2009 Ohio State football
2009-10 UD men's basketball
Shawnee vs. Wyoming
D-II boys regional hoops
Graham has accomplished a lot
Falcons have played in several big games over the last two seasons.
Friday, March 20, 2009
CINCINNATI — In two seasons the Graham High School boys basketball team has won two district titles, played in two regional tournaments, won one regional title and advanced to the state for the first time in the program's history.
The Falcons' season is over after a 45-44 overtime loss to Columbus Bishop Watterson High School on Thursday, March 19, at Xavier University's Cintas Center. Although the chance to go back to state is gone, the accomplishments remain.
Graham is a combined 50-2 in the past two
seasons. The Falcons were the state Division II poll champs after a second
20-0 season.
"I talked to the underclassmen about making sure they recognized they played with a group of seniors extremely committed to Graham basketball," head coach Brook Cupps said. "All the kids need to be thankful they've been able to play together over the past two years."
Three Graham boys basketball teams have won district titles.
Hot right now
Bishop Watterson
(15-10) has won 10 of its past 13 games, including five in the tournament. The Eagles will play for the regional title on Saturday at the Cintas Center.
They last played in the regional in 2004, when they lost to Chaminade Julienne.
They'll play Thurgood Marshall, a 67-60 winner over Wilmington.
Stat time
Graham made 9-of-19 shots in the second half (47.4 percent), far better than its first-half (5-for-21, 23.8 percent).
It was the reverse for Watterson, which hit an amazing 10-of-14 in the first half (71.4 percent) and 4-of-17 in the second (23.5 percent).
Chris Grabosky led the Eagles with 15 points. Michael Tighe scored 13.
The Falcons held the edge in turnovers (14 to 11) and rebounds (28 to 20).
Lockdown
It was Tighe who spent most of the game blanketing Graham leading scorer Josh Schuler. Schuler scored 14 hard-earned points, and also had a team-best four assists.
The Falcons had absolutely no room to breathe against the Eagles' man-to-man scheme.
"We hang our hat on our defense, which has come a long way," Bishop Watterson head coach Vince Lombardo said. "Our young guys have really improved greatly throughout the year."
Passive first half
Cupps couldn't explain why the Falcons were passive in the first half. They trailed 26-17 at halftime and turned it over seven times.
The Eagles kept the Falcons out of the middle of the lane and forced them to shoot jumpers.
"Against Indian Hill (a 50-46 win in the last game) we were able to dig our way out of it," Cupps said. "(Thursday) we dug a bigger hole."
