Pictured is the Monroe Central Boys Basketball team with its Ohio Division VI, Region 23 Championship Trophy. The Seminoles will make their first appearance in the Final Four on Friday when they face Kirtland in the state semifinals at Otterbein University. Front row, from left are Lucas Dalton, AJ Rutter, Noah Marshall, Blake Yontz, Tyler Whitacre, Jacob Fogle, Logan Powell, Caedyn Silva, manager Walker Howell, Max Demchak and manager Cooper Graham. Back row, from left, are assistant coach Trey Dougherty, assistant coach Dane Merckle, head coach Mason Lang, assistant coach Derrick Parden, Corbin Farnsworth, Brayden Baker, Chance Allen, Tucker Howell, Cooper Howell,Dylan Parden, assistant coach Justin Friday and assistant coach Caine Leasure.

WESTERVILLE – For the first time in four long decades, a boys basketball team from Monroe County is returning to the Ohio state tournament’s Final Four. Skyvue was the last team to advance that far – in 1985.

The Hawks fell in the Class A state championship game, 63-61, to Jackson Center on a last-second shot, finishing 26-2.

Monroe Central has duplicated the first accomplishment and will try to become the second school in the Woodsfield-Skyvue consolidation to play for a Division VI state basketball crown. The Seminoles (24-3) will meet Kirtland (19-8) Friday at 7 p.m. inside the 3,000-seat Rike Center on the campus of Otterbein University in suburban Columbus.

“We’re happy to still be playing. The goal every year is to be playing on the last day of the season and we’re still working towards that,” second-year Monroe Central head coach Mason Lang said. “Practicing in March might not be good for the baseball team, but we are happy to be here.

‘The job isn’t finished,” he admitted. “We need to get through this semi final because when you get to the state championship game, anything can happen.”

Monroe Central has blitzed its five opponents on the tournament trail with red-hot shooting, powerful rebounding and in-your-face, physical defense. It has outscored its five opponents 330-209 for an average of 66 to 41.8 per game.

It took down visiting Crooksville (79-33) on Junior Winland Court in the post-season opener. That was followed by lop-sided wins over Malvern (63-47) inside the Huskies House at Harrison Central High School and perennial state power Hiland (54-33) for the Eastern District title at Cambridge High School. Another wide-spread win over North Adams (66-52) in the regional semifinal preceded a runaway nod over Beaver Eastern (68-44) for the regional championship, with the last two contests played inside Alumni Hall at Ohio Dominican University, also in suburban Columbus.

“The Hiland game was one the boys had circled from the year before,” Lang said.

“They wanted to beat Hiland. The seniors had lost to them three straight years and they really wanted to make sure that they (Hiland) didn’t end their season this year. If you can get by Hiland, you have a pretty good chance of advancing far in the tournament.

“I think that win allowed the kids to see we could score against an elite defense and that we could hold down an offense that gets points when they want to. I think that gave the boys the confidence where they’re thinking ‘we’ve got a shot.'”

The Hornets are making their first Final Four appearance since 1991 when they fell to eventual state champion St. Henry, 59-43, in Division IV. They defeated Smithville (81-72) in double overtime in the district semis before taking down Dalton (59-51) at the Canton Memorial Field House for their regional title.

Kirtland started the season 3-4 before winning seven straight. After going 2-4 over their next six, the Hornets have stung seven consecutive opponents.

“We haven’t seen them live, but we have watched an awful lot of film on them since finding out we played them,” Lang said of Kirtland. “They are a good team. They play really fast and have two very capable inside-out scorers. The other players play well around them and get the hustle points. They can penetrate but also shoot from the perimeter. They are a real solid team.”

That sounds exactly what the Seminoles do.

“They might be a little more three-point oriented than we are.”

Seniors Tucker Howell (6-2) and Chance Allen (6-4), the two leading scorers in school history, are the team leaders, but the other starters – junior Caedyn Silva (5-9) and sophomores Cooper Howell (6-0) and Corbin Farnsworth (6-2) – have stepped up when needed. The role players – seniors Tyler Whitacre (6-2) and Dylan Parden (6-0) and Jacob Fogle (6-1) – have also contributed in one way or another when their number has been called.

“Tyler provides us with a lot of energy off the bench. He’s a great rebounder,” Lang remarked. “Jacob is a great shooter. He hit a big shot against Hiland at the end of the third quarter. He knows and embraces his role and does his job. Dylan is another good shooter. He hit a big shot against Beaver. He started last year but we’ve had him coming off the bench this season with the emergence of Caedyn. A lot of kids might have gotten down, but not him. He knows what is expected of him.”

Lang said he realized the Seminoles could be pretty good over the summer during a shootout at, ironically, Ohio Dominican.

“We played Dublin Jerome (D-II) and Westerville Central (D-I) and beat both of them,” he recalled. “That showed me we could compete with good teams like that. We executed our offense and didn’t let them speed us up. That really showed me that we had the potential to do something special this year.

