Laurel ends dynasty

DAYTON — Laurel’s girls basketball team took out four-time defending state champion Purcell Marian with a 56-54 in overtime of a Div. IV state semifinal on Thursday at the University of Dayton.

Tristen Williams’ floater with 2.2 seconds left in overtime gave the Gators the win. Laurel beat West Branch 53-41 in a Div. IV regional final on Saturday in Canton and also topped Div. V district champion Crestview 55-42 in the South Range Holiday Hoops Showcase on Dec. 30

Laurel will play Bellevue at 12:30 p.m. today for the Div. IV title.

Canton Central makes final

DAYTON — Canton Central Catholic scored a 48-42 victory over Castalia Margaretta in a Div. VI state semifinal on Thursday at Wright State University.

Canton Central will meet St. Henry in the state championship at 7 p.m. today at the University of Dayton.

Canton Central Catholic beat East Palestine 62-20 in a sectional final.

Heat celebrate 83

MIAMI (AP) — Bam Adebayo’s encore performance: 21 points.

Adebayo — in the game after his 83-point outburst — settled for 62 fewer points Thursday night, when he and the Miami Heat defeated the Milwaukee Bucks 112-105 for their seventh consecutive win.

Adebayo’s stat line: 6 for 20 from the field, 9 for 13 from the foul line and 0 for 5 from 3-point range in 35 minutes.

It was nothing like the 20-for-43 shooting from the field, 36-for-43 from the foul line, 7-for-22 from 3-point range effort that he turned in Tuesday in a win over the Washington Wizards for the No. 2 single-game scoring effort — behind only Wilt Chamberlain’s 100-point night — in NBA history.

But he came up big when Miami needed it the most, getting 12 of his points in the fourth quarter against the Bucks.

The Heat had a slew of celebrations in Adebayo’s honor, some of which started Wednesday when the team unveiled $83 jerseys, $13 tickets (in honor of his actual jersey number) and even started assembling Adebayo No. 83 jerseys.

On the concourses Thursday — from the time the doors opened until, of course, 8:30 p.m. — the team was selling 83-cent popcorn, chips or can of soda at some kiosks, and an $8.30 meal deal that included a hot dog, popcorn and fountain drink.

“You feel awesome for Bam,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. “You feel so great for his story, how he’s gotten to this point. And you feel great for his family, his mom, A’ja (Wilson, his four-time WNBA MVP girlfriend), his whole circle. Just quality human beings. They make you want to root for that whole team.”

Adebayo remains the only player in the NBA to have 100 points in a two-game span this season. He’s actually done it twice: he had 24 points in the game before the 83-pointer (for a 107-point total) and now has a 104-point, two-game stretch as well.

His showing Tuesday was still the talk of the league on Thursday, and Bucks coach Doc Rivers thinks it’s a night that will be talked about for a long time.

“It was just one of those rare nights where a great guy — that’s what Bam is — had a great night and it was all good,” Rivers said. “That’s the way I looked at it.”

Buckeyes move on in tournament

CHICAGO (AP) — Bruce Thornton had 24 points, John Mobley Jr. scored all 12 of his points in the second half, and No. 8 seed Ohio State held off a late rally by No. 9 seed Iowa for a 72-69 victory Thursday in the third round of the Big Ten Tournament.

Ohio State (21-11) advances to play top-seeded and third-ranked Michigan in the quarterfinals on Friday.

Thornton had a personal 10-0 run to give Ohio State its largest lead of the game at 51-35 with 13:55 remaining.

But Iowa rallied down the stretch to get within 70-69 with 38.7 seconds left.

Ohio State worked the clock down before Thornton drove into the lane for a shot that rolled off the rim. Amare Bynum’s putback attempt did not go, but Ohio State secured the rebound, and Mobley was fouled before making two free throws for a three-point lead with 8 seconds left.

Iowa got past midcourt to call a timeout with 7.2 left. Brendan Hausen’s 3-point attempt from the corner did not hit the rim, but Iowa got another chance after Ohio State missed the front end of a 1-and-1.