Category: SOC2

Valley over Beaver Eastern

Results

TeamTOutcome
Valley59Win
Beaver Eastern40Loss

Valley grounds Eagles for SOC II win

By Paul Boggs

 

LUCASVILLE — The flu epidemic, floating around bad enough in Scioto County, closed Valley Local Schools among others on Friday.

But the host Indians, in Friday night’s Southern Ohio Conference Division II tilt against Eastern, looked — and played — very much alive and well.

Valley scored the opening eight points and never trailed, grounded the Eagles to only six first-period points, and extended its advantage to as large as 22 twice in the third quarter —en route to routing Eastern 59-40 on The Reservation.

With the victory, the young Indians completed the season sweep of the Eagles, which are completing their debut boys basketball season in the SOC II.

Valley, in also scoring 59 points against the Eagles again, raised its record to 8-10 — and to 6-6 in the division.

The Indians indeed are improving, overcoming injuries and roster changes, to be playing some of their better basketball of the season.

Valley head coach Eric Horton ranked Friday night’s outing “right up there”.

Horton also explained that the Indians are learning to gel together at the right time — and after losing freshman impact player Carter Nickel to injury.

“Carter went down four or five games ago, and it has taken us that long to adjust without him in the lineup. We knew we were going to put it together before the end of the season. Tonight was a big step forward for us,” said the coach. “We were able to interchange guys and go with different lineups. No matter who we had out there, we were able to move the ball and find the right guy and get good looks. Some nights, we haven’t made those shots. But tonight, those went in. When we make our shots, we feel we’re going to be a very hard team to beat.”

In limiting the Eagles to only a Neil Leist three-point play and a Dillon Mattox three-pointer in the first quarter, Valley locked down defensively —not allowing a single solitary point in the first five minutes.

Then, after Eastern got to within 17-15 at the 5:37 mark of the second quarter following first-quarter deficits of six (12-6) and seven points (10-3), the Indians ended the half on a 16-3 run to lead 33-18 at halftime.

In the third frame, Valley built the lead to 22 points twice —at 45-23 with 2:14 to play and 47-25 just 25 seconds later.

The Indians’ advantage never dipped below four points for the final 23 minutes and 15 seconds, as only a Drake Ferguson old-fashioned three-point play prevented the Eagles from being shut out in the final 5:37 of the second quarter.

The Indians’ defense indeed did the job, holding Eastern to only 40 points —and prolific scorer Hunter Cochenour to only eight over the middle two cantos.

“We wanted to limit them to one possession, and I thought if we could get it down to a half-court game, our defense would show up and it did,” said Horton. “We held them to 40 points, which is outstanding.”

Cochenour and Leist led the Eagles with eight points apiece, but Cochenour had half of his points from the free-throw line on six attempts — and Leist didn’t score in the second half.

“We want to pride ourselves on our defense and be a defensive team first. There are going to be nights where the ball doesn’t go in the basket for you, so you have to rely on something. From day one when I got here last year, we’ve wanted to be a good physical defensive team. The officials ‘let us play’ tonight, which I love. It was physical on both ends. They have some kids which can shoot the ball, including Cochenour who is an outstanding player,” said Horton. “We rotated a couple of guys on him, we were very conscious of running him off the circle, and making him drive the ball inside and not let him stand out there and shoot. We were able to accomplish that. I don’t know what we held Cochenour to, but we had somebody in his pocket all night long and that’s what we wanted to do. We physically made it tough on them to drive the ball and we closed down their shooters. If you can do both of those things, the other team is going to have a tough night offensively.”

Meanwhile, the Indians also exhibited excellent ball movement —whether it was running the fast break or working the ball inside.

George Arnett, another freshman, finished as one of three Indians in double figures — and as the contest’s leading scorer.

Arnett amounted eight total field goals and 2-of-3 free throws for 19 points, 11 of which were after halftime.

His three-point goal made it 17-11 a minute-and-a-half into the second stanza.

While the Indians often rely on their underclassmen, their two seniors — Kayden Mollette and Mason Zaler — were go-to guys against Eastern.

Mollette scored a dozen of his 15 points in the opening half, driving to the basket for five deuces — before popping a trey with a minute and five seconds remaining before halftime to make it 31-18.

Zaler —the six-foot five-inch center —added 11 points on three field goals and 5-of-7 free throws.

He scored easy inside on the opening possession, followed by a two and a three by Jared Gahm to make it 8-0.

“We came right out and executed a play for Mason (Zaler) right off the bat that resulted in an easy basket. That just set the tone for us,” said Horton.

Bryce Stuart, the six-foot sophomore, scored five points as well on a basket and 3-of-4 free throws — while freshman Ty Perkins posted the pair of buckets which went for the two 22-point leads.

The Eagles fell to 6-12 and 3-10, and host SOC II co-leader Waverly (11-1 in SOC II) on Tuesday night.

Valley, meanwhile, returns to the road —and returns to SOC II action —on Tuesday night at Portsmouth West.

Perhaps the Indians are poised for a strong run in February — after ending January quite alert and well.