“I believe the boys really bought in,” Lang stressed. “They have worked really hard all off-season and now during the season. We’re headed in the right direction.”

In every postseason contest, Monroe Central has jumped out to a lead, extended it and never been threatened.

“We made some adjustments early against Eastern and the kids bought into them,” Lang said of the regional final triumph. “We’ve beat some good teams by being patient on offense, getting the ball to the open player and with our defense.

“When you play good defense you sometimes force some tougher shots that result in longer rebounds. When you get those rebounds, they lead to run-outs and easy baskets in transition,” he explained. “So, our rebounding and defense lead into our offense.

“We, as coaches, really preach on giving up one long, contested shot every single trip down the court. We know the possession doesn’t end until the ball is in our hands, so we have to get every single rebound,” he added. “We talk about how it should hurt in our soul when we don’t get a rebound off a missed shot.

“We crash the boards really well. It took some time for everyone to buy into this crash-the-boards thing, but when they see they can get up the floor in 4-5 seconds for a layup, that really helps.

“We are really rebounding well as a group. It’s not just one or two or three guys, it’s everyone,” Lang pointed out. “It’s just like our offense. Everyone can shoot the ball and score. We play nine guys and all of them have led us in scoring at one point this season.

“Cooper has really stepped up rebounding because the last couple of years there has been a lot of pressure on Tucker to get all the rebounds. Cooper and Corbin are stronger now and they have been doing a great job of rebounding.”

The Seminoles have also received an overwhelming amount of support, both at game with fans packing gymnasiums along the tournament trail and with businesses and such offering free meals.

“Our crowds have been great wherever we’ve played. They follow us everywhere, even during the regular season,” Lang noted.

That support isn’t just from the Graysville, Lewisville and Woodsfield areas, but county-wide and then some.

“We are getting support from people down by the riverfront. I’ve seen some people from Beallsville at our games. I saw people from Shenandoah and Caldwell in the stands the other day,” Lang said. “When we take Route 78 west to the interstate (I-77), Caldwell has a sign wishing us good luck and there’s other signs along the road on the way to Cambridge.

“We already know the logistics of our trip, having played in Columbus the last two games and Cambridge the game before that,” Lang continued. “We know what time we have to leave, what time we have to leave and where we can stop and let the kids stretch their legs. Our bus driver, Drew Dimmerling, has driven us to every game this year.”

The Seminoles are staying focused by going about their daily routines. They have had no pep rallies and have turned down several requests for chartered buses.

“We want to remain focused. We really appreciate everything the community has done for us the entire way, but we also realize this is a generational opportunity for us because there is an ultimate goal that we are trying to achieve. Sometimes you get caught up in the bright lights and it makes it harder to achieve that goal.”

Lang praised the play and leadership provided by Tucker Howell and Allen.

“Tucker is a really special player. He led us in every statistical category this year. He’s a great passer. He’s a great teammate,” the coach lauded. “We’ve really preached to him about being a leader this season, and it has shown. There’s a lot of good things to say about Tucker.”

One aspect of Howell’s game that goes unnoticed is his very quick jumping ability. “Once he gets a rebound offensively, he goes right back up with it,” Lang explained. “He doesn’t have to load-up to jump. Other teams aren’t prepared for that.

“Chance came over here two years ago and is the second leading scorer of all time. He’s very quick and hard to defend because of that quickness. His finishing at the rim has improved tremendously. He’s shooting 75 percent which is just unbelievable.

“Caedyn is a great shooter at 42 percent. He really gets us going on offense and defense,” Lang noted. “He won’t back down from any challenge. He leads us in charges taken. He’ll step in front of anyone driving to the basket.

“Cooper has had a really good sophomore year. He is shooting 38 percent from three-point range and is our second leading rebounder, second leading assist guy, second in steals and second in blocks, all behind his older brother.

“The future is bright for Cooper.

“Corbin and Chance usually draw the other team’s two best players as far as our defense goes. Corbin is extremely versatile and extremely strong. He is rebounding very well and his offense is coming around,” Lang said. “He had a huge game against Eastern when we were struggling early on. He hit a couple of threes and had a penetration basket to get us going.”

Lang also gave kudos to his staff of assistants – Trey Dougherty, Dane Merckle, Derrick Parden, Justin Friday and Caine Leasure.

“I’ve got a great coaching staff. I ask a lot of them to get me all the information they can, then I’ll make a decision based on what they give me,” he said. “They do an excellent job of breaking down film and they are always at practice working on the game plan that we want to execute.”

Also drawing compliments were JV players called up to travel in Lucas Dalton, Noah Marshall, Blake Yontz and Brayden Baker, to go along with reserves AJ Rutter, Logan Powell, Blake Yontz and Max Demchak.

“We’ve brought up a couple of kids from the JV program to help us in practice with the other kids,” Lang mentioned. “They have been amazing in learning and running the other teams’ plays and defensive sets. They watch films of our opponents and try to play just like those players.”