Colin Coyne, I'vante Barclay, Nate Korwin and Sperling for the final time.

"We all worked so hard to get here," Scott said. "It feels amazing that we could complete this."

Sperling said he saw "confidence" and "passion" within his teammates.

Gavin Headings, 6-7 senior, had 12 points and eight rebounds for the Tigers and 6-1 senior Markell Johnson added 11 points, two assists and two steals.

"The whole game I thought we were trying to find that burst of energy," Pickerington Central coach Eric Krueger said. "We have been able to make a run on our end against a lot of tough teams throughout the tournament. It just didn't happen tonight. They are a good team and they had a great season as well. They won the whole thing. Hats off to them. I am proud of our guys and I am proud of our program."

The score was tied 31-31 through three quarters.

Pickerington Central led 14-12 at the end of the first quarter and Hoban led 26-25 at halftime. Vowles, Greer, Royal and Headings had eight points apiece in the first half.

T.K. Griffith said he and his coaches and players studied "tendencies of individual personnel" on Pickerington Central on Saturday night to prepare for the final. The Knights had two light practices Sunday to get ready for the 8:30 p.m. tipoff.

Griffith credited his assistants Tim Lucey, Norm Jesser, Tony Threadgill, Ian Adams, Mike MacDonald, Matt Vowles and Stephen White for helping with the scouting report.

"The kids really studied," T.K. Griffith said. "We sent out a ton of clips. We had a meeting at about 5:30 p.m. [Sunday] in my hotel room and we went over everything again. I trust these guys. Sam Greer, my goodness, gracious, can you believe this kid? Look at what he is doing in the fourth quarter. I would have never dreamed that Sam Greer would be doing this in the fourth quarter of a state championship game.

"... I am so thankful that these kids came together to try to execute something that has never been done before in Division I. I never would have expected that we would win a Division I state championship. It hasn't sunk in yet, but when it does it is going to be super special."

Hoban wins second title in third OHSAA boys basketball state tournament appearance

Hoban made its third appearance in the state tournament. The 1989 and 2023 teams won state titles. The 1998 team made a trip to the Division II state semifinals.

“This team played unbelievable,” said Hoban president Chris DiMauro, a 1999 Hoban graduate. “They really embraced the underdog role tonight. There is no quit in them. I think we saw that from the get-go. This is a senior-driven team. T.K. Griffith is the coach. His son, Andrew, is a senior — you couldn’t write a better story.”

Hoban athletic directors Matt Bing and Corey Westover and football coach Tim Tyrrell were also thrilled for the Griffiths.

“This is an awesome night for the school, for the program and especially T.K. and his family,” Tyrrell said. “He has been coaching for so long and he is one of the best in the state.”

Said Bing: “This team kept winning, winning and winning. They never quit, no matter what. This is T.K.’s 30th year, his son is a senior, he has been involved with all three state tournament teams, he wins one as a player and now they win this one. It is unbelievable.”

Michael Beaven can be reached at mbeaven@thebeaconjournal and is on Twitter at @MBeavenABJ.

Archbishop Hoban boys basketballHoban's father-son combination T.K., Andrew Griffith ready for basketball state tournament

This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Hoban basketball beats Pickerington Central for OHSAA state title