“It feels real good to see these guys starting to put things together both defensively and offensively,” said Horton. “You want to try to have your team in the best possible position to go in and play its best basketball at tournament time. Tonight was a giant leap forward for us in doing that. Those top eight guys are just doing a tremendous job right now.”

* * *

Eastern 6 12 10 12 — 40

Valley 12 21 14 12—59

EASTERN 40 (6-12, 3-10 SOC II)

Trenton Brown 0 0-0 0, Drake Ferguson 1 1-1 3, Dillon Mattox 2 0-0 5, Gabe McBee 1 2-2 4, Hunter Cochenour 2 4-6 8, Neil Leist 3 1-1 8, Brennen Slusher 1 0-0 3, Chase Carter 2 2-2 7, Ethan Perry 0 0-0 0, Bailey Strong 0 0-0 0, Jake Tribby 1 0-4 2; TOTALS 13 10-16 40; Three-point goals: 4 (Dillon Mattox, Neil Leist, Brennen Slusher and Chase Carter 1 apiece)

VALLEY 59 (8-10, 6-6 SOC II)

George Arnett 8 2-3 19, Brecken Williams 0 0-0 0, Ty Perkins 2 0-0 4, Colt Buckle 0 0-0 0, Kayden Mollette 6 2-3 15, Jared Gahm 2 0-0 5, Jacob Greathouse 0 0-0 0, Bryce Stuart 1 3-4 5, Nick Mowery 0 0-0 0, Mason Zaler 3 5-7 11; TOTALS 22 12-17 59; Three-point goals: 3 (George Arnett Kayden Mollette and Jared Gahm 1 apiece)

Valley

# Player PTS REB AST STL BLK
1George Arnett190000
2Brecken Williams00000
3Ty Perkins40000
4Dylan Ellis00000
10Carter Nickel00000
12Kayden Mollette150000
13Jared Gahm50000
21Jacob Greathouse00000
23Devin Stiltner00000
24Bryce Stuart50000
25Nick Mowery00000
32Mason Zaler110000
 Total590000

Beaver Eastern

# Player PTS REB AST STL BLK
3Trenten Brown00000
5Drake Ferguson30000
10Tyler Hanshaw00000
12Dillion Mattox50000
15Gabe McBee40000
20Hunter Cochenour80000
22Neil Leist80000
23Brennen Slusher30000
30Chase Carter70000
32Ethan Perry00000
33Bailey Strong00000
44Jake Tribby20000
50Austin Daniels00000
 Total400000

Court

Valley

Details

Date Time League Season
January 31, 2020 7:30 pm SEO 2019-20

Wheelersburg over Oak Hill

Results

TeamTOutcome
Wheelersburg56Win
Oak Hill49Loss

WHEELERSBURG —When Wheelersburg needed them the most on Tuesday night, Matthew Miller and Eli Swords sure made for a pretty good third-quarter tag team.

That’s because the junior Miller and sophomore Swords spearheaded the host Pirates’ pull-away from the Oak Hill Oaks in the third quarter, as the pair combined for all 16 of the Pirates’ points in the third period.

Then, in the fourth frame, it was junior J.J. Truitt’s turn to take a run at the Oaks, as he tallied 10 points in the stanza — and helped secure the Pirates’ important 56-49 Southern Ohio Conference Division II triumph.

That’s correct.

It was one of Wheelersburg’s biggest victories of the year.

In addition to capturing their fifth consecutive win over Oak Hill and legendary head coach Norm Persin, the Pirates — the defending division champions — pushed the Oaks from atop the SOC II standings, as Wheelersburg and Waverly now share the league lead at 10-1.

Wheelersburg, which raised its record to 14-2, also completed the season sweep of now 15-3 Oak Hill —having won the first meeting between the two 50-47 at Oak Hill back on Dec. 17.

The Oaks also entered the return bout as the fourth-ranked team in the fourth weekly Associated Press Ohio High School boys basketball Division III poll.

But while Tuesday’s triumph, in front of a boisterous crowd at Wheelersburg High School, was pivotal for the Pirates —head coach Steven Ater admitted that it’s only the latest step.

“This was a big game for us, not only for the league but also (Division III tournament) sectional seeding. Now we have two wins over them (Oaks), which I think is going to help separate some things. But, we have to make sure we don’t overlook anybody down the line, because every game is the most important game when you’re talking about trying to win a league title,” he said.

Indeed, there is a lot of basketball left to decide the SOC II championship —as the race, despite being the end of January —is still way too close to call.

Oak Hill hosts Waverly on Friday night, while Wheelersburg still must travel to Minford next Tuesday night and to Waverly next Friday night.

The Tigers, hosting Minford on Tuesday, avoided falling out of that first-place tie with Wheelersburg —as Waverly prevailed 68-63 in overtime.

For the Pirates, the second meeting with the Oaks was much different than the early Christmas miracle they pulled off in Oak Hill.

In that affair, Wheelersburg was reeling at the end of the third quarter — trailing by nine points prior to staging an epic comeback and escaping “The Nuthouse” with a massive victory.

