"Those memories. Man!" Basketball coaches bid fond farewell to final four as they knew it

On March 1, ranker.com updated its list of the greatest blues artists of all-time.

B.B. King made the final four behind John Lee Hooker, Howlin' Wolf and Muddy Waters. Given the late, great B.B.'s legendary 1969 release, "The Thrill Is Gone," No. 4 might be too low.

King's rendition came out the year Stark County big-man legends, Nick Weatherspoon and Luke Witte, were seniors at McKinley and Marlington, respectively.

Then and now, for the vast majority of Ohio high school basketball teams whose rosters were not LeBron-ish, the dream of dreams was making a final four. After this year, the final four may never be the same.

The final four always has meant jamming every division's semifinal and championship games onto the same floor on the same weekend.

That won't be possible when the Ohio High School Athletic Association expands from four divisions to seven next year.

For some schools a final four has been "once in a lifetime" and for others it has been "never."

Communities that have enjoyed multiple final fours, with the possible exception of frequent past qualifier McKinley, might agree. The thrill is rare.

Jackson High School opened in 1930 and didn't send a team to a boys basketball final four until 64 years later.

The Polar Bears got their first taste in 1994, when a crowd of 13,173 — as much as Ohio State's St. John Arena could handle — saw the Polar Bears fall to Cincinnati Withrow.

Ohio did not offer a girls basketball tournament until 1976, nearly 70 years after the first boys tournament. Jackson has made one girls final four, in 2022.

In 2001, after the boys final four moved across the Olentangy River to Value City Arena, the Bears were back, this time playing to a crowd of 14,475 and falling to Cleveland St. Ignatius.

Nine more years went by before Jackson got to the final four again. This time the Polar Bears prevailed in the state semifinals and won again the next day.

The first wave of final four games — the Division I state semifinals — has tended to produce more vivid excitement.

"It's quite an experience," observed Mike Fuline. "You go down on Thursday , find a local college and high school to practice at, watch the Division IV semifinal on Thursday to get a feel as a team, wake up and go to the arena and have a shootaround."

Larry Taylor coached Jackson to final fours in 1994 and 2001. Fuline replaced Taylor and was in his sixth season when the Bears made it to the 2010 final four.

Years flew by. He relocated to Mount Union University in 2011. His 2023 Purple Raiders reached a traditional final four — semifinals and finals in one place, Fort Wayne Indiana, where his team beat Wisconsin-Whitewater 83-79 last March 16 and lost a 74-72 thriller to Christopher Newport two days later.

The 2010 high school "final four" still rings in his ears.

In the Division I opener, a 5:15 p.m. tipoff witnessed by 11,935, Cincinnati Moeller beat Mentor 66-59. Value City Arena was cleared for the 8:15 game, which drew a bigger crowd, 14,614.

The Polar Bears beat a 26-0 Gahanna Lincoln team 62-50 and were due back in the arena for an 8:30 tipoff the next night.

"The Gahanna Lincoln game ends and we do some media things and it's 10:30 at night," Fuline recalled. "We're looking for coaches to talk about Moeller, going hotel to hotel. We get back to our hotel at midnight and prepare film for the next day.

"Those are memories, man.

"That next-day is full of waiting and anticipation and nerves and emotions."

Jackson won the crown the next day, but the crowd was smaller, 12,920, and the 57-34 win, while immensely satisfying, generated less excitement.

History repeated itself in 2017, with Tim Debevec now coaching Jackson.

In a 5:15 tipoff on Friday, March 24, a crowd of 11,091 watched Moeller beat Pickerington Central 57-47. Value City Arena was cleared and restocked with 11,009 spectators who watched Jackson take down Lakewood St. Edward 75-64.

In an 8:30 game the following night, Jackson beat Moeller 39-38.

Now Mike Fuline's son, Anthony, is a Jackson senior in the last season prior to a reorganization that will end the days of "final fours in one place."

"Not being able to win a championship in the venue where you got to the title game is one of the negatives," said Mike Fuline, who was 10 when his dad took him to his first final four, at the old place, St. John Arena.

T.K. Griffith, whose Archbishop Hoban team won the Division I boys state championship last year, has "mixed feelings" about the expansion from four divisions to seven.

