“It’s unreal,” Coulter admitted after Alter rallied to stun Carroll 47-42 in last Sunday’s D-II district final at UD Arena. “I’ve been with Petro for a lot of stuff. This is my first (district title) as a head coach. Petro had like 25 of them.”
Coulter is correct about that. Alter is 26-2 all-time in district finals, all but one under Petro’s watch.
The Alter/Aiken start time was moved back 30 minutes to accommodate Alter fans who also might attend the Knights’ D-II girls state semifinal at 6 p.m. in Columbus. Aiken advanced by defeating Urbana 67-55 in another district final.
Alter is led in scoring by senior Joey Laravie (16.2 points) and his cousin, junior Dominic Laravie (15.2). They also were 1-2 in Greater Catholic League Co-Ed North Division scoring.
Taft (21-5), like Aiken a Cincinnati Metro Athletic conference member, plays Johnstown-Monroe (23-3) in the 5:30 p.m. opener. The winners return to Trent for Saturday’s 3 p.m. regional final and a trip to next week’s state final four at stake. If both Alter’s boys and girls win today that would set up another conflict: The girls D-II state final is set for 2 p.m. Saturday.
Today’s boys games
D-II regional semifinals at Fairmont’s Trent Arena
• Taft (21-5) vs. Johnstown-Monroe (23-3), 5:30 p.m.
• Alter (18-6) vs. Aiken (22-3), 8:30 p.m.
Today’s girls game
D-II state semifinal at OSU’s Schottenstein Center
Alter (26-2) vs. Col. Eastmoor Academy (22-4), 6 p.m.
— Marc Pendleton, staff writer
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