In the third quarter on Tuesday, and after holding a 21-13 halftime advantage, the Pirates withstood nine unanswered Oaks’ points for Oak Hill’s only lead —by ending the final five minutes and 10 seconds on a 16-8 run, which included 10 unanswered points of their own for their largest advantage at 37-24.

The Oaks’ lead, in fact, lasted a mere 10 seconds.

The difference-making duo was Miller and Swords, who had combined in the first half for a mere Miller second-quarter field goal.

But the tandem tallied all 16 of the Pirates’ points in the third, as Miller made three baskets and 3-of-3 free throws — while Swords sank three field goals, including a three-pointer to make it 33-24.

Swords scored at the five-minute mark to give the hosts back the lead at 22-21, as Miller muscled seven straight points on two free throws — followed by a field goal and finally a three-point play to make it a six-point edge (30-24).

After Swords splashed his three-point goal, Miller and Swords scored another deuce apiece —for a 37-24 advantage at about the 1:10 point.

Each missed only a shot apiece in the quarter, as Miller attacked the rim —and the Oaks simply couldn’t and didn’t stop him.

Miller managed a dozen points on four field goals and 4-of-7 foul shots, while Swords scored 10 on two deuces and two treys.

Miller also dished out four assists.

“I thought Matthew Miller was really good as far as driving the basketball tonight. He got in straight lines, and went downhill. He did a great job either creating and finishing himself,” said Ater. “He got to the free-throw line a bunch too.”

Persin, whose Oaks teams are highly-regarded for being a lockdown defensive juggernaut, pinpointed the lack of stops against the Pirates’ dribble-drives.

In all three of Oak Hill’s losses, it has allowed at least 50 points —as Wooster Triway totaled 58 on the Oaks in their non-league game in Canton (Jan. 19).

“We took the lead and then we couldn’t get a stop. We got up one and then before you know it, we’re down eight again. They just kept pushing the ball,” said Persin. “We told our kids they were going to push it in transition. Miller kept pushing the ball, kept pushing, kept pushing and if he didn’t find a teammate with the pass, he finished himself. It’s one of those things.”

The Oaks, which trailed anywhere from one to eight points throughout the entire first half while shooting just 5-of-18 with eight of their 12 turnovers, actually ended the tide-turning third only down seven (37-30) — thanks to three-pointers by Drew Hanning and Landon Hines in the final 35 seconds.

But Truitt took over in the fourth, scoring 10 points including eight on four made field goals —as the Pirates played with the lead and maintained it from six to 12 points, despite converting only 4-of-13 free throws in the frame.

Truitt paced the Pirates with 15 points, as his only other markers were a two and a three in the first quarter.

Ater said the Pirates “played through” Truitt all game, as they shot 50-percent (19-of-38) from inside the arc and 46-percent (22-of-48) overall.

“We kept isolating J.J. and kept getting him the ball, and he finds Eli (Swords) in the corner for a three when they tried to double-team him or he drives and finds other guys and makes plays for other people. We put the ball in his hands and went through him, even though he may not be our primary scorer,” said the coach. “That’s the type of player he is. He sets up other guys. Then in the fourth quarter, we trusted him to make plays. He was driving and taking contact and just going all night long. He is bruised and scratched and beat up right now, but you could see it in his eyes that he wants to go make plays.”

Carter McCorkle made it four Pirates in double-figure scoring, as he bagged five field goals and two made free throws towards 12 points —while also grabbing 10 rebounds and battling Oak Hill’s standout six-foot four-inch senior center Chase Hammond underneath.

McCorkle carried Wheelersburg offensively in the early stages of the first meeting, and scored nine first-half points on Tuesday night.

Like the initial matchup, McCorkle picked up a first-period personal foul —and so Ater opted to alter him defending Hammond in favor of Gage Adkins and Kenny Sanderlin.

That allowed McCorkle to avoid further foul trouble, and able to guard Hammond harder for the second half.

Hammond —after pouring in 22 points in the first meeting but only scoring four in the final two quarters —had 11 points on 5-of-11 shooting on Tuesday, and also grabbed 11 rebounds.

“Hammond is the one everybody is going to gameplan for and try and take away, and we are no different,” said Ater. “Gage (Adkins) and Kenny (Sanderlin) really played some big minutes for us defensively and on the glass and giving us some points when we needed them. Those two guarded him (Hammond) for the rest of the half and did such a fantastic job of limiting his scoring, and that allows Carter to stay out of foul trouble and fresh for the second half.”

While the Pirates held Hammond down, Hanning went off for a game-high 26 — on nine field goals including four three-pointers.

Hanning had only four points at halftime, but erupted in the second 16 minutes for 22, including four twos and three threes.

He also made 5-of-7 foul shots, including two to trim the deficit to 49-43 with 2:22 remaining — and two more to make it 54-49 with only 12 tics to go.

But the Oaks got no closer, as Truitt and Miller split a pair of double-bonus free throws in the final 10 seconds.

Persin said Hanning and Hammond — outside of Hines hitting two treys towards eight points — had little-to-no help.

