FAIRBORN, Ohio — St. Francis de Sales ran into a blanket of constant, smothering defense from top-ranked Westerville North on Sunday in the Division II state basketball semifinals at Wright State University's Nutter Center.

The Knights saw their fantastic run to the state final four end in a 73-52 loss to the top-ranked Warriors. No. 5 ranked St. Francis (16-10) trailed 21-11 after one quarter and could not claw its way back into the game.

Westerville North (24-2) never trailed due in large part to its suffocating defense combined with solid shooting. St. Francis had 18 turnovers and shot 45.7 percent from the field.

When asked why his team struggled with turnovers, St. Francis coach Jamie Kachmarik answered succinctly: “Westerville North.”

“We knew that's what they do,” he said. “They have three good guards that are all brothers, and they get up in you, and they guard you. We tried to do it in practice by going against six and seven. But they speed you up so fast, you’ve got to be able to contain it and still pass the ball. We just got in too big of a hurry and we rushed some shots, and we could never establish our inside game.”

St. Francis guards Chris Poellnitz and Jameson Heck each scored 13 points, while fellow guard Raheem Brown added 10. Forward Alan Horton had a game-high eight rebounds and six points.

“They're an extremely tough team,” Heck said. “They get up in you, they play very hard. But I'm extremely proud of this program and all of the work that we put in this year as a team. It was a really great experience for the seniors to come down here and get the chance to play.”

The Knights had trouble slowing down guard Micah Young, who had a game-high 29 points for the Warriors, and fellow guards Tai Perkins (12 points) and Elijah McCree (11).

North converted on 53.7 percent from the floor while committing just nine turnovers.

The Knights came out a bit disjointed in the opening quarter, fell behind, and never settled into the game.

Westerville North coach Shan Trusley said his team's goal is to press in the full court and have constant pressure.

“We want to make you feel us,” Trusley said. “We did a good job of that today, especially in the first half. And we were able to get out in transition and score. So I think that helped us to grow the lead in the second half.”

The Knights trailed 39-26 at the half. After Brown cut the Warriors' lead to 11 by hitting the first bucket of the third quarter, Westerville went on a 12-2 run to take its largest lead at 51-30.

Brown, a standout receiver and defensive back, will play football collegiately.

“It's just a hard moment right now,” Brown said. “We know we're better than that. They just came out with a lot of energy. That's a good team. We came out flat and they built that lead. But the support was really good. It was a good run. There's nothing to be mad at.”

An offensive rebound and subsequent two-handed jam by Horton, the Knights' 6-foot-9 forward, followed by another slam by freshman Poellnitz, provided highlights early in the fourth. But the Warriors had built a 69-45 lead.

St. Francis reached the state final four for the first time in 42 years. The Knights topped No. 3 ranked Cincinnati Winton Woods 45-40 to win the D-II regional title.

The Knights, who had a height advantage, were outrebounded by one (27-26). 

Kachmarik said the Warriors did a good job of fronting Horton in the post.

“They made us play too quick,” Kachmarik said. “We just didn't play our best today.”

Westerville North will advance to play Massillon Perry in the state title game on Friday at the University of Dayton. Massillon Perry defeated North Royalton 66-63 in the first semifinal here.

Trusley said his group focused on taking away the Knights' size advantage.

Perkins will play at Akron and Young, his stepbrother, has signed with Concord.

“The kids worked really hard on post-defense this week. We had a plan with Horton because we knew he was good,” Trusley said. “We wanted to front the post. We did a pretty good job of not letting them just throw it directly into him and scoring.”

Kachmarik said Westerville North forced his team out of its usual defense and into man-to-man.

“That's a really good team,” he said. “There's a reason why their only two losses are to teams in the state semifinal for Division I.”

Kachmarik took over the program when the seniors were freshmen.

“They've had success throughout their years,” he said. “It's tough that you don't get a chance to go back out there and coach them one more time. But they're all going to be very successful in whatever they can do as adults, and that's what we're most proud of.

“They're always going to be a state final four team. They're going to be a team that comes back for reunions. They're going to be a team that talks to other St Francis teams down the road, and they're going to be a family forever. They've now kind of set a new foundation for us.”

First Published March 17, 2025, 12:17 a.m.