It had been a long time since the Kenston Bombers Boys Basketball Team played for an OHSAA District Title.
It had been a long time since the Kenston Bombers Boys Basketball Team played for an OHSAA District Title.
54 years!
The year was 1972 and leading the Bombers Boys Basketball team was Coach Jon Hall.
Hall led the Bombers to an OHSAA District Title when they defeated Holy Name on Clint Long’s free throw with 12 seconds left in overtime to secure a 54-53 victory on March 10, 1972.
After 54 years, the Kenston Bombers Boys Basketball Team returned to the OHSAA District Championship on March 7 as they faced the Hoban Knights at Cloverleaf High School.
In a hard fought district championship contest, the Knights defeated the Bombers 70-57.
Although the season came to a close, the future of Bombers Boys Basketball is bright.
In fact, to get to the OHSAA District Championship game, the Bombers were led by underclassmen Adam Barr, Ethan Burge, Kahlil Hinton, Hunter Yates and Luke Stupica.
The grit and resilience these underclassmen demonstrated in coming back from 21 points down midway through the third quarter of the OHSAA District Semifinal against the Rocky River Pirates on March 3 was simply phenomenal.
In making a comeback for the ages, Coach Jakacki emphasized the importance of the Bombers’ belief and strong team chemistry.
“The kids believed, they stayed connected and they never felt like they were out of the game,” Coach Jakacki said.
The Bombers knew that their defensive pressure would eventually be too much for the Pirates to handle, Coach Jakacki said.
Relying on their defense to keep them in the contest, the Bombers offense began to heat up midway through the third quarter.
“As our momentum began to swell you could kind of feel the dam beginning to break for them, and when it did it was a thing of beauty,” Coach Jakacki said. “The kids stayed connected in the moment, never believed that they weren’t going to win that game. It was certainly one for the ages.”
Down 37-21 at intermission, the Pirates increased their 3rd quarter lead to 21 points.
But the Bombers were not deterred.
They began to turn the tides midway through the third quarter as they ended up outscoring the Pirates 19-13 in the quarter.
Trailing 50-40 heading into the final quarter, junior guard Adam Barr led the Bombers to victory as he dropped 12 fourth quarter points.
Barr, a quarterback for the football team, also initiated one of the top comebacks of the 2025 season when he helped the Bombers defeat the Riverside Beavers, 32-31 on October 10.
Almost six months later, in a similar situation on the hardwood, Barr helped orchestrate another miraculous comeback.
“I just had the same mentality that I did in the Riverside game,” Barr said. “I just knew that I had the opportunity to let it fly no matter what and I had the green light, so I took advantage of my opportunity.”
In the fourth quarter as Barr led the Bombers comeback, he said that he was in a flow state.
“I was in my own world,” Barr said. “When it was good it was good, and when it was bad I couldn’t (hear the fans). That was my mentality.”
With Barr leading his team in the final quarter, the Bombers outscored the Pirates 26-8 to claim a 66-58 OHSAA District Semifinal victory.
Leading the Bombers in the victory over the Pirates were Barr (17 points), Burge (16), Hinton (12), Yates (9), Jared Lechak (6), and Stupica (6).
In the District Championship Game, the Knights opened up a 35-21 lead heading into intermission.
Then, in the second half, the Bombers outscored their opponent 36-35, as the Knights went on to claim the OHSAA District Championship, 70-57.
Leading the Bombers offensively against the Knights were Hinton (17 points), Ellis (9), Yates (9), Stupica (6), Burge (5), Tommy Seifried (4), Jonah Link (3) and Ethan Black (2).
Although the Bombers lost to the Knights in the District Championship Game, Coach Jakacki saw this game as a springboard.
“You got to get to these moments in order to experience them,” Coach Jakacki said. “If you had told me a year ago that we would be standing here at the district final game playing Hoban, with a chance to play Garfield Heights, I think we would have all signed up for that.”
In reflecting upon the season, junior guard and leading scorer Eli Ellis said that the Bombers worked together to give excellent effort and that it was great to break the school record for victories in a season as the Bombers went 21-4.
“We got a great group of guys, we got a great team, and it was a team effort and we won a lot of games together,” Ellis said. “Breaking the school record was amazing. That 21st win in the District Semifinal versus Rocky River was awesome to be able to go to the District Championship. Obviously, next year we want to win it, but it was great to get here.”