The Oaks only shot 6-of-20 from three-point range, as Keaton Potter and Erik Kallner collected field goals for their only other points.

Trailing by as large as 13 late in the third, Oak Hill had just 13 shot attempts in the fourth — and committed its other four turnovers.

“We didn’t get enough help for Chase and Drew. The other kids had to step up and they didn’t,” said Persin. “We kept battling back and they were missing free throws, but we couldn’t get a bucket on the other end. It’s the way it is, and it’s just hard winning on the road, especially against when we’re playing a quality team.”

The Oaks, of course, aim to get right back in the SOC II championship chase —and can do so by defeating Waverly, which did they so on the road on Dec. 20.

“We have to take care of business at home and try to win on Friday and we’ll see what happens down the road,” said Persin. “There’s a lot of things that can happen, but we have to come back.”

The Pirates, meanwhile, move on to host Northwest on Friday night — before those critical road shows next week.

However, they had to have the sweep against the Oaks —and Ater praised them for “playing well and together”.

“Really proud of these guys and the way they played tonight,” he said. “This was the big game in front of us, and I thought we were locked in and focused.”

* * *

Oak Hill 4 9 17 19 — 49

Wheelersburg 10 11 16 19—56

OAK HILL 49 (15-3, 10-2 SOC II)

Keaton Potter 1 0-0 2, Erik Kallner 1 0-0 2, Drew Hanning 8 6-9 26, Luke Stewart 0 0-0 0, Noah Donley 0 0-0 0, Landon Hines 3 0-0 8, Chase Hammond 5 1-14 11, Braylon Howell 0 0-0 0; TOTALS 18 7-13 49; Three-point goals: 6 (Drew Hanning 4, Landon Hines 2)

WHEELERSBURG 56 (14-2, 10-1 SOC II)

Aaron Jolly 0 0-0 0, Matthew Miller 4 4-7 12, Eli Swords 4 0-0 10, Carter McCorkle 5 2-6 12, J.J. Truitt 5 2-5 15, Gage Adkins 0 0-0 0, Kenny Sanderlin 3 1-2 7; TOTALS 22 9-20 56; Three-point goals: 3 (Eli Swords 2, J.J. Truitt 1)

Wheelersburg

# Player PTS REB AST STL BLK
10Aaron Jolly00000
11Josh Clark00000
12Mathew Miller120000
13Eli Swords100000
14Aaron Masters00000
15Jonah Lawson00000
21Carter McCorkle120000
22JJ Truitt150000
23Gage Adkins00000
24Mason Montgomery00000
25Brayden Wilson00000
33Corey Maxie00000
35Kenny Sanderlin70000
 Total560000

Oak Hill

# Player PTS REB AST STL BLK
Braylin Howell00000
3Keaton Potter20000
5Erik Kallner20000
10Drew Hanning260000
11Landon Hines80000
15Luke Stewart00000
21Noah Donley00000
24Chase Hammond110000
32Jordan Morgan00000
44Cricket Stilner00000
 Total490000

Court

Wheelersburg

Details

Date Time League Season
January 28, 2020 7:30 pm SEO 2019-20

Minford nearly doubles up Valley 56-30

Results

TeamTOutcome
Minford56Win
Valley30Loss

Falcons start fast, roll past Indians

By Paul Boggs

 

MINFORD — The Minford Falcons picked a good time to play a near-complete basketball game.

 

Against visiting Valley on Tuesday night, the Falcons both shot the ball well — and perhaps defended even better — as host Minford mustered an impressive, and important, 56-30 Southern Ohio Conference Division II triumph.

 

While the Indians are one of the Falcons’ chief rivals, Minford started fast for both halves —scoring the opening eight points in the first quarter, followed by scoring seven straight to tip off the third frame.

 

The Falcons only allowed the Indians 30 points and never trailed —as that 30th point came at the buzzer on a jump shot by George Arnett.

#
1
Name
George Arnett
Class
2023
Height
6-00
Current Team
Valley
Leagues
SEO, SOC2
Seasons
2019-20

Otherwise, Valley only trailed by five points twice — at 8-3 after Dylan Ellis made the Indians’ only three-point goal at the four-minute mark of the opening quarter and at 10-5 on one of four field goals by Kayden Mollette.

#
12
Name
Kayden Mollette
Class
2020
Height
5-08
Current Team
Valley
Leagues
SEO, SOC2
Seasons
2018-19, 2019-20

Over the final three periods, the Falcons led by at least six points, as the lead soon swelled to 11 points twice (20-9 and 20-11) in the second stanza —and to as large as 15 points four times in the third.

 

Finally, after extending the lead to 42-24 with Elijah Vogelsong-Lewis’ three-ball to beat the third-quarter buzzer, the Falcons forged on by outscoring the Indians 14-6 in the fourth quarter —and doubling their advantage to 56-28 with 16 seconds remaining.

#
3
Name
Elijah Vogelsong-Lewis
Class
2021
Height
5-10
Current Team
Minford
Leagues
SEO, SOC2
Seasons
2018-19, 2019-20

Minford doubled up the Indians 20-10 in the third, part of a 34-16 winning of the entire second half.

