Urbana clinches CBC Mad River crown

Hillclimbers edge Graham for first title since 2000.

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By David Jablonski, Staff Writer 11:27 PM Friday, February 10, 2012

ST. PARIS — There was talk of a team celebration at Buffalo Wild Wings and of a couple of goatees being shaved.

There are many ways to savor a league championship, but for the Urbana High School boys basketball team, nothing will beat the moments after their 39-37 victory at Graham on Friday.

Urbana’s players and friends and family members lingered on the rival Falcons’ court. Graham’s seven-year run atop the Central Buckeye Conference Mad River Division had ended, and for the first time since 2000, Urbana could call itself a conference champion.

“It feels great,” said Urbana senior Zach Stillings, who scored 11. “I never expected we’d be almost 10-0 in the CBC and win the CBC. Guys played well tonight.”

It’s also the first championship for eighth-year Urbana coach Jeremy Dixon.

“For eight years now, it’s been our No. 1 goal,” Dixon said. “We got it done. It feels good.”

Urbana (16-1, 8-0 CBC) has won 14 straight games. It needed all its poise to survive Graham’s upset bid.

The Falcons (11-6, 6-3 CBC) slowed the game down to a crawl a times, and that was their plan. Urbana led 10-9 after one quarter, 17-16 at halftime and 23-21 going into the fourth quarter. It was the lowest scoring game of the season for Urbana.

“Graham wasn’t going to give it up easy,” Dixon said. “That’s why they’ve won seven division titles in a row. We certainly didn’t play anywhere near our best game, but every time they made a shot, we responded.”

Karl Singer led Urbana with 12 points. He and Stillings had baskets in a 5-0 run that clinched the victory in the final minutes.

Urbana’s lead grew from 32-29 to 37-29. Two 3-pointers in the final seconds by Graham made the final scorer closer.

Grant Goddard had 18 points for Urbana, including 11 in the final quarter.

“Our plan was to be patient and wait to get a good shot,” Graham coach Brook Cupps said. “We played the game the way we wanted to play it. We just couldn’t get the lead. Probably for us, that’s more important than anything else, being able to play with the lead. We would either make a mistake or they would make a play to keep them a possession ahead of us.”

Contact this reporter at (937) 328-0351 or David.Jablonski@coxinc.com.

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