CINCINNATI — The Elder High School basketball team defeated visiting Moeller 42-40 Friday night to snap the Crusaders' 88-game win streak against Southwest Ohio teams.
"I was proud of the team effort," Elder coach Joe Schoenfeld told WCPO. "We had to use our depth to combat their talent. And I think we did. We were able to build a 9-point lead in the fourth but Moeller was Moeller and battled right back and took a lead. Our guys hung in."
Elder junior guard Sean Keller made a clutch 3-pointer to give the Panthers the lead and senior forward David Larkins got a block and save in the final seconds to lift Elder.
Elder became the first Greater Catholic League South division team to defeat Moeller since the Panthers defeated visiting Moeller 48-43 on Feb. 5, 2016.
Moeller had won 26 consecutive GCL South games entering Friday night.
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Elder (12-1, 2-0 GCL South) led 14-13 at halftime Friday night. The Panthers outscored Moeller 13-9 in the third quarter.
Elder junior forward Andrew Harp scored a game-high 22 points, according to the game stats. Senior forward Alex Williams led Moeller with 19 points.
"We had important contributions from a lot of guys off the bench like (senior forward) Scotty Nieman, (junior forward) Matthew Menninger and (senior guard) Tony Walker," Schoenfeld said. "We needed all of them. That's what I told them after the game. I was proud of our team effort."
Entering Friday night, Moeller (10-3, 1-1 GCL South) was 88-0 against Southwest Ohio teams starting with a win at Kings Dec. 10, 2016.
Elder is next scheduled to play host to Oak Hills Tuesday night. Moeller is scheduled to play at St. Xavier Jan. 22.
