Alter vs. CJ has never meant more
Storied programs, storied rivals meet in region final for the first time Saturday night at Butler
Chaminade Julienne boys basketball coach Charlie Szabo answered a couple of my questions about Thursday night’s region semifinal victory over Columbus Watterson and was in the middle of another, when a spontaneous thought popped out of my mouth.
“It just crossed my mind,” I said. “Has this ever happened before at this stage?”
The this is the regional final matchup against archrival Alter at 7 p.m. Saturday back in the venerable Butler High School gym.
“Oh no, it's never happened, never happened,” he said, then paused.
I could see the wheels turning in his mind as he cocked his head back and thought.
“I don't believe so,” he said. “I mean, I could be wrong. Yeah, I'm going over everybody we beat to go state. I don't think so.”
When I sat down to write I had another thought. If anybody could answer my question as quickly as you can Google trillions of facts, it’s Mary Jo Petrocelli. She’s the daughter of Joe, the legendary Alter coach, and scorebook keeper for the Knights. She is the enthusiastic keeper of Alter basketball records and fun facts.
I shot her a quick email and had an answer back in an hour at 11:20 p.m. Even at that late hour I was not surprised. The answer was no.
But, she said, they previously met twice in region semifinals. Then she emailed me again at 10:37 Friday morning with an update. Some of the info on the OHSAA website she was looking at 12 hours earlier was garbled. So she found another way. There was actually a third time.
Here are the three regional semifinal matchups:
1989: CJ 62, Alter 56. CJ then beat Forest Park 68-65 in the regional final and lost to Lexington 57-55 in the state semifinal.
2002: Alter 39, CJ 35. Alter then beat Roger Bacon in the regional final 34-29, beat Columbus Beechcroft in the state semifinal 53-45 and lost to Akron St. Vincent-St. Mary and LeBron James in the state final 40-36.
2008: Alter 50, CJ 45. Alter then lost to Graham in the regional final 69-61 in overtime.
Saturday’s winner will add another trip to the final four. For Alter, it would be a second straight and No. 10. The Knights won it all in 1978, 1999 and 2001. For CJ, it would be a second in three years and No. 9. The Eagles on it all in 1966 and 1970.
In two games this season, CJ won both games by the identical score of 77-70. Relive it if you’d like: First game. Second game.
“We know what's in front of us,” Szabo said. “We know them well. They know us well. Two great programs, two great rivals trying to achieve the same goal. So Saturday should be fun.”
Big week for Dayton area teams
We are assured of two Dayton area teams in next weekend’s state tournament at UD Arena.
Tonight, Shelby County rivals Jackson Center and Russia meet at 7 at Trent Arena. JC’s only loss this season is to Russia early in the season.
If one instance of two teams from the same league meeting in a region final is rare, what about it happening twice. That’s what’s happening because of the meeting between GCL-Coed powers Alter and CJ.
The Division I and Division III finals have one local team apiece. Centerville is trying to make it to state for the third straight year. The Elks face Fairfield in a rematch of last year’s region final at 5 p.m. Saturday at Xavier’s Cintas Center.
Division III Preble Shawnee is attempting what Centerville did in 2021: go to its first state tournament. The Arrows have a tough assignment at 7 p.m. Saturday at Trent in Canal Winchester Harvest Prep. But Mason Shrout and company can get it done.
The Uhl legacy
While Alter sophomore Charlie Uhl made a big impact on the Knights’ victory over Dunbar on Friday night, his older brother had the biggest moment of his UD career.
Little brother took advantage of being 6-foot-8 to help lead the Knights in the best game of his first varsity season. Big brother is a Flyers walk-on who rarely plays, but because of injuries to two others he got in the game when it mattered and sparked the Flyers with a timely 3-pointer.
Tom Archdeacon is in Brooklyn for the Atlantic 10 tournament and gave Uhl what we like to call the Arch Treatment. It’s a good read and a look into some Flyer history.