"I hate the fact we're going to lose the aura and the ambiance of the final four," Griffith said. "It was such a special event to take my kids to over the years.

"I had a chance to play in it and be in it twice as a coach.

"On the flip side, there was a little disparity on between between the larger schools in D1 and the smaller ones.

"We're probably going to wind up being the smallest D1 ever to win it. We had an advantage, I understand that."

The 2023 tournament was epic for Akron, although crowds weren't what they used to be, and final four weekend was in its more recent home, Dayton.

In Division II, the Buchtel Griffins beat Columbus Bishop Ready 60-50 on a Friday (attendance, 4,078), then edged Rocky River Lutheran West 51-49 on a Sunday (4,135).

In Division I, on Saturday, March 18, Hoban beat Toledo St. John's 49-36 (attendance, 4,392). On Sunday, the Knights outlasted Pickerton Central 53-47 (3,925).

Hoban remained in Division I this season.

"As it appears now, I think we'll land in Division III next year," Griffith said. "They're probably going to have to tinker with the competitive balance aspect.

"For the state semis, they might need to play midweek. I don't know if playing the semifinals one weekend and then waiting a week makes sense.

"Winning the semis and the finals in Dayton on the same weekend was a magical ride.

"It's kind of a coach's dream to go to a final four. Just being there for the final four, you feel like you made it, even if you don't win the state championship. The kids felt like, wow, this is a huge achievement, like the NCAA Final Four."

Northwest High School played in the girls basketball Division II state semifinals, also in Dayton, on Thursday, March 9, 2023. A crowd of 4,114 watched Northwest beat Proctorville Fairland 56-34.

"Just getting down there for the semifinals was like Hickory walking onto the court in Hoosiers," Northwest head coach Kevin Lower said. "You get that tingly feeling. All the girls are in awe.

"I got a little tear in my eye. The thought was, "We made it. Everything else is icing on the cake.'

"Getting to that final four was the biggest thing. Once we won the game it was even better."

In the state title game two days later, Northwest fell 57-48 to Cincinnati Purcell Marion. Attendance was 2,941.

"Just the initial final four semifinal game was a little more emotional than playing in the finals." Lower said.

West Branch High School was fired up when the Warriors made it to the 2020 Division II state semifinals. GlenOak advanced to the final four in Division I, prompting coach Paul Wackerly to remark: “This is definitely the biggest moment in my life.”

The 2020 final four arrived.

"We got an escort by fire trucks through town and through Alliance to the highway," head coach Walt DeShields said. "That was a cool ride."

The final four schedule began with West Branch paired against Dayton Carroll. The teams were warming up at St. John Arena when, 15 minutes before tipoff, they got pulled off the floor. The tournament was cancelled because of COVID-19.

The GlenOak team was waiting to check into a Columbus hotel when word came.

"The players took it very hard," Wackerly said. "They were in bad shape. It was a tough ride home."

The point here is that final four weekend, as constituted up to now, has been a very big deal.

Under the system that kicks in next season. state semifinal games might be played all over Ohio. The OHSAA expanded the divisions without specifying logistics.

It will take some getting used to for Rocky Bourquin, who played at Canton South when coach Red Ash dreamed of final fours. He was a South assistant when the Wildcats reached the final four in 1990, and athletic director with a son on the team when South faced LeBron James in the 2003 state semis.

"I understand the move for more divisions," Bourquin said. "It would keep the excitement in the communities going longer into the season. It will also help with disparity.

"Being involved in two final fours in my life, I can tell you first hand. Both years we had pretty good public school teams but had to play Dayton Colonel White in 1990 and St. Vincent-St. Mary in 2003. Both of those teams were basically unbeatable. It was awesome getting to the final four."

Bourquin said the traditional final four arrangement "will be missed."

"Final four weekend for some families is tradition. Having three sons and having them attend all of the games with me was a highlight."

Dave Null coached at Tuslaw before a long run at Massillon. His 1991 team lost a lead in the final seconds to a Perry team that went to its only boys basketball final four.

Null never made it to a final four as a coach, but for 40-plus years he made a weekend of it as a spectator.

"A group of us always went," Null said. "We had a lot of fun. When you had a local team, it was always more fun. I'm not sure why they thought they had to do this."

This article originally appeared on The Repository: High school basketball coaches talk pending OHSAA final four changes