Staff photo / Neel Madhavan. From left-to-right: Ursuline's Jaden Payne, Geno Lucente, Noah Bell and Jace Riccardo look on at the end of the Irish's 73-37 state semifinal loss to Archbishop Alter on Saturday in Dayton.

DAYTON — For the first time all season, the lights were too bright for Ursuline.

A slow start doomed the Irish, as Ursuline’s season-long run finally came to an end Saturday in a 73-37 defeat to Kettering Archbishop Alter in the Division II state semifinal at UD Arena in Dayton.

“I felt like all season long, in big games, we were composed and we were able to follow the gameplan,” Irish head coach Keith Gunther said. “I just thought the lights got big, and we were a little bright eyed and didn’t follow the gameplan. … They’re pretty good, I’m not going to sit here and sugarcoat anything. We’ve played some teams, but we haven’t played a team like that this year. … From top-to-bottom, they have size, they have shooters and then at the end, they’re very well-coached.”

Ursuline’s state semifinal appearance was its first in 30 years, since the Irish won the state title in 1994. Ursuline finishes the season 24-4 and as Division II northeast regional champions.

“We had no idea that these guys were going to gel together with the young guys we had, then being able to play like we did in the regular season, district, then play like we did at the regional — I’m proud of what these guys did,” Gunther said. “I’m thrilled about the season we had. And for the future, I’m pretty excited.”

All game long, Ursuline struggled against Alter’s size and length in their zone. The Knights put three players 6-foot-3 or taller on the floor in their starting lineup, including two that are 6-foot-8 and 6-foot-6. Then, Alter also brings two players that are 6-foot-7 and 6-foot-5 off the bench.

In comparison, Ursuline’s tallest player is 6-foot-6 and the team only has three players 6-foot-3 or taller in its primary rotation. For the game, the Irish shot just 28.3% against the Knights’ zone.

“Here’s the thing that a lot of people don’t realize, they’re not just three-point shooters,” Gunther said. “Their guys are skilled enough that if you skinny them off the three line, they’re good enough to beat you off the dribble and get to the basket, too. Our guards are 5-foot-9, 5-foot-10, their guards are 6-foot-3, 6-foot-4. So when they’re getting downhill on our guards, they’re just going up and over and finishing.”

Right out of the gate, the Irish turned the ball over on each of their first three possessions. Within the first few minutes, Ursuline trailed by double digits and by the end of the first quarter, the Irish were down 20-4.

Falling into such a deep early hole made it an uphill climb for the Irish the rest of the way.

But, Ursuline finally settled in and found its rhythm in the second quarter, as the Irish had their best offensive showing of the game during the period.

The shots finally started falling, and Ursuline was able to cut into the early deficit, as it outscored Alter 18-13 during the quarter and trailed by 11 at halftime. The Irish had a chance to cut the lead to single digits at the end of the first half, but couldn’t get a shot off before time expired.

“We kind of calmed down. I felt like, alright, we’ve got our composure now,” Gunther said. “I thought we would bounce back. Second quarter, we got the ball inside, we scored on the interior and we were able to make a few shots.”

However, With Ursuline needing some early buckets to open the second half to continue its momentum, Alter quickly erased all doubt by exploding for 29 points during the third quarter to put the game away.

“We cut it to 11 at the half with the hope and understanding of getting that first bucket to set the tone for the second half,” Gunther said. “I think we turned it over right out of the gate. They come down and get a couple easy buckets, so then you’re trying to swim uphill. After that, you’re down 15-17, so now you’re trying to press and you’re gambling, and now they’re getting (more) layups now because you’re gambling trying to get them to turn it over.”

Alter finished with 21 assists on 28 made field goals, shot 62.2% overall and hit nine threes at a 47.4% clip.

The catalyst for the Knights’ offensive output was star guard RJ Greer.

Even as it threw different defensive sets and matchups at him, Ursuline struggled to contain Greer. The four-star junior already has offers from Florida, Michigan, Ohio, Pitt and Cincinnati and is ranked No. 122 in his class, according to rivals.com.

Greer shot a sizzling 9-for-11 from the floor, including 4-for-5 from three, and finished with a game-high 24 points.

“I was watching Greer on film all year. Watching film is totally different than watching him live,” Gunther said. “He’s definitely a big-time player. We were trying to skinny through screens — he knew how to read the screens. He knew how to come off and get his shot off. I think he’s a phenomenal player.”

Freshman Jaylen Gunther and senior Jaden Payne each scored 11 points to lead the Irish.

“For us, it’s something special to be able to get down here,” Gunther said. “We hope in the future, if we get down here again, that we’re able to play a little bit differently. With the guys we have coming back the next few years, we feel like if we can get a couple more pieces to the puzzle, we’ll be back to Dayton.”

Have an interesting story? Contact Neel Madhavan by email at nmadhavan@tribtoday.com. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter, @NeelMadhavan.

BOYS BASKETBALL

Division II State Semifinal

Archbishop Alter 73, Ursuline 37

URS 4 18 11 4 — 37

ALT 20 13 29 11 — 73

URSULINE (24-4): Geno Lucente 1-6 0-0 2, Jaylen Gunther 3-12 3-4 11, DaShaun Will 2-11 1-3 5, Noah Bell 1-1 3-4 5, Jaden Payne 5-11 1-2 11, Myles Miller 0-1 1-2 1, Jared Klucinec 0-1 0-0 0, Jace Riccardo 0-0 0-0 0, Xavier Clark 1-1 0-1 2, Ja’Liel Graham 0-0 0-0 0, Nick Markulin 0-0 0-0 -, Damari Clark 0-1 0-0 0, Dom Polkovitch 0-1 0-0 0, Alex Simon 0-0 0-0 0. TOTALS: 13-46 9-16 37.

ARCHBISHOP ALTER (20-7): Gavin Leen 1-4 0-0 2, Brady Conner 5-6 0-0 10, RJ Greer 9-11 2-2 24, Joe Brand 5-7 6-6 17, Charlie Uhl 2-6 0-0 5, Connor Watkins 2-4 0-0 5, Naceive Fenton, Jr. 2-5 0-0 6, Matt Lunne 1-1 0-0 2, John Keighly 0-0 0-0 0, Carter Sheets 0-0 0-0 0, Jacob Focht 0-0 0-0 0, Collin Wehner 1-1 0-0 2, Keilen Hart 0-0 0-0 0, Peyton Bakos 0-0 0-0 0, James Ngoga 0-0 0-0 0. TOTALS: 28-45 8-8 73.