The top two teams in the 34th District all season long will be the last two standing in the district tournament.
In Wednesday’s 34th District semifinals at Scheben Gymnasium in Erlanger, the top two seeds delivered when it mattered most: No. 1 Lloyd Memorial used a dominant second half to pull away from No. 4 Ludlow, while No. 2 Dixie Heights showcased balance and firepower in a win over No. 3 St. Henry.
With those wins, Lloyd and Dixie will meet in the championship Friday at 7 p.m. at Lloyd.
Here’s a look back at Wednesday’s semifinal action:
Dixie Heights 52, St. Henry 37
Some games are won with offense. Some are won with defense. Even better are the games won with both.
Dixie had it all in a 52-37 victory over St. Henry in the 34th District semifinals, advancing to the district title game for the third straight season.
On offense, it was a balance of paint and perimeter, efficiency, and three players in double digits. On defense, it was relentless pressure and turnovers.
“Overall, I was very pleased with our guys,” Colonels head coach Scott Code said. “I was happy with our productivity on offense. We shot over 50% from the field and three for seven from three. One of the biggest keys was that we had 11 steals. Anytime you get that many live-ball turnovers and limit shots, that’s tremendous.”
Even when one part of the game wasn’t clicking, the other was. The second quarter was a perfect example.
Both teams struggled to score, with Dixie managing just five points, four of them from Max Rubemeyer, who finished with 13 on the night. St. Henry scored only four points in the same span, all coming nearly three minutes into the quarter from Caden Kunstek.
The physicality and defensive pressure weren’t new. In the regular-season matchup on Jan. 2 that determined district seeding, Dixie held St. Henry to just 34 points, well below their 51.4 points per game average.
“It all comes back to physicality,” Crusaders head coach Tim Sullivan said. “Dixie is just so physical. They guard you, they switch, they beat you up. They grind you. We knew going in we had to be physical and grind it out for 32 minutes.”
Physicality and defense paid dividends the rest of the way.
Dixie’s post duo, Rubemeyer and Hunter Seng, led the team with 16 points each, while guards including Tyson Metzger added 13 points, creating an all-hands-on-deck effort. Parks Vonderhaar also provided key minutes inside, allowing Code to rotate three post players and keep fresh legs inside.
“We can actually rotate three guys through the post fairly often, and while our post guys get a lot of credit, Tyson and Will Collins are exceptional out there,” Code said.
The trio of Seng, Rubemeyer, and Metzger accounted for nearly 80% of Dixie’s scoring, including 15 points in the first quarter that put the Colonels ahead 18-11.
Even after the slow second quarter, Dixie maintained a 23-15 lead at halftime. The Colonels extended their advantage to 35-24 after three and built their largest lead of 15 in the fourth quarter en route to another district title game appearance.
For St. Henry, the first year of the Sullivan era ends at 12-17.
“I told them we started the year with 20 and finished with 21 because our trainer Gavin came in late,” Sullivan said. “We changed everything from what they’d known under Dave Faust, got our teeth kicked in a lot, but they kept showing up. I’ve got a great group of young men.”
The Crusaders will lose five seniors, including starter Caden Kunstek, who finishes his high school career with 69 games, 586 points, and more than 320 rebounds.
Still, the program has pieces in place for the future.
Leading scorer Tyler Detzel, a sophomore, returns, along with junior starters Blake Stevens, Parker Lutz, and Cooper McIntire. Juniors Elijah Sullivan, Ryne Ravenscraft, Tristan Krenner, and Sam Duckworth also return, each playing in more than 25 games this season.
COLONELS 52, CRUSADERS 37
DIXIE HEIGHTS — 18-5-12-17 — 52
ST. HENRY — 11-4-9-13 — 37
Scoring
Dixie Heights (52) — Seng 16, Rubemeyer 13, Metzger 13, Collins 6, Vonderhaar 4
St. Henry (37) — Detzel 14, Stevens 9, Kunstek 5, Lutz 4, Ravenscraft 3, McIntire 2
Game Stats
3-Pointers: Dixie Heights 3, St. Henry 7
Free Throws: Dixie Heights 7/14, St. Henry 2/5
Fouls: Dixie Heights 12, St. Henry 19
Records: Dixie Heights 18-11, St. Henry 12-17
Lloyd Memorial 74, Ludlow 45
It was a game of sharp contrast for Lloyd on their home floor Wednesday night.
After beating Ludlow 81-55 in the regular season, the top-seeded Juggernauts were pushed early by the fourth-seeded Panthers. Ludlow knocked down nine 3-pointers, four in the first quarter, to build a 16-8 lead and carried a 26-23 advantage into halftime.
Then the game flipped.
Lloyd dominated the final 16 minutes with a 51-19 run, including a 30-12 third quarter that turned a halftime deficit into a 53-38 lead entering the fourth. The surge carried the Juggernauts to a 74-45 win and into their fifth straight district championship game.
Anthony Blaackar and Isiah Golsby led Lloyd with 15 points each. Colten Barger added 13 and Isaiah Coleman had 10.
Ludlow, which finishes 14-17, was led by Jaylen Stone with 13 points and Logan Day with 11.
JUGGERNAUTS 74, PANTHERS 45
LLOYD MEMORIAL — 8-15-30-21 — 74
LUDLOW — 16-10-12-7 — 45
Scoring
Lloyd Memorial (74) — Blaackar 15, I. Golsby 15, Barger 13, Coleman 10, Kabeya 9, N. Golsby 5, Lewis 4, Thomas 2, Walker 1
Ludlow (45) — Stone 13, Day 11, Englemon Jr. 8, Grider 5, Humphrey 3, Turner 3, Yates 2
Game Stats
3-Pointers: Lloyd Memorial 6, Ludlow 9
Free Throws: Lloyd Memorial 4/9, Ludlow 2/4
Fouls: Lloyd Memorial 10, Ludlow 9
Records: Lloyd Memorial 21-4, Ludlow 14-16