Flyers hit the road

DAYTON — So much for a homecourt advantage for the Dayton Flyers.

The Flyers, a No. 1 seed in its region in the National Invitation Tournament (NIT), has played the first two rounds on the road because University of Dayton Arena was hosting the First Four on Monday and Tuesday and the Ohio High School Athletic Association’s seven state championship games on Friday and Saturday.

Dayton has played its last 11 NIT games on the road in eight states.

The Flyers will travel to Chattanooga at 11:30 a.m. Saturday after winning 86-79 at Florida Atlantic on Tuesday.

Dayton sold out every home game for the fourth consecutive season, a streak now at 77 straight home games.

Louisville brings home state title

DAYTON — Louisville raced to a 21-point first-half lead, then withstood a second-half rally by Cincinnati Aiken and emerged with a 63-61 win in the Division III state championship game Friday in front of 7,178 fans at University of Dayton Arena.

Louisville (24-5) won its first boys basketball state championship in its first trip to the state tournament. Aiken (27-2) finished runner-up in its second trip to the state tournament and first appearance in the championship game.

Malone University recruit Tate Aljancic — the son of former Northeastern Buckeye Conference standout Jon Aljancic — led Louisville with 17 points. He made 5 of 6 shots from the floor and 5 of 6 at the foul line.

Beau Siegfried, an Ashland recruit, and Avery Andrejcik both scored 14 points, while Walsh recruit Brayden Gross had nine points and 12 rebounds and Ashton Marshall finished with nine points and eight rebounds.

Louisville opened the game on a 13-2 run and led 38-17 with less than a minute remaining in the first half.

Aiken opened the third quarter with a 15-0 run to pull within 38-34.

The Falcons could get no closer than three points until the final 26 seconds when they pulled within 61-59 and than 62-61 with eight seconds left. Marshall made two free throws with three seconds remaining to close out the scoring.

Louisville defeated West Branch, 79-56, on Jan. 11.

Maysville makes East District proud

DAYTON — The Zanesville Maysville boys basketball team finished on a 16-2 run in the final five minutes to rally past Cleveland Glenville, 74-67, in the Division IV state championship game Friday at University of Dayton Arena.

Junior Gator Nichols scored a game-high 36 points, tied for the eighth most in boys basketball state championship game history, regardless of division. Nicols was 11-of-21 from the floor, including 4-of-7 from three-point range, and 10-of-12 at the foul line.

It is the first state title for the Panthers, who reached the state final for the second straight year.

Junior Jordyn Watson joined Nichols in double figures with 19 points along with a team-high eight rebounds.

Trailing 65-58, the Panthers went on a 10-0 run to go ahead 68-65 with 1:51 to play.

Nichols converted both free throws on an intentional foul to put the Panthers up 70-67 with 45 seconds remaining.

Kane Roehrig and Nichols both converted a pair of free throws in the final 28 seconds as the Panthers pulled away.

Xavier Vickerstaff made five three pointers and led Glenville with 21 points and a game-high 13 rebounds.

Maysville, which has no seniors, finishes at 27-3, including a 73-57 district victory over East Liverpool on Feb. 25.

Maysville’s only other OHSAA state title was in softball in 1985.

Dunne leads OSU to hockey final

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Joy Dunne scored back-to-back goals in the third period to reach 28 on the season and No. 2 seed Ohio State beat No. 3 seed Cornell 4-2 in the first women’s Frozen Four semifinal on Friday night.

Ohio State (29-7-3) advances to its fourth straight national title game on Sunday. The Buckeyes improved to 12-3 in six Frozen Four appearances – all occurring during Nadine Muzerall’s nine-year tenure as head coach.

Cornell (25-5-5) was in the Frozen Four for the first time since 2019.

Dunne scored on a one-timer, after a nice individual effort by Makenna Webster, for a 3-2 lead nearly four minutes into the third period. Dunne, who scored the go-ahead goal in last year’s national championship game, added a goal on a rebound attempt while falling to the ice.

Ohio State took a 1-0 lead less than three minutes into the game when Dunne’s breakaway attempt was blocked and Webster followed with a goal. Brooke Disher buried a shot from the point, with Cornell goaltender Annelies Bergmann out of her area, for her second goal of the season to make it 2-0 later in the first.

Cornell answered in the second period with two goals 68 seconds apart. Minnesota native Lily Delianedis cut the Buckeyes lead in half on a shot while falling to the ice for her 12th goal of the season.

Kaitlin Jockims tied it at 2-all when she picked off an Ohio State clearance pass and went in alone, sending a shot over the glove of Amanda Thiele.

___

AP women’s hockey: https://apnews.com/hub/womens-hockey