Loveland’s Will Bertoli, left, dives for the ball against St. Francis De Sales’ Jameson Heck during the first half of a Division II Region 8 semifinal game March 6, 2025, at the Elida Fieldhouse in Elida. Photo by Sun Sports Reporter Jake Dowling.
ELIDA — When the public addresser announced St. Francis De Sales’ starting lineup, the Loveland Tiger faithful might have had a sense of concern going against that sort of height.
Their concerns would be valid.
The Tigers tried to compensate for their lack of height against the much taller Knights on March 6. Still, that effort eventually ran out of steam in a 54-37 loss in a Division II Region 8 semifinal at Elida Fieldhouse.
“They have a couple of big kids, and it takes a lot of defensive energy to guard those kids for us, and I think that finally wore us down,” Loveland coach Rob Reis said.
The Toledo-based school featured 6-foot-9 junior forward Alan Horton and 6-foot-11 senior center Logan Horton. By comparison, Loveland’s tallest were a trio of 6-foot-3 players.
Quite the discrepancy.
“Credit it to them; they are a very good basketball team,” Reis said.
So good that the Knights are heading to the state tournament for the first time since 1983 after beating Winton Woods, 45-40, in the regional championship game March 8.
However, Loveland stayed in the fight for three quarters in their March 6 showdown.
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