Centerville can clinch their fifth straight outright title with a victory over Beavercreek or Miamisburg in their final two conference games. They last shared the title in 2021.
The championship streak includes a GWOC American Division title in 2020 and a GWOC East Division championship in 2019 — back when the conference had 20 teams spanning four divisions.
“It’s just our guys, just the consistency of our guys, and the work that they put in, and then the ability to have guys in front of them that they see do it the right way, and see what they can do,” Cupps said. “They want to be that, you know, they want to meet that standard. I think it speaks probably more to that than anything.
“We’ve had good players. That’s how you win the GWOC. It’s a great conference. It’s more of a tribute just to those guys and the work that they’ve put in. This group having no seniors, and being able to put themselves in this position has been great.”
Centerville’s Trey Sam scored 17 points, hitting four 3-pointers, and juniors Sam Keely, Spencer Maxwell and Ty Rohrer each had nine points for the Elks (13-5, 11-1).
Springfield senior EJ Rice had a game-high 22 points and senior Charles Cunningham added 11 for the Wildcats (6-11, 2-9).
The Elks led 25-12 at the half, holding Springfield to two points in the second quarter.
The Wildcats cut the lead to 10 points at 34-24 before the Elks went on an 8-0 run capped by a 3-pointer by junior Myles Houston.
A layup by Rice in the fourth quarter cut the lead to 52-44, but the Wildcats couldn’t get any closer.
“We couldn’t quite get over the hump,” said Springfield coach Matt Yinger. “We were down 15 at the half and lost by 12, so we were pretty resilient. Second half, that was a good fight. We put ourselves in a bad position in the second quarters with some poor shot selections and gave up too many offensive rebounds that they converted into buckets. Outside of that rough second quarter, I was pretty pleased with our overall performance.“
Cupps, however, wasn’t pleased with the way his team closed out the game against a Springfield squad that wasn’t backing down.
“I didn’t like how we finished the game down the stretch, with taking care of the basketball and taking — I thought our shot selection gave them opportunities,” Cupps said. “But to their credit, they kept playing, and they put themselves in that situation, in that position (to win). Springfield doesn’t quit. They’re always going to keep playing.”
The Wildcats have three GWOC games remaining against Fairmont, Beavercreek and Miamisburg, as well as nonconference games against New Albany and Dayton Northridge.
“Come tournament time we will certainly be battle-tested,” Yinger said. “Guys are continuing to work and find their stride, and that’s all I can ask for them. We’re just trying to stay connected as a family and believe in one another.”
While the Elks are happy to bring home another GWOC title, they hope to continue to improve to make another postseason run.
“We’re trying to get better,” Cupps said. “We realize what the standard is. Tonight we won. We’re happy we won. They realize that we didn’t meet the standard that we’re trying to in terms of just quality play — whether we win or lose, in terms of just quality play. We’ll just watch the film and get better."
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