 

Valley’s only fourth-period points were a pair of Bryce Stuart free throws at the six-and-a-half minute mark, followed by a rebound putback by Ty Perkins and Arnett’s buzzer-beater to hit 30.

#
3
Name
Ty Perkins
Class
2023
Height
6-03
Current Team
Valley
Leagues
SEO, SOC2
Seasons
2019-20

Minford coach Josh Shoemaker was asked if Tuesday’s tilt was the best performance by his Falcons all season.

 

Aside from the 9-9 tie in the second canto, and only scoring 14 for the final 13 minutes and 15 seconds of the half, you could make the argument it was.

 

“Each quarter, we were consistent. We had seven threes tonight, and I thought we shot the ball well, but it all started on the defensive end. To hold a team to 30 points in a varsity boys basketball game is a good accomplishment,” said Shoemaker. “We guarded really well, they only had 10 points once in a quarter and we scored double digits in three quarters. In the first half, we got a little complacent after getting up 8-0, struggled to score the rest of the half. In the second half, we really put together a complete game on both ends and played good, consistent basketball. Valley is a local rival with identical records (6-4) coming in. For us to come out with a 56-30 win, hats off to our kids for playing extremely well tonight.”

 

Shoemaker said he believed his squad was “quicker, faster at all five spots” — and wanted to play an up-tempo pace.

 

“We tried to play fast tonight. We felt we were quicker and faster, so we really wanted to push out and have as many possessions as possible. I was happy with the way everybody guarded and rebounded the basketball and pushed in transition,” he said. “Just a total team win, and we got a lot of guys in the scoring column.”

 

Of the Falcons which played, precisely a dozen scored at least one field goal.

 

Indeed, Minford played well — as Valley coach Eric Horton had nothing but credit for the Falcons.

 

“Minford is a good shooting team and they made their shots right off the bat tonight. At any point in time you are playing them, they can score 10 points really fast. Unfortunately, they did that tonight to us right out of the gate and then again right at the beginning of the second half. Once we settled back into it both halves, I thought we guarded them pretty well,” he said. “But they are a good shooting team and once they get a couple of guys shooting that well, they can make a quick run. That’s what happened to us.”

The main Minford man on Tuesday was Vogelsong-Lewis, who accounted for four deuces and three treys towards his game-high 17 points.

 

In fact, Vogelsong-Lewis landed nothing but net on all seven of his shot attempts.

 

“He didn’t take a bad shot in those seven shots either. He let the game come to him, got everybody involved, and had big threes at the end of two quarters,” said Shoemaker.

 

His biggest basket beat the first-quarter buzzer, as he caught a cross-court zone pass and knocked it down from the wing, as he was actually knocked to the floor in the process.

 

“Vogelsong-Lewis hit three threes tonight, but I thought our defense was about as good as we could have it. Credit to him for making the shots,” said Horton. “When you play good defense and he still makes the basket, it’s deflating. I thought they did that to us too many times, and it’s hard to recover from.”

 

He actually opened the game with a triple just 30 seconds in, as Trenton Zimmerman — who added eight points — made one for a 6-0 advantage.

 

Skylar Knore netted the Falcons’ other two threes —the first of which was with four-and-a-half minutes left in the second quarter to make it 18-9, as the Indians never got closer the rest of the way.

#
5
Name
Skylar Knore
Class
2021
Height
5-10
Current Team
Minford
Leagues
SEO, SOC2
Seasons
2019-20

Nathan McCormick canned three buckets for six points, as Hunter Davis drained four third-quarter points on a field goal and two foul shots, and Adam Crank connected on a third-period three.

 

Minford maintained a 23-13 advantage in total field goals, as Ellis added seven points for Valley to follow Mollette’s team-high eight.

 

“We had opportunities to score, but we just didn’t finish possessions off tonight with a basket. I thought they were in the same spots we were, and they scored and we didn’t. That’s the difference in the game. Credit to Minford for making those shots,” said Horton.

 

The outcome certainly impacted the SOC II standings —especially since just a few miles to the south another crucial development was occurring in Wheelersburg.

 

Both Valley and Minford entered at 6-4, but the Indians are now 4-2 in the division, followed by the Falcons moving to 4-3.

 

Meanwhile, Waverly won at Wheelersburg 67-58 (see related story), as the Pirates are no longer undefeated —and both of those teams, along with Oak Hill, are now tied atop the league at 5-1.

 

While Minford is off for a week until it hosts winless Northwest next Tuesday, the Indians entertain both Oak Hill (on Friday night) and Waverly (on Tuesday, Jan. 14) for their next two affairs.

 

A Valley victory, or two, will cause some surefire SOC II shakeup, but maybe Minford —thanks to Tuesday night’s triumph — can get back in this championship chase as well.

 

The seven wins by the Falcons matches their entire total from a season ago.

 

“This was just a great team win for us. We’re at the halfway point, and I’m proud of where our kids are at at this point in the season,” said Shoemaker.

