Leopards Stave Off Stallions in Overtime 51-46, Advance to 2nd Regional Final – Boys Basketball
#4 Louisville 51, #11 St. Francis DeSales 46, OT
<<< Vs. Northwest | Boys Basketball Schedule | Vs. Bishop Hartley >>>
The #4 ranked Louisville Leopards Boys Basketball Team defeated the #11 ranked Columbus St. Francis DeSales Stallions 51-46 in overtime Tuesday Evening in the DIII, Region 11 Regional Semifinals played at Taft Coliseum at the Ohio Expo Center. With their eighth straight victory, Louisville improves to 21-5 on the season and advances to play the Columbus Bishop Hartley Hawks in the DII, Region 11 Regional Finals on Saturday, March 8 at 1:00 PM back at Taft Coliseum.
YSN Full Game Broadcast
Gross Scores Game-High 22 to Lead Leopards
Brayden Gross finished with a double-double scoring a game-high 22 points and pulling down a game-best 15 rebounds to lead the Leopards. He also dished out 4 assists, had 2 steals, and 2 blocks.
Brayden Gross Postgame Interview with Mike Popovich
Gross dominated the second half, scoring the first 12 points, including all seven of the Leopards’ points in the third quarter. He added seven more points in the fourth quarter, accounting for all but one of Louisville’s points in the period—a field goal from Tate Aljancic that made it 42-36.
Gross scored eight points from the field and earned everything else from the line. He converted 14 of 19 free throw attempts including 8 of 11 in the second half. The Leopards shot 18 of 27 from the charity stripe as a team.
Siegfried Leads Louisville to First Half Advantage
Beau Siegfried drained a pair of three-pointers and scored all 10 of his points in the first half. He also added a pair assists and two rebounds.
Louisville set the tone early, scoring the first four points and never surrendering the lead. The Leopards held an 11-9 edge at the end of the first and extended their advantage to double digits during the second quarter. Louisville went into the half up 28-19.
Q92 Audio Broadcast
Stallions Rally to Force Overtime
Carter Ward scored 6 of his 14 points in the third quarter to lead St. Francis DeSales. The Stallions trimmed their deficit to 35-32 via a Chase Cromwell three-pointer with a little over half a minute remaining in the third quarter.
St. Francis DeSales mounted a comeback, forcing the game into overtime. P.J. Noles swished 2 of his 3 three-pointers in the final minutes to tie the game. His first cut the margin to 42-41 and his second knotted the game at 44-all. Noles would finish in double figures with 11.
Gross drove to the basket for Louisville in the waning seconds of regulation, but was blocked by C.J. Carter. The ball hit off a Stallion giving the Leopards new life with 4.2 seconds left to play. On the ensuing inbound, Ward stripped the ball from Gross’ hands and Noles picked up the loose ball. Before he could launch a half-court buzzer beater, Gross alertly fouled Noles in the backcourt with 0.8 seconds to play. Noles final prayer hit off the top of the backboard and missed its mark sending the game into an extra session.
Other scorers for Columbus St. Francis DeSales included Frankie McAllister with 8, Daevyn Amankwaah and Carter with 4 each, Cromwell with 3, and Grant Weakley with 2.
The Letter Audio Podcast
From Ejection to Overtime Hero: A Devin Bailey Story
Louisville won the opening tip in overtime and got right to work. A pass from Siegfried on the left wing to Gross inside drew all five St. Francis DeSales defenders. This left the perimeter open, allowing Gross to kick the ball back out to Devin Bailey on the right wing.. Bailey rattled home the three-pointer to give the Leopards the critical first lead in overtime 47-44. Bailey’s three-pointer was not only his first points in nine quarters but also the biggest shot of Louisville’s postseason run so far.
Devin Bailey Postgame Interview with Mike Popovich
Like they had all game, the Leopards would never surrender that advantage in outscoring the Stallions 7-2 in extra period. With about a minute left, Siegfried found Ashton Marshall wide open in the key for a basket to extend the Leopard advantage to 49-44.
Carter responded with a slick drive to the basket, trimming the DeSales deficit to 49-46. However, both Aljancic and Marshall would split a pair of free throws in the final 22.6 seconds to ice the victory. Marshall would finish with 9 points, 2 assists, a steal, and a block. Aljancic would add 7 points to go along with 5 rebounds, 4 steals, 2 assists, and a block.
Fittingly, Marshall pulled down the final rebound of the contest and flipped it in the air all the way down the court as the final seconds ticked off. The ball bounced high off the floor at the top of the arc and was caught by Bailey in the key right as the buzzer sounded. Both Bailey and Marshall led Louisville with 3 points in overtime and literally put the final touches on the Leopards’ second regional semifinal victory in program history.
