OCSAA Championship
New Hope 68, Temple Christian 32
CIRCLEVILLE — New Hope turned up the defense in the second half to claim its third straight Ohio Christian School Athletic Association championship Saturday night at Ohio Christian University with a 68-32 win over Temple Christian.
“All year we have talked being relentless, physical and disruptive on defense. We want to make teams uncomfortable and get them to play our pace and we were able to do that again tonight,” New Hope coach Shane Roese said.
Temple’s George Mamula hit a three to put the Tigers up 13-11, but that was the only time they would hold the lead as New Hope added threes from Nathaniel Ames and Hunter Cavanaugh to lead 17-11 at the end of the quarter.
New Hope closed the first half on a 14-5 run to take a 36-23 at halftime.
“We were able to assert our will in the final three minutes of the half,” Roese said. “It was the turning point in the game.”
New Hope put the game out of reach with a decisive 23-4 third quarter.
“Our guys played the third period like they were starving. They were super aggressive on defense, forced some turnovers and really made them uncomfortable on offense,” Roese said.
Senior Xander Rink had a final game to be remembered putting in 24 points, grabbing 14 rebounds, making nine steals and handing out six assists.
Cavanaugh had 18 and Ames 13.
Cavanaugh and Rink along with fellow seniors Matt Beard, Carter Engen, Tyler Cook and Landen Parker played their final game for the Statesmen Saturday.
“The New Hope community is thankful for the commitment and sacrifice this class has made to strengthen the legacy of our program,” Roese said. “They are a group that accepted the mission of being servants of one another and playing their role for the greater good of our team. They will be missed but the standard they have set will remain.”
New Hope completes its season with a 21-5 record.
New Hope 68, Dayton Temple Christian 32
Temple Christian — Blankenship 2-0-5, Mamula 5-4-16, Mugisha 1-0-2, Turpin 1-0-2, Heerdt 3-0-7. Three-point goals — Blankenship, Mamula (2), Heerdt. Totals — 12-4-32.
New Hope — Hunter Cavanaugh 6-3-18, Gaven Ludens 0-2-2, Xander Rink 9-6-24, Landen Parker 1-0-2, Nathaniel Ames 5-0-13, Carter Engen 1-0-2, Lane Reeves 0-1-1, Tyler Cook 2-0-6. Three-point goals — Cavanaugh (3), Ames (3), Cook (2). Totals — 24-12-68.
Quarter scores 1 2 3 4 F
Temple 13 10 4 5 32
New Hope 17 19 23 9 68