 

* * *

 

Valley 5 9 10 6 — 30

 

Minford 13 9 20 14— 56

 

VALLEY 30 (6-5, 4-2 SOC II)

 

George Arnett 1 0-0 2, Brecken Williams 0 0-0 0, Ty Perkins 1 0-0 2, Dylan Ellis 3 0-4 7, Colten Buckle 0 0-0 0, Carter Nickel 2 0-0 4, Kayden Mollette 4 0-0 8, Jared Gahm 0 0-0 0, Jacob Greathouse 0 0-0 0, Bryce Stuart 1 2-2 4, Nick Mowery 0 0-0 0, Mason Zaler 1 1-2 3; TOTALS 13 3-8 30; Three-point goals: 1 (Dylan Ellis 1)

 

MINFORD 56 (7-4, 4-3 SOC II)

 

Hunter Davis 1 2-2 4, Trenton Zimmerman 3 1-2 8, Elijah Vogelsong-Lewis 7 0-0 17, Skylar Knore 2 0-0 6, Nathan McCormick 3 0-0 6, Drew Skaggs 1 0-0 2, Matthew Risner 1 0-1 2, Levi Coriell 0 0-0 0, Adam Crank 1 0-0 3, Andy Crank 1 0-0 2, Jordan Strickland 1 0-0 2, Kaden Kelley 1 0-0 2, Devan Parker 0 0-0 0, Ethan Connally 1 0-0 2; TOTALS 23 3-5 56; Three-point goals: 7 (Elijah Vogelsong-Lewis 3, Skylar Knore 2, Trenton Zimmerman and Adam Crank 1 apiece)

Falcons 2019-20

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2019-11-29 19:30:00November 29, 201940 - 51
N/A
Recap

 

Indians 2019-20

DateHomeResultsAwayCourtArticle
2019-11-29 19:30:00November 29, 201938 - 52
N/A
Recap
2019-11-30 19:30:00November 30, 201973 - 41
N/A
Recap
2019-12-03 19:30:00December 3, 201945 - 84
N/A
Recap
2019-12-06 19:30:00December 6, 201942 - 56
N/A
Recap
2019-12-10 19:30:00December 10, 201935 - 63
N/A
Recap
2019-12-13 19:30:00December 13, 201951 - 58
N/A
Recap
2019-12-17 19:15:00December 17, 201945 - 56
N/A
Recap
2019-12-20 19:30:00December 20, 201948 - 59
N/A
Recap
2019-12-27 19:30:00December 27, 201957 - 60
N/A
Recap
2020-01-03 19:15:00January 3, 202054 - 37
N/A
Recap
2020-01-07 19:30:00January 7, 202056 - 30
N/A
Recap
2020-01-10 19:30:00January 10, 202043 - 58
N/A
Recap
2020-01-14 19:30:00January 14, 202063 - 61
N/A
Recap
2020-01-17 19:30:00January 17, 202047 - 62
N/A
Recap
2020-01-21 19:30:00January 21, 202072 - 46
N/A
Recap
2020-01-24 19:30:00January 24, 202052 - 40
N/A
Recap
2020-01-25 19:30:00January 25, 202041 - 60
N/A
Recap
2020-01-31 19:30:00January 31, 202059 - 40
N/A
Recap
2020-02-04 19:30:00February 4, 202057 - 53
N/A
Recap
2020-02-11 19:30:00February 11, 202068 - 21
N/A
Recap
2020-02-14 19:30:00February 14, 202059 - 68
N/A
Recap
2020-02-17 19:30:00February 17, 202041 - 42
N/A
Recap
2020-02-19 09:48:26February 19, 202066 - 53
N/A
Recap
2020-02-26 09:49:31February 26, 202059 - 56
N/A
Recap

 

Minford

# Player PTS REB AST STL BLK
0Hunter Davis40000
1Trenton Zimmerman80000
3Elijah Vogelsong-Lewis170000
5Skylar Knore60000
10Nathan McCormick60000
11Drew Skaggs20000
13Matthew Risner20000
14Levi Coriell00000
21Adam Crank30000
23Andy Crank20000
24Jonathon Strickland20000
30Kaden Kelley20000
32Devan Parker00000
44Ethan Connally20000
 Total560000

Valley

# Player PTS REB AST STL BLK
1George Arnett20000
2Brecken Williams00000
3Ty Perkins20000
4Dylan Ellis70000
10Carter Nickel40000
12Kayden Mollette80000
13Jared Gahm00000
21Jacob Greathouse00000
24Bryce Stuart40000
25Nick Mowery00000
32Mason Zaler30000
 Total300000

Court

Minford

Details

Date Time League Season
January 7, 2020 7:30 pm SEO 2019-20

McCorkle 18 points, 13 boards and 5 blocks puts Burg over Falcons

Results

TeamTOutcome
Wheelersburg59Win
Minford50Loss

WHEELERSBURG —Carter McCorkle kept the Wheelersburg Pirates’ ship afloat on Friday night, before it was bombs away against the visiting Minford Falcons by almost everybody else.

