From underdogs to top dogs

COLUMBUS - The Marion Local Flyers were perceived underdogs entering Saturday's Division IV state championship game with Cornerstone Christian.

"Statewide, I definitely had the feeling we were an underdog," admitted Marion Local coach Kurt Goettemoeller, who was soaking wet after having had water dumped over him in the postgame celebration.

The underdog, the unranked Flyers, earned the status of top dog in Division IV - outlasting the No. 9 Patriots for a 52-51 victory in a double-overtime thriller at the Schottenstein Center.

Tyler Mescher rattled home a pair of free throws with 2.6 seconds left and Cornerstone missed a half-court shot at the buzzer, giving Marion Local its first state basketball title since 2003.

"It's a dream come true to be able to shoot those free throws," Mescher said. "I think any little kid, that's their dream to be able to shoot two free throws at the end of a state championship game, make them both and be able to help your team win."

The first of Mescher's two free throws explored every inch of the rim before falling through. The second shot also took a trip around the rim and then fell for the game-winner.

"I think we got a little help from upstairs," Mescher said.

"We lost a community member this week to a car accident, Aaron Rose," Goettemoeller added. "The whole time during the second half, I just kept saying 'Come on, Aaron. Come on, Aaron.' His obituary is in my pocket right now. I just kept saying 'Come on, Aaron.' And then you watch two free throws roll in at the end there. I just have to think somehow, someway, that he had something to do with that."

The Flyers became just the fourth school to win a state basketball and football title in the same school year. The last school to achieve the feat was Cleveland Benedictine in 1996-97. Marion Pleasant (1972-73) and St. Henry (1990-91) are the others,

"I think it goes to show what this senior class is made of," said Nathan Bruns, who matched Mescher's team-high with 18 points to go with a game-high 14 rebounds. "This senior class is something special. To be able to do it in both, that's something special for them."

Bruns, a junior, had a lot to do with the end result.

Cornerstone Christian (21-8) played a beefed-up schedule this season that featured several state-ranked Division I and II teams. The Patriots' losses had come at the hands of Cleveland Heights, Cleveland Central Catholic, St. Edward, Cardinal Stritch, Killian (from Miami, Florida), Solon and Brush. They had won every Division IV tournament game by double digits.

And Cornerstone looked to have Marion Local (25-4) on the ropes many times. The Flyers were down five points with under two minutes left in regulation when Bruns drained a 3-pointer with 1:46 to go. After Division IV Player of the Year Michael Bothwell missed the front end of a one-and-one with 40 ticks left on the clock, Mescher made a layup to force overtime.

Neither team scored in the first overtime until Ricky Adams swished two free throws with 1:44 left. After a defensive stop, Kendall Sanders beat Marion Local down the court to extend Cornerstone's lead to four. But Collin Everman banked home an eight-footer for Marion. Bothwell split a pair at the free throw line with 30 seconds left. Bruns netted a 3 from deep in the corner with 15 seconds left to level the score at 44-all. Bothwell's 35-footer at the buzzer clanked off the rim.

Marion Local again erased a four-point deficit in the second overtime. Nick Tangeman drove and scored to tie the game with just over a minute to play. Adams missed a 3 attempt on the next trip down for Cornerstone. Bruns collected an offensive rebound and made two from the charity stripe to put his team in front 50-48 with 40 seconds remaining.

But Adams was left open in the corner and swished a triple 20 seconds later. On Marion's next possession, Justin Albers passed to an open Mescher on the right block. A foul was committed by Cornerstone - and the title-clinching free throws followed.

"Give them credit," Cornerstone coach Dan Selle said. "Two huge free throws by (Mescher) down the stretch, who's an absolute horse. A huge 3 in the corner by (Bruns). We couldn't knock them out. That's a credit to great coaching and great young gentlemen who have a great belief in themselves. Maria Stein isn't afraid of the big stage."

The game featured 10 lead changes and six ties. Marion's largest lead was five and Cornerstone's was six.

Tyler Prenger hit a trio of 3-pointers for Marion Local, finishing with 10 points. Bruns had a game-high 14 rebounds while adding three assists and two steals. Mescher had nine rebounds for Marion, which held a 37-24 edge on the boards (18 offensive, 19 defensive).

"Tyler Prenger kept us in the game to a large degree and then we had to go to our 'Money Man' late in the game," Goettemoeller said. "(Bruns) hit a corner 3 that I think cut it to one. Then we're down three with about 15 seconds left. We had the ball on the sideline. We practice the play all the time ... we call it 'Sylvester.' It's named after the play when Matt Sylvester hit the 3 against Illinois. We ran it last year in the district final against Wayne Trace and he hit the 3 to win it. This time we ran it on a side out-of-bounds play. We made a great pass on it and the sucker hit it again. He's a stud."

Bothwell was the lone player in double figures for the Patriots, finishing with 23 points on 8-of-15 shooting. The Furman University signee also had seven rebounds, three assists, two steals and two blocks.

"You've got to give all the credit to Marion Local," Bothwell said. "They came out and played a great game and made our whole team uncomfortable. They never went away."

Marion Local won Mercer County's eighth state championship in boys' basketball and also became the Midwest Athletic Conference's first state boys' champion since New Knoxville in 2008. It's the third basketball title for the Flyers, who defeated Pandora-Gilboa and Cornerstone by a combined margin of three points.

"I told you guys in here Thursday what a whale of a basketball game that was," Goettemoeller said. "I think we topped that today. Give Cornerstone Christian a lot of credit. They're a great team. We just found a way to get it done today."

It was the first double overtime game at the state tournament since 2009 (Oak Hill defeated Kalida 48-43 for the D-IV title). The game was the highest attended of all four state finals with a crowd of 9,620. The next closest was the Division I game between Cincinnati Moeller and Solon (9,226).

"Wow, what an unbelievable game," said Assistant Commissioner for Sports Management Jerry Snodgrass in the postgame speech. "I know you have a motto in your school 'Every student, everyday, whatever it takes.' How about 'Every person, whatever it takes.' Every single person contributed to what happened here today. The girls took a picture on the court the other day of the star. There's one star on the court. Obviously, that star, they carefully place it and it represents Maria Stein. But I'm telling you, everybody from Osgood, everybody from Cassella, everybody from St. Sebastian, everybody from Chickasaw, they're all here. We brought a team out here that won a state championship 25 years ago (Fort Loramie). Twenty-five years from now, you'll probably be here, too. You'll talk about it forever."

Correction:

In Monday's Marion Local state championship story, it listed St. Henry as the last Midwest Athletic Conference team to win a state boys' title in 2004. The last MAC boys team to win state was New Knoxville in 2008. The error was made in editing.

The text of this story was updated with the correct information.