Catholic Central will face Jackson Center (19-6) in a D-IV district final game at 9 p.m. Tuesday at University of Dayton Arena.
“We knew this year was our year,” said Irish coach John Detling. “We wanted to finish the process. The guys are excited.”
The Irish spent most of last week dissecting the film of their second matchup against Cedarville on Jan. 21. In that game, Catholic Central led early in the fourth quarter, but the Indians mounted a late comeback, beating them 56-55.
In the district semifinal, the Irish made some adjustments defensively and jumped out to a 28-14 halftime lead and held on for the victory.
“At this point, it’s win and advance,” Detling said. “We were up quite a bit in the first quarter and ended up winning by two. We got a little sloppy in the fourth quarter, but all that matters is the final score. We’re moving on.”
At the beginning of the year, the Irish set a goal to get back to the district finals to play at UD Arena.
“The last two years we had gotten to the (district semifinal) and we’d gotten beat,” Detling said. “The guys are really dialed in and ready for Tuesday.”
They’ll face a Jackson Center team which is making its fourth straight district finals appearance. The Tigers beat Cedarville in 2020 and advanced to the D-IV regional final before the postseason was canceled due to COVID-19. A year ago, they lost to eventual regional finalist Cedarville in a district final game.
“They don’t have football, so basketball is 365 days for them,” Detling said. “That whole town just lives for Jackson Center basketball.”
Jackson Center junior Camdyn Reese hit the game-winner with three seconds remaining to lift the Tigers past Fort Loramie 42-41 in a district semifinal game last Friday night at Piqua. The Tigers play in the low-scoring, physical Shelby County Athletic League and play a nonconference schedule that includes several very talented Midwest Athletic Conference opponents.
“They do everything right, especially on the defensive end,” Detling said. “We can’t go down and just start jacking up quick shots. We have to make every possession count and make sure it’s a good shot. If we get down by a couple points and we don’t get a bucket, an eight-point difference can feel like an 18-point difference against Jackson Center. That’s how important every possession is.”
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