St. Vincent-St. Mary boys basketball extends its Ohio record to 10 state championships
By Ryan Isley | Photos by Ben Jackson
DAYTON, Ohio — Sencire Harris walked to midcourt at University of Dayton Arena, blew a kiss to the crowd and took a bow as he headed to the bench with 2:13 left in the OHSAA Division II state championship game.
Harris and fellow senior Ramar Pryor led the Fighting Irish to their second consecutive state title with a 63-35 win Sunday over Gilmour Academy.
Gilmour made it tough in the first half for the Fighting Irish, holding the ball and trying to limit possessions. Even so, STVM led 24-17 at halftime.
But the Fighting Irish showed in the third quarter what makes them so good. They turned up the pressure on defense and forced the Lancers into seven turnovers, and STVM took full advantage, scoring 12 points in transition.
STVM went on one of its patented runs, outscoring Gilmour 18-2 before Lucas Grover hit a 3-pointer with 30 seconds left in the quarter for the Lancers.
Harris had nine points in the run, while Pryor had four. Harris could start to feel that the Fighting Irish were going to be state champions.
“After we got I believe it was three steals back-to-back and our rebounds, we pushed the ball,” Harris said. “With me and Ramar, it’s hard to stop us when we are in the open floor. We are the best in the state at that.”
Part of what fueled the Fighting Irish were comments made by Gilmour about how this year wasn’t going to be like last year's 67-40 STVM win in the regional final.
“No disrespect to Gilmour, but they made some statements,” Joyce said. “With this group you don’t need to give them anything to rally around.”
It wasn’t always a forgone conclusion that the Fighting Irish would be in this position, however.
After losing Ohio Mr. Basketball Malaki Branham from last year’s state championship team, STVM knew it had two stars in Harris and Pryor, but beyond that were question marks.
After two losses to start the season to Pickerington North and Sierra Canyon (California), the two seniors knew they needed to get together and lead the team.
“The seniors had to lock down and come together and unify so we could prevail,” Pryor said.
STVM followed up the loss to Sierra Canyon with a 49-26 win over Archbishop Moeller, which is when Harris started to realize they might have something special.
His head coach, however, wasn’t so sure. And then three weeks later, the team showed its resolve in a 70-69 win over Gahanna Lincoln in which the Fighting Irish trailed by 20 early in the game.
“These guys will probably tell you it was after Sierra Canyon,” Joyce said. “For me, it was against Gahanna Lincoln when we were down by 20-plus in the first quarter. That told me these guys were special.”
They were coached up on a daily basis by not only Joyce and his coaching staff, but by the senior leadership.
The constant work and coaching made this one even more special for Harris, who will now head to the University of Illinois.
“It has been a lot of hard work with this group, pushing them every day to get better,” Harris said. “Today is very special for me.”
Harris led all scorers Sunday with 17 points, while Lance Hayes added 11. Pryor, a Cleveland State commit, scored 10.
With the win, St. Vincent-St. Mary hoisted the state championship trophy for the second year in a row, seventh time under Joyce and state-best 10th overall.
“It never gets old. This is special,” Joyce said. “To have them come and put in the time and the work, it just makes it even more special.”
But there is little time to celebrate for the head coach.
“On to next year,” Joyce said.
And next year, he will have another group of leaders trying to cement their legacy in green and gold.
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