Cleveland Central Catholic Crowned District Champs with OT Victory over Benedictine

Stow, Ohio— Miryne Thomas knew it wasn’t going to be easy but it was enough to get the job done.

The 6’7″ senior led his Ironmen to victory, as Central Catholic defeated Benedictine, 55-52, in overtime.

Thomas finished with 18 points, while Tyler Golphin scored 12.

“I told my teammates let’s keep pushing so we can cut the net and get our medals,” Thomas said after the win.

“They had their little run and we had ours, that’s what basketball is all about.”

He was the one who delivered the final blow by making both of his free throws after getting fouled with 5 seconds left.

Before that happened, Benedictine guard Chris Jefferson got fouled after forcing a turnover.

He split his two shots at the line to put the Bengals up top 52-51 with 25 seconds to go in overtime.

On the next Central Catholic possession, Thomas put one in, giving his team hope and a one-point lead. With 7.5 seconds to go, a traveling violation was called on Benedictine.

“Give credit to Central today, they attacked the glass and they beat all the tough plays.” Coach Rob Stircula said.

“Pretty much it came down to two plays at the end but wasn’t able to capitalize.”

Intense defensive basketball waa the theme for the start of the game, as Central led 24-14 at halftime. However, momentum changed in the second half.

Benedictine got on a nice 6-0 run to cut the deficit to four to start the second half.

The Ironmen were able to build the lead back up to 10. With Chris Jefferson’s help, Benedictine cut back into the deficit and trailed 38-33 going into the fourth.

“We wanted to make sure we didn’t quit.” Central Catholic head coach Jordan Duke said. “They hit us in the third quarter but we wanted to do the same thing and come back.”

It was a rematch of last year’s district final, in which Benedictine won by 10.

2017 was another story for Central Catholic.

The Ironmen advance to the regional semifinals to face Ursuline on Thursday, March 16.

Tip-off from the Canton Civic Center is set for 6:15 pm.