#
21
Name
Carter McCorkle
Class
2021
Height
6-04
Current Team
Wheelersburg
Leagues
SEO, SOC2
Seasons
2018-19, 2019-20
Spearheaded by the six-foot, four-inch junior McCorkle — who paced the Pirates and all players with 18 points, 13 rebounds and five blocked shots — undefeated Wheelersburg shot its way back from a seven-point first-half deficit, and pushed past the Falcons 59-50 in a Southern Ohio Conference Division II tilt at Wheelersburg High School.

With the victory, the Pirates remained perfect at 7-0 —and atop the division at 5-0.

In addition, Wheelersburg made Minford its 26th consecutive conference victim — as the defending champion Pirates last lost an SOC II affair in the 2017-18 campaign.

But, first things first for Wheelersburg coach Steven Ater, it was about being “1-0 tonight and winning this moment.”

Head Coach Steven Ater

Current Team
Wheelersburg
“Minford is about as good as anybody we’ve faced. They don’t have just one scoring threat. They have five guys who can shoot the three-pointer and everybody coming off the bench can as well. They put it on the floor and find each other well. They have good size and length too. But give our guys credit,” he said. “We got down seven, battled back to tie it up at halftime, and in the third and fourth quarter especially, they took a lot of contested shots. We started attacking offensively, and that got our confidence going.”

Minford, meanwhile, fell to 5-4 and 3-3 in the SOC II, but had the Pirates in peril for a four-minute and 24-second second-quarter stretch — in which the Falcons found themselves in front by seven points twice (27-20 and 30-23).

But as the Pirates started to shoot themselves out of the game against Minford’s zone defense, they flipped the switch and started to hit over an 11-minute and 20-second span of the middle two quarters —and thus turned the tide to lead 44-38 after three frames.

In the fourth quarter, Wheelersburg —by making 5-of-7 free throws and four field goals —opened up a lead as large as a dozen at 56-44, as the Falcons forged no closer than a 46-42 deficit on an Adam Crank old-fashioned three-point play just 45 seconds in.

#
10
Name
Nathan McCormick
Class
2020
Height
6-01
Current Team
Minford
Leagues
SEO, SOC2
Seasons
2018-19, 2019-20
Nathan McCormick collected a basket to make it 48-44 with six-and-a-half minutes remaining, but from there, McCormick canning a three-point goal with eight seconds remaining for the 59-50 final was the Falcons’ only other field goal.

They did convert 4-of-7 free throws in the final period, but J.J. Truitt’s old-fashioned three-point play for the Pirates to make it 51-44 with 6:19 remaining never allowed Minford to get any closer.

In Ater’s own words, McCorkle “carried us early when shots weren’t falling”.

He scored 13 of his 18 in the opening half, including three of his five total field goals and 7-of-8 of his 8-of-10 free throws.

He also blocked three of his five shots in the first 16 minutes.

“Carter McCorkle was just unbelievable. He changed shots when he wasn’t blocking them,” said Ater. “Offensively, early on, he carried us.”

Minford coach Josh Shoemaker concurred about McCorkle, and the Pirates’ defense, which forced them into 18-of-53 (34-percent) shooting with seven shots blocked.

The Falcons fired up 26 shots and made a dozen in the opening half, then couldn’t buy a bucket in the second 16 minutes —going 6-of-27.

Minford also committed 11 turnovers, compared to just five for Wheelersburg.

“In the third quarter, we came out cold and that’s a credit to Wheelersburg’s defense. We had too many critical turnovers because we weren’t patient enough. A couple of times, we just missed wide open shots. Wheelersburg’s length also bothered us. They had a lot of blocked shots tonight, where we had a great fast-break layup and they weren’t fouls. They were good clean blocks. But that’s the difference winning and losing basketball games,” said Shoemaker. “If we get more shots to drop outside, it’s a different game. We’ve shot the ball well this year, but we didn’t shoot it well tonight and we came up on the short end.”

Actually, Minford made its shots, five three-pointers to be exact, through the opening 14 minutes.

McCormick connected on a pair, Trenton Zimmerman rained in a pair in the second quarter, and Matthew Risner recorded one in the second quarter for a 30-23 advantage at the two-minute mark.

#
13
Name
Eli Swords
Class
2022
Height
5-11
Current Team
Wheelersburg
Leagues
SEO, SOC2
Seasons
2019-20
But after Eli Swords’ two trifectas for Wheelersburg in the opening period, the Pirates didn’t dial up another three-ball until the final 2:17 — when they made three threes thanks to one by Truitt to make it 27-23 and two by Matthew Miller in the final 38 seconds for the 30-30 halftime tie.

“At halftime, we talked about how we moved the basketball well. But we had two critical turnovers right there at the end of the second quarter. That left (Matthew) Miller open for two threes to tie it up,” said Shoemaker.

Miller then picked up in the third frame where he left off in the second, nailing another triple just 25 seconds in to make it 33-30 — and giving the Pirates the lead for good.

Minford’s Skylar Knore (34-33) and Zimmerman (36-36) made threes to keep the Falcons close, but Truitt’s trey broke the game’s final of three ties (36-36) — before Aaron Jolly jacked up one and hit to make it 42-36 at the 1:50 mark.