Bailey went from facing suspension for regionals to becoming the team’s hero, delivering the clutch three-pointer in overtime. Just three days earlier, Bailey was wrongfully ejected at the end of the third quarter in the District Championship game against Northwest. Louisville won an appeal with the OHSAA and the suspension was adverted. Bailey suited up business as usual for Tuesday’s regional semifinal and made his presence felt in the biggest of moments.
Louisville Advances to 2nd Regional Final in 4 Years
Louisville has now won seven of its last eight tournament games, with this senior class boasting a 12-3 postseason record since its first regional run in 2022.
This was the first ever meeting between the Leopards and Stallions on the hardwood. Louisville will face another new opponent in the #6 ranked Bishop Hartley Hawks on Saturday for a historic opportunity to reach the state tournament for the first time in program history.
The Leopards have now advanced to a regional championship game for the second time in four seasons. Louisville’s only other regional semifinal win came in their last postseason overtime thriller, a 90-86 triumph over Cleveland Glenville in 2022. Louisville is now 3-3 all-time in tournament overtime games and 3-0 when playing past regulation this season.
The Leopards fell to powerhouse and eventual state champion St. Vincent-St. Mary 61-21 in the 2022 regional final to finish the previous deepest tournament run in Louisville High School Basketball history. They aim to rewrite history and punch their ticket to the state tournament on Saturday.
<<< Vs. Northwest | Tournament History | Vs. Bishop Hartley >>>
UP NEXT: The #4 ranked Louisville Leopards will next challenge the #6 ranked Bishop Hartley Hawks in the DIII, Region 11 Regional Championship Game on Saturday, March 8. Game time is slated for 1:00 PM from Taft Coliseum at the Ohio Expo Center.
Division III Regional Boys Basketball Scores and Schedule
Region 9 – Medina Regional
Regional Semifinals (March 4) – Medina High School
Akron Archbishop Hoban 75, Olmsted Falls 63, 3OT
Garfield Heights 64, Parma Padua Franciscan 41
Regional Finals (March 7) – Medina High School
Garfield Heights Vs. Archbishop Hoban, 7:00
Region 10 – Toled Regional
Regional Semifinals (March 5) – University of Toledo Savage Arena
Rocky River Lutheran West Vs. Sandusky, 6:00
Toledo Central Catholic Vs. Lima Shawnee, 8:00
Regional Final (March 8) – University of Toledo Savage Arena
Semifinal Winners, 2:00
Region 11 – Columbus Regional
Regional Semifinals (March 4) – Ohio Expo Center Taft Coliseum
Louisville 51, Columbus St. Francis DeSales 46, OT
Columbus Bishop Hartley 88, Steubenville 48
Regional Final (March 8) – Ohio Expo Center Taft Coliseum
Louisville Vs. Columbus Bishop Hartley, 100
Region 12 – Cincinnati Regional
Regional Semifinals (March 4) – Princeton High School Viking Arena
Cincinnati Aiken 56, Cincinnati LaSalle 55
Regional Semifinals (March 5) – Princeton High School Viking Arena
Hamilton Badin Vs. Trotwood-Madison, 7:00
Regional Final (March 9) – Xavier University Cintas Center
Cincinnati Aiken Vs. Hamilton Badin/Trotwood-Madison, 2:00
Donate to Leopard Nation
Louisville Vs. St. Francis DeSales Boys Basketball Statistics
LEOPARDS 51, STALLIONS 46, OT
Team 1-2-3-4-OT–TOTAL
Louisville 11-17-7-9-7–51
DeSales 9-10-13-12-2–46
St. Francis DeSales Stallions Boys Basketball Box Score
| Player | 2PT | 3PT | FG | FTM | FTA | Points |
| Carter Ward | 6 | 0 | 6 | 2 | 6 | 14 |
| P.J. Noles | 1 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 11 |
| Frankie McAllister | 3 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 8 |
| Daevyn Amankwaah | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 |
| C.J. Carter | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| Chase Cromwell | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| Grant Weakley | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| TOTAL | 14 | 4 | 18 | 6 | 11 | 46 |
Louisville Leopards Boys Basketball Box Score
| Player | 2PT | 3PT | FG | FTM | FTA | Points |
| Brayden Gross | 4 | 0 | 4 | 14 | 19 | 22 |
| Beau Siegfried | 1 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 10 |
| Ashton Marshall | 4 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 4 | 9 |
| Tate Aljancic | 3 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 7 |
| Devin Bailey | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| TOTAL | 12 | 3 | 15 | 18 | 27 | 51 |
Fouls: 21-13 St. Francis DeSales
Records: Louisville 21-5, St. Francis DeSales 18-8
