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Home > Blogs > Springfield, Ohio High School Sports > Archives > 2009 > March > 23 > Entry
On this date in area sports history …
Thirteen years ago on this date, March 23, 1996, the Catholic Central boys basketball team captured the Division IV state championship in Columbus with a 75-52 victory over Lincolnview. Jason Collier, then a 7-foot senior, scored 22 points in the final. Collier went on to play in the NBA and died in 2005. Below is a YouTube video paying tribute to Collier.
On the jump, read the News-Sun’s story on the 1996 championship game.
Published March 24, 1996
BANNER SEASON FOR IRISH
CENTRAL FINISHES BUSINESS
By Cindy Horner, News-Sun Sports Writer
COLUMBUS, Ohio — Everyone looked at Catholic Central on day one of the basketball season and said they expected nothing less than a state championship.
Central’s players heard all the talk and eventually came to expect nothing less of themselves. And now, 28 games later, the goal has become reality.
The Irish are Division IV state champions after knocking off No. 1-ranked Van Wert Lincolnview, 75-52, Saturday night in front of 12,712 fans at St. John Arena.
“Now I have everything I wanted this year,” said a smiling Jason Collier, the 7-foot senior who led the team with 22 points and 18 rebounds. “This just makes the season complete. It means we put in a lot of hard work and it’s all paid off.”
“It came down to defense, and that’s what won the game for us,” said Coach Tony Ricciuto, whose team winds up 24-3. The Irish lost at this stage last year to Findlay Liberty-Benton, giving them plenty of incentive.
“We got some key breakaways on some of their missed shots and some steals that really helped us,” he continued. “I think we got the last run. They didn’t want to have that same feeling that they did last year.”
Another part of the reason was Jon Powell. The senior, who transferred in from Middletown Christian this season, was the missing ingredient. He scored 16 points and had four assists, two rebounds and a steal.
“He’s been a big sparkplug off our bench all season,” said senior point guard Jason Ronai, who tossed in 18 points to go with seven assists and two rebounds.
“He’s a scoring weapon for us,” he added. “Just his presence has helped us.”
The Irish, who stayed in a sticky man-to-man defense throughout, led by just two points at the half, then allowed Lincolnview to go on a 16-6 run to take a 35-34 lead with 6:09 remaining in the third quarter.
But Central was up for a comeback and went on its on run — a 15-7 one to take a 49-42 lead at the end of three. From the 6:09 mark of the third quarter, the Irish outscored the Lancers, 41-17, to win the game.
“When they took that lead on us, we looked up at the scoreboard and said that we are not going to let this happen to us again,” senior forward Tyson Yirak said. “That’s when we made our run at them. Everyone was saying, `Central is going to choke again,’ but we all came through. Everybody was making the key plays.”
Lincolnview managed to put only one player in double figures and that was Brandon Pardon, playing with stitches in his eyelid after getting elbowed the night before, with 21 points.
The Lancers’ second-leading scorer, Wes Dudgeon, missed much of the game after complaining of dizziness. Dudgeon suffered a concussion Friday night in the Lancers’ state semifinal win.
“We had T-shirts made up this year that say, `Unfinished Business,’ and that’s what inspired us,” Powell said. “We didn’t want second place this year. We wanted first, and that’s what we got.
“There’s a banner in our gym that says state finalists. We saw that banner every time we practiced and we wanted one that said state champions.”
It showed. The players really started feeling like state champions with one minute to go.
Ricciuto called a timeout to get his subs in, and the hugs broke out en masse. Everyone got their hugs in, including Ronai who was sitting on the floor during the jubilation. The senior was suffering from leg cramps off and on during the fourth quarter and was glad to take a seat. Soon after, Collier joined him on the floor as the two exchanged hugs.
“Thank God, we finally got it,” Ronai said. “I’m not going to take this gold medal off.”
“It’s just a great feeling,” said senior Tom Hannon, who stepped up in the fourth quarter and buried two three-pointers. “It just makes everything worth it.”
“Defense has definitely been our motto,” said senior Tony Silvers, taking his last looks at St. John Arena’s court.
“We came out and apllied the pressure. Our defense is what makes our offense go. This is a great way to go out. Now we are just going to celebrate.”
The Irish had always heard they were champions. They had to prove it to themselves. Now they have.
Collier, who added a state championship to his individual honors, is the outstanding player on the 1996 Associated Press Division IV all-tournament team.
The 7-foot senior guided Springfield Catholic Central to the title by hitting 20-of-34 shots from the field.
Earlier this week, Collier was selected as the 1996 Associated Press Mr. Basketball in Ohio.
Collier was joined on the all-tournament team by teammates Ronai (38 points, 16 assists) and Powell (31 points, six assists); Dalton’s Randy Endsley (36 points, 6 rebounds) in a semifinal loss; and Lincolnview’s Pardon (39 points, 12 assists) and Shawn Thatcher (25 points, 7 rebounds).
CATHOLIC CENTRAL (75) — Yirak 1-4 0-0 2, Silvers 2-2 0-0 6, Collier 10-21 0-0 22, Ronai 5-11 5-7 18, Hannon 2-2 1-2 7, Powell 8-12 0-0 16, Talbott 0-0 0-0 0, Moore 1-2 0-0 2, Evilsizor 0-0 0-0 0, Shutte 0-0 2-4 2, Weber 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 29-54 8-13 75.
LINCOLNVIEW (52) — Thatcher 2-6 1-1 5, Dudgeon 2-4 4-4 8, Pollock 3-5 1-1 7, Kill 1-4 2-2 4, Pardon 8-13 0-0 21, Rabe 2-6 3-7 7, Kemler 0-2 0-0 0, Longstreth 0-0 0-0 0, Wise 0-2 0-0 0, Webb 0-0 0-0 0, Owens 0-0 0-0 0, Welch 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 18-42 11-15 52.
Catholic Central20 32 49 75
Lincolnview15 30 42 52
Three-point goals: Catholic Central 9-17 (Ronai 3-5, Hannon 2-2, Silvers 2-2, Collier 2-5, Yirak 0-1, Powell 0-1, Moore 0-1), Lincolnview 5-13 (Pardon 5-9, Rabe 0-1, Wise 0-1, Thatcher 0-2). Shooting percentages: Catholic Central .537, Lincolnview .429. Rebounds: Catholic Central 29 (Collier 18), Lincolnview 22 (Thatcher 5). Total fouls: Catholic Central 17, Lincolnview 18. Fouled out: None. Technical fouls: None. Assists: Catholic Central 13 (Ronai 7), Lincolnview 4 (Pardon 2). Turnovers: Catholic Central 9, Lincolnview 15. Blocked shots: Catholic Central 4 (Collier 2), Lincolnview 0. Steals: Catholic Central 3, Lincolnview 2. Officials: Carl Jordan, Steve Trout, Mike Vaschak. Records: Catholic Central 24-3, Lincolnview 26-1. A: 12,712.
Permalink | Comments (1) | Post your comment | Categories: Boys Basketball, Catholic Central High School, Jason Collier, NBA
Comments
By Shawn
March 24, 2009 8:54 AM | Link to this
I can hardly believe its been 13 YEARS since Central won its state championship. I was a junior at the time and that was one of my best memories of high school.