Xavier McKinney's buzzer-beater sends Reynoldsburg boys basketball to OHSAA state final

FAIRBORN – In the interest of full disclosure, Reynoldsburg boys basketball coach Andrew Moore admitted almost immediately Sunday that the play that sent the Raiders to their first state championship game did not go as planned.

With Toledo-bound senior forward Toby Nwokolo unable to come off a screen with 1 second left, senior guard Damon Griffin found junior guard Xavier McKinney wide open to the left of the basket, and the Ohio University commit made a layup as time expired for a 64-63 win over West Chester Lakota West in a semifinal at Wright State.

“The first option was for Toby … and we’d screen in for him and pop him out for a jumper. But (McKinney) was our second option and they executed,” Moore said. “I was looking right at Toby and I didn’t even see ‘X’ catch the ball and I saw at the last second (the ball) go in.”

Xavier McKinney's buzzer-beating layup Sunday sent Reynoldsburg to its first state final.

McKinney, whom Moore called “probably our best player at both ends all year,” finished with 12 points, six rebounds and a steal to send Reynoldsburg (26-1) into the first all-Central District state final in 62 years at 8:30 p.m. Saturday against Olentangy Orange at University of Dayton Arena.

Orange, which beat Reynoldsburg by 20 points in a district final last year, edged defending champion Cleveland St. Ignatius 58-54 in overtime in the other semifinal Sunday in Canton.

McKinney came off a double screen, winding from the top of the key to the baseline.

“I was supposed to clear out to the corner but (my defender) got stuck so I stayed at the bucket,” McKinney said. “I was surprised myself. It took me a second to shoot the layup … and I just went up with it. There were some nerves, but I knew I would hit the shot.”

The scoreboard shows Sunday's final score.

Griffin, who had a team-high 16 points, said junior forward Jorden Bowens was another potential option on the final play.

“I just saw (McKinney’s) man get stuck so I got the bounce pass to him to get the game over with,” Griffin said. “I really wanted to throw it to (Bowens) because we had a mismatch, but there was only 1 second. I didn’t want to force anything.”

McKinney’s basket put the finishing touches on a sometimes-frantic semifinal that featured 14 lead changes and seven ties.

Reynoldsburg’s lead peaked at 51-42 after three quarters, only to see Lakota West (21-6) – like Reynoldsburg a first-time state qualifier – storm back with a 21-8 run.

The Raiders led 59-55 with 1:42 left on a Jordan Fisher dunk, but Bryce Curry hit a 3-pointer and Tyson Davis’ layup put Lakota West ahead 60-59 with 45.7 seconds left.

Josh Tyson went 3 of 4 at the foul line for a 63-59 Firebirds lead with 20 seconds left.

Griffin made a layup on the other end to get Reynoldsburg within 63-61, Lakota West’s Isaiah Meade-Moss missed two foul shots and Fisher split two free throws, after which the ball caromed out of bounds off the Firebirds to set up the final play.

“I thought they might lob in closer over the top, but we were supposed to switch everything,” Lakota West coach Kelven Moss said. “We failed to switch, we failed to communicate and we gave up a wide-open gimme.”

Bowens added 15 points and Fisher had 14.

Tyson’s game-high 18 points paced Lakota West.

Reynoldsburg-Orange will be only the third time two Central District teams will meet in a state tournament game.

Africentric defeated Harvest Prep in a Division III semifinal in 2018, and East beat Marion Harding in the Class AA final in 1963.

“We’re ready,” McKinney said. “We don’t think it’s over.”

dpurpura@dispatch.com

@dp_dispatch

This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Reynoldsburg boys basketball advances to first OHSAA state final

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