If you listen to the coaches of Friday’s OHSAA Boys’ Division I regional final, there will be two underdogs scrapping for a glimmer of respect and a spot in the state Final Four.

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Greater Catholic League rivals LaSalle and Moeller, which shared the GCL crown with identical 8-2 records, will meet at 7:30 p.m. at the Cintas Center on the campus of Xavier University. The two teams split their meetings this season, each gaining on a victory on the road.

“There were some teams that had us ranked as low as seventh,” said  Moeller head coach Carl Kremer. “We love being the underdogs. People had a lot of questions about us entering the tournament. LaSalle was clearly the number one seed and the city champions.”

Despite all of the accolades, including having the GCL Player (Brandon Neel) and GCL Coach (Dan Fleming) of the Year, the Lancers aren’t buying into all of the hype.

“The guys have never gotten into the polls,” said Fleming. “We continue to play with a chip on our shoulders. We always feel like the underdog.”

Moeller claimed the first match-up 49-47 on January 8 and the Lancers exacted a measure of revenge on January 28 with the 60-49 win.

In each of those contests, Moeller junior guard Charlie Byers had a field day. He was 10-of-22 for 22 points in the Crusaders’ victory and added 21 points on  5-of-9 shooting in the loss. He was 10-of-13 from the foul line in the game.

“He just really plays well against us,” said Fleming. “In the first game, he made some tough, tough shots. I thought we did a decent job of defending him. He just made some tough shots.”

Moeller can’t afford a repeat of Wednesday’s win in which Byers and senior forward Griffin McKenzie combined to shoot 5-of-24 from the field. Defensively, Kremer says his team must keep the Lancers from penetrating and finding open teammates.

The Lancers, according to Fleming, need to continue being a balanced team offensively and defensively. While the balance is key, rebounding with the bigger Crusaders is imperative.

One thing is for sure, when the smoke is cleared late Friday, a boy’s basketball team from the Greater Catholic League will be representing the city of Cincinnati in the Ohio Division I Final Four.