SBC's Alexander, Parrott heading to D-III Final Four with Marietta

The Sandusky Bay Conference will be well represented at the NCAA Division III men's basketball Final Four in Fort Wayne, Indiana. Oak Harbor graduate Jac Alexander and Willard grad Cooper Parrott both are part of the Marietta College team making its first trip to the national semifinals. The Pioneers (29-2) take on Randolph-Macon College (31-1) at 5 p.m. on Friday. A live stream of the game is available on NCAA.com. "It's obviously so much joy right now, but also a lot of relief to get this close a couple times before and not quite able to get it done," Marietta coach Jon VanderWal told the school's athletic website after clinching their spot. "There's just a ton of emotions running through my body right now. I'm really grateful and feel blessed." Alexander and Parrott are both sophomores who play important bench minutes for Marietta. At 5-foot-10, Alexander averaged 7.9 points per game as a freshman and averages 4.6 points per contest this season. He is shooting better than 35 percent from 3-point range in his college career. The 6-3 Parrott provides wing minutes for Marietta and has scored 5.8 points per game in 2021-22. He also grabs more than 3.5 rebounds per game while providing another outside shooting weapon. Parrott played 11 minutes in both the Sweet 16 and Elite Eight, while Alexander received single-digit minutes off the bench in those wins over Oswego (N.Y.) State and Christopher Newport (Va.) University. At Oak Harbor, Alexander was the 2020 SBC Bay Division Player of the Year and Special Mention All-Ohio. He was also a first-team All-Ohio football selection. Parrott was a first-team All-Ohio basketball selection for the Flashes. He led the Bay in scoring with 20.0 points per game as a senior in 2019-20, with Alexander right behind him at 18.6 points per game. The Pioneers entered the postseason ranked as the No. 2 team in the country by D3hoops.com, behind Randolph-Macon. They've won both the Ohio Athletic Conference regular season and conference tournament championships in back-to-back seasons. Senior guard Jason Ellis (Marion Harding High School) leads Marietta with 17.4 points per game, and his classmate Lukas Isaly (Hannibal River) averages 16.1 points. If Marietta wins on Friday night, the Pioneers play for a Division III national championship at 6 p.m. Saturday against the winner of Elmhurst (Ill.) and Wabash (Ind.). This is the first Division III national tournament since 2019 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.