Stingy defense brings Cincinnati Taft its first state championship since 2011

Rayvon Griffith had to watch from the bench as Mekhi Elmore and company held Ottawa-Glandorf off down the stretch.

By Ryan Isley | Photos by Ben Jackson

DAYTON, Ohio — “Defense wins championships” might be the most overused phrase in sports. But on Sunday, it held true.

Cincinnati Taft gave up just six points in the fourth quarter and made a defensive stand in the final 30 seconds to take home the OHSAA Division III state title with a 48-45 win over Ottawa-Glandorf.

“I have been telling my guys all season defense wins championships, offense sells tickets,” Taft coach Demarco Bradley said. “We really dug down when it counted.”

With a three-point lead and having just missed a free throw that would have made it a two-possession game, the Senators didn’t allow Ottawa-Glandorf to get a good look, and the Titans called a timeout with five seconds to play.

Coming out of the timeout, the Titans got a look for 3 out of the corner, but the ball clanked off the rim and came down in the hands of Taft’s Brandon Cromer, but Cromer was called for a travel with 0.4 left that put the celebration on ice.

The Senators had to regroup and defend one more play.

When the final shot hit the top of the backboard and the clock expired, the Senators became state champions for the first time since 2011.

“When you work so hard for something and you see that clock hit 0:00, nothing else goes through your mind but to go celebrate,” Taft junior Rayvon Griffith said. “That’s what was going through our minds. We thought the game was over but as you can see it wasn’t. We just had to finish it so we could celebrate for real this time.”

It was tough for Griffith to watch because he had fouled out earlier in the quarter after scoring 12 points. The first-team all-Cincinnati Metro Athletic Conference player had trust in his teammates to bring home the title.

“It was tough for me for sure because I definitely wanted to be out there with my team,” Griffith said. “I had to trust my guys and trust Mekhi (Elmore) to close the deal.”

For the game, Taft turned 13 turnovers into 14 points. But the most important points off turnovers came in a fourth quarter that began with the teams tied 38-38.

After Taft took a 44-40 lead, Eian Elmer got a steal at the top of the key on defense and sprinted to the other end for an emphatic dunk that ignited the bench and crowd.

After Ottawa-Glandorf hit a 3-pointer to cut it to three and had possession with a chance to tie the game, Elmore got a steal and took it down the floor for a layup to get the lead back to five. The senior led Taft with 18 points.

“We had seven turnovers in the first half but not too many of those turnovers led to points.” Ottawa-Glandorf coach Tyson McGlaughlin said. “Those two toward the end of the game when you really need to execute and get good looks, things happen. It was unfortunate for us those turnovers turned into points.”

Defense is nothing new for the Senators. In eight games this postseason, Taft held opponents to 36.8 points per game and gave up a high of 49 to Georgetown in the regional finals.

“We won eight games, and nobody scored 50 points on us,” Bradley said. “We just have to preach defense, and that’s what we did today. We defended very, very well.”

And in the end, that defense brought Taft a championship.

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