For Ottawa-Glandorf, 'it's business'

OTTAWA – Tyson McGlaughlin's voice resonated clear and firm across the Robert J. Hermiller floor. In reply came the high-pitched squeak, squeak, squeak of sneakers, grunts of exertion, and swoosh of a leather ball spinning through nylon nets. Nowhere was there the giddy adolescence one might expect from a group of teenagers. Robert J. Hermiller Gymnasium might have been a board room, and McGlaughlin a company CEO. In a nutshell, it was business as usual. "We've got a pretty mature group," McGlaughlin said. "Obviously they're still kids, and they have plenty of time for that stuff. But then they step on the court it's business. That's one of the things they have really taken to heart, understanding there's a time and a place for everything." The place will be the University of Dayton and the time will be Friday at 5:15 p.m. when McGlaughlin sends his 24-3 and No. 1-ranked Titans against No. 6 Canal Winchester Harvest Prep (23-4) in the first of two Division III state semifinals at UD Arena. No. 2-ranked Cleveland Heights Lutheran East (21-5), which beat Harvest Prep in the semifinals and O-G in the finals of last year's Division III state tournament, squares off against No. 10 Preble Shawnee (24-3) in Friday's second semifinal, with the winners returning Sunday at 2 p.m. for the D-III state championship game. Basketball is more than business as usual at Ottawa-Glandorf. Last weekend, O-G's girls, making their sixth Final Four appearance since 2015, brought home their fourth state runner-up trophy. O-G's boys, state runner-up the past two years, will be making their fourth straight trip to the semifinals at UD Arena and tenth overall. Basketball is more of a culture at O-G. Before taking Lima Senior to the Class AAA state semifinals in 1982 and moving on to the University of Findlay and winning an NCAA Division II national championship in 2008-09, Ron Niekamp was O-G head coach for five seasons. He posted a 74-35 record and took two teams (1977, '78) to state. The three coaches that succeeded Niekamp – Dave Sweet (449-162, 2004 Division II), Josh Leslie (109-35, 2008 Division III) and McGlaughlin (286-59, 2013 Division III) – have not only compiled impressive winning records, but each has guided teams to a state championship. A former all-Ohio guard and a 1,000-point scorer for O-G, McGlaughlin's coaching career has been impressive as well. Despite being the smallest school in the Western Buckeye League, O-G has won six outright league titles and shared another over the past nine seasons. The Titans have cranked out nine consecutive 20-win seasons and won 12 of the last 14 district titles. One of O-G's best teams in recent years didn't get a chance to etch its name in the school's record books. "I'd be remiss if I didn't say I think it should be five (consecutive regional championships)," said McGlaughlin, referring to the 2019-20 team that was 25-1, ranked No. 1 in the state and destroying tournament opponents by 25-30 points a game when the season was abruptly cut short because of the COVID pandemic. "That group of 2020, I always tell them they were destined to go. The way we were going, I would have bet my house we would win the regional that season." Elite programs feature elite talent and O-G has one of the top players in the state in Colin White, a 6-foot-6 senior guard. Already a two-time first-team all-Ohio selection, White earned Ohio's 2024 Mr. Basketball Award by averaging 24.9 points, 8.2 rebounds and 3.1 assists during the regular season. He elevated his game in tournament, scoring 34 of O-G's 56 points in an overtime win over Spencerville in the district finals, 36 in a regional semifinal win over Toledo Emmanuel Christian and 24 (along with 11 rebounds) in Saturday's regional final win over Margaretta. O-G has a second marquee player in Caden Erford, who averaged 14.7 points a game and like White was first-team all-WBL and all-District 8. Teams aware of Erford's range have made it a point to extend their defensive pressure in tournament, but the 6-4 senior wing used his length to good advantage, hitting the boards and converting four offensive rebounds into three put-backs in the regional final. Two-man teams don't achieve the kind of success Ottawa-Glandorf has, though. "Early on, maybe the first four, five games, we kind of waited for Colin and Caden to take over," McGlaughlin said. "Now with the Grant Schroeders and the Grady Toumazos's and the Dave Westricks and Alex Wagners and all those guys making plays, teams have to kind of pick their poison. I think that's the evolution of this team. It's a total team effort and always will be." Early scoring by Schroeder (7.2 ppg) and Toumazos (6.9 ppg) sparked O-G's quick start in the regional semifinal against Emmanuel Christian. Wagner came off the bench to nail a game-tying 3-pointer in the final seconds of regulation in the overtime win over Spencerville. Westrick, a solid 6-7, 230-pound post player, was a solid inside presence as a junior and was expected to fill that role again. A torn ACL suffered during open gym last summer put his senior season in jeopardy, but he has worked his way back into the starting lineup. "I knew I was going to come back," Westrick said. "There was some question if I could or not, but I knew there was a possibility if I pushed myself. I wanted to get back with my teammates, to where I was the year before. I wanted to contribute, that's the main goal. It's all about the team and I was going to do anything I could to help." McGlaughlin said that attitude typifies the culture at O-G. "We have kids that buy in to what we're trying to do," he said. "It's easy to show up on Friday and Saturday night, watch them play and think it's just natural. They have some God-given ability, no doubt about it, but its the amount of work these guys put in that nobody sees, the Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday mornings at 6 a.m. in the gym, the sweat and the grind these guys put in. "We've got a really good thing going here. We have kids that do it the right way, and I'm very proud of the approach they take because they don't take it for granted." In Harvest Prep, O-G will be facing a program with both historical and recent Final Four experience since opening its doors in 1986. Division III state champion in 2019, Harvest Prep is making its eighth state tournament appearance in 18 seasons, and returns four starters and seven players overall who competed in last year's 65-44 semifinal loss to Lutheran East. Harvest Prep started the season 5-0, then suffered four losses during a six-game stretch starting in December and extending into January. The Warriors have rattled of 16 straight wins, though, and have averaged almost 83 points a game in tournament, a number inflated a bit by lopsided sectional wins over Columbus International (110-34) and Columbus Cristo Rey (102-43). Adonus Abrams, a 6-2 guard who averages 14.7 points, 4.0 rebounds, 4.5 assists and 3.9 steals heads up Harvest Prep's list of returning lettermen. Six-two senior Alan Chiles (5.6 ppg, 3.2 rpg), 6-0 junior Brandon Roddy (13 ppg, 3.7 apg) and 6-5 sophomore Ephraim Campbell (8.8 ppg, 6.6 rpg) are also returning starters from that state semifinal team. Sophomore guard Jamarcus Jones (5.2 ppg, 2.8 apg), junior Jaylen Sims and 6-4 senior London Fogge also saw the UD floor last March. "They're super talented, athletic and can put a lot of pressure on you," McGlaughlin said Tuesday after running the Titans through drills designed to overcome the kind of aggressive, trapping defense they will likely see on Friday. "Personnel-wise, I think there's similarities between (Harvest Prep) and Emmanuel Christian or Lima Senior the way they put pressure on you in the fill court. We're going to have our hands full, but our guys are coming in with the mindset that they understand the challenge in front of them.'' Facing and overcoming those challenges seems bred into the culture of O-G basketball. "We always say, 'Just be us,'" McGlauglin said. "As long as we have the horses to compete, we're going to play the best schedule we can and it's for this reason, so when we get to this level we're prepared for a different style of play, a different style of athlete. "When that ball goes up its going to be O-G vs. Harvest Prep. Our guys are playing with a lot of confidence right now. We have to be true to who we are, and that means we have to go out and play O-G basketball."