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Will Scott Jr. leads Hoban to win over St. Edward in OHSAA basketball regional semifinal
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- Will Scott Jr. leads Hoban to win over St. Edward in OHSAA basketball regional semifinal
KENT — Points were at a premium Tuesday night at Kent State University's Memorial Athletic and Convocation Center.
Fortunately for Archbishop Hoban, 6-foot-2 senior guard Will Scott Jr. was dressed in a blue uniform.
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Scott was the go-to scorer in all four quarters to lead Hoban to a 44-40 win over Lakewood St. Edward in a Division I boys basketball regional semifinal.
Scott scored 27 points and had three steals to propel Hoban (23-3) into a regional final at 7 p.m. Friday at KSU against either Stow or Walsh Jesuit, who play Wednesday.
Hoban's Jonas Nichols and William Scott Jr. hug as they celebrate their 44-40 victory over St. Edward in the Div. I regional semifinal boys basketball game at The Kent State University MAC center on Tuesday in Kent.
Hoban finished the game on an 8-0 run over the final three minutes to erase a 40-36 deficit. Scott made a layup, 6-7 senior Andrew Griffith netted a 3-pointer, 6-3 junior Jonas Nichols made two free throws and 6-1 junior Joey Hardman dropped in one free throw.
"They got us last year, so it was good getting payback," Scott said. "I had the hot hand so they fed me and it worked out. Eventually, some guys hit some tough shots at the end and we needed that."
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Hoban coach T.K. Griffith said he saw "a ton of believe" and "a ton of resilience" from his players against St. Edward (21-3), which was ranked No. 1 in Division I earlier this season and topped Hoban in a regional final last season at Copley High School.
"We have been talking all year about the only way to get on the radar for us was to get to this game," T.K. Griffith said. "… I don't really care about the radar, but for the kids, they want notoriety for what they do and they want to be appreciated. You gotta give them a narrative to get there. The narrative was the mountaintop ... a St. Ed's type of program or a Stow or a Walsh. If you want the attention and you want the accolades, those are the teams you have to beat."
Hoban's Will Scott Jr. goes to the basket between St. Edward's Cameron Grant and Wendell Henry during a 2023 Division I regional semifinal in Kent.
Nichols finished with five points, four steals and three assists. Hoban's Sam Greer, a 6-8 freshman, scored five points, Hardman had four points and Griffith had three points.
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"Last year got us prepared for this game," Nichols said. "They stopped our run in the regional final last year. We really wanted to come out and get them big. Will had an awesome performance. I tried to get stops and let him produce on offense."
Hoban committed 13 turnovers and forced St. Edward into 23 turnovers.
"We kept the same mindset that we wanted to play aggressive even though we were really struggling offensively," said Andrew Griffith, whose go-ahead 3 came after a steal by Nichols and passes by Scott and Hardman.
"All year for us it has been defense. … We are giving up about 40 or 45 points a game, so we are confident in our defense. We have good length and we are aggressive."
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Max McClellan, a 6-7 junior, scored 11 points, all in the first half, to pace St. Edward (21-3). Danny Lavelle, a 6-5 senior, had eight points, nine rebounds and two assists and 6-7 senior Cameron Grant added seven points, five rebounds and four assists for the Eagles.
"I believed in the guys," said T.K. Griffith, a senior player on Hoban's Division III state championship team in 1989. "I had a little bit of a good feeling that we could compete, but then it is St. Ed's. They have a depth of talent that they throw at you. They have big bodies. They have good basketball players.
"Jonas struggled for the first time all season, really, and Will carried us. We talk about carrying each other and staying connected and different guys stepping up. I think this is one of the best wins in Hoban history."
St. Edward led 15-11 at the end of the first quarter. Hoban drew even at 20-20 by halftime and then St. Edward led 31-30 through three quarters.
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Scott was Hoban's offense for most of the evening, scoring six points apiece in the first and second quarters, seven points in the third quarter and eight points in the fourth quarter.
"He is a great kid," T.K. Griffith said of Scott, who made five 3-pointers, four layups and four free throws.
"He is 3.3 [GPA student]. He works at his game. Coach talk is one thing, but he comes in every morning and shoots before school, 6:30 a.m., 6:15 a.m. Not many kids do that."
Scott's 27 points came 10 days after he scored a career-high 30 points in a 71-40 sectional final win over Massillon.
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"Will is a confident player," Andrew Griffith said. "He is so relaxed."
Scott's performance Tuesday came in front of University of Akron coach John Groce and other coaches from Kent State, Otterbein, Marietta and Capital.
"You can't turn the ball over 23 times, especially at this time of the year, and expect to win," St. Edward coach Eric Flannery said. "A few of those were aggressive where we were getting charges to the basket. It is something that we work on all year, trying to get a two-foot stop and kick it out to guys.
"As always, you gotta give credit to your opponent. Hoban did a great job of hanging in there and they did a great job defensively. They took us out of a few things. You gotta make shots, right? And we kind of struggled from the field, and you add on the turnovers, it was a tough sled for us."
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Michael Beaven can be reached at mbeaven@thebeaconjournal and is on Twitter at @MBeavenABJ .
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Will Scott leads Hoban past St. Edward in OHSAA basketball regional