“We got into our rhythm, and sometimes it just takes one shot to go in for the dam to break. Matthew Miller made two right before the half and he comes out in the third quarter and bangs in another,” said Ater. “It was like confidence. The shots started to fall, we started doing some good things and working inside-out and passing the ball. I thought we were holding the ball too much against their zone. Trying to analyze and look for an opening instead of just moving the basketball and getting good crisp movement to find open shots. Once we started seeing the ball go through, we wanted more of those.”

“Our zone was so effective because we rebounded well out of it. In the second half, Wheelersburg came out confident, hit a couple of threes early in the third quarter and got the lead,’ said Shoemaker. “Then they are stronger inside than us driving the basketball, and that put them on the foul line and we fouled them.”

Both teams took 27 shots from inside the three-point arc and made 10, while both fired up at least 25 three-point attempts and notched eight.

A big difference: Minford was 6-of-10 at the free-throw line while Wheelersburg was 15-of-19.

“That’s as well as we have shot free throws all year,” said Ater. “But, we have spent a little time on them over the holiday break here. It’s good to see that pay off.”

Besides McCorkle’s 18, Miller managed 13 points, Swords scored 12 and Truitt tallied 11 —as Truitt (3-of-4) and Swords (2-of-3) combined for all of the Pirates’ fourth-quarter foul shots.

Kenny Sanderlin sank two second-stanza freebies, as Truitt had eight rebounds and dished out four assists.

McCormick poured in 16 points to pace the Falcons on five field goals and 3-of-4 foul shots, as he and Zimmerman (nine points) drilled three three-pointers apiece.

Risner and Knore, with two deuces and one trey, each scored seven.

Elijah Vogelsong-Lewis led the Falcons in rebounds with nine, as Zimmerman pulled down seven boards.

Shoemaker said at some point, despite Minford playing hard and giving good effort, it needs to check off some win boxes.

“We’ve competed well and been in every game, but it’s time to start winning these bigger games. It would be nice to knock off one of these teams like Wheelersburg who is undefeated, Oak Hill who has one loss (to Wheelersburg) and Jackson who has two losses (to Wheelersburg and Chillicothe),” he said. “We’re right there, but you can only be there so many times without seeing some ‘Ws’. The kids are putting out the effort, but they needed to be rewarded for that with wins.”

The Falcons returned home, and returned to non-league action, by hosting Wellston on Saturday.

Wheelersburg returns home, and returns to SOC II Division II action, against Waverly on Tuesday night.

* * *

Minford 11 19 9 11 — 50

Wheelersburg 14 16 14 15 — 59

MINFORD 50 (5-4, 3-3 SOC II)

Hunter Davis 1 0-0 2, Trenton Zimmerman 3 0-0 9, Elijah Vogelsong-Lewis 1 1-3 3, Skylar Knore 3 0-0 7, Nathan McCormick 5 3-4 16, Drew Skaggs 0 1-2 1, Matthew Risner 3 0-0 7, Adam Crank 2 1-1 5; TOTALS 18 6-10 50; Three-point goals: 8 (Nathan McCormick and Trenton Zimmerman 3 apiece, Elijah Vogelsong-Lewis and Matthew Risner 1 apiece)

WHEELERSBURG 59 (7-0, 5-0 SOC II)

Aaron Jolly 1 0-0 3, Matthew Miller 5 0-0 13, Eli Swords 4 2-3 12, Carter McCorkle 5 8-10 18, J.J. Truitt 3 3-4 11, Gage Adkins 0 0-0 0, Kenny Sanderlin 0 2-2 2; TOTALS 18 15-19 59; Three-point goals: 8 (Matthew Miller 3, Eli Swords and J.J. Truitt 2 apiece, Aaron Jolly 1)

 

Pirates 2019-20 Schedule & Results

DateHomeResultsAwayCourtArticle
2019-12-10 19:30:00December 10, 201935 - 63
N/A
Recap
2019-12-13 19:30:00December 13, 201957 - 43
N/A
Recap
2019-12-17 19:30:00December 17, 201947 - 50
N/A
Recap
2019-12-20 19:30:00December 20, 201940 - 89
N/A
Recap
2019-12-21 19:30:00December 21, 201956 - 58
N/A
Recap
2019-12-28 19:30:00December 28, 201960 - 62
N/A
Recap
2020-01-03 19:30:00January 3, 202059 - 50
N/A
Recap
2020-01-07 19:30:00January 7, 202058 - 67
N/A
Recap
2020-01-10 19:30:00January 10, 202060 - 79
N/A
Recap
2020-01-11 19:30:00January 11, 202047 - 56
N/A
Recap
2020-01-14 19:30:00January 14, 202073 - 46
N/A
Recap
2020-01-18 19:30:00January 18, 202069 - 32
N/A
Recap
2020-01-21 19:30:00January 21, 202072 - 46
N/A
Recap
2020-01-24 19:30:00January 24, 202031 - 67
N/A
Recap
2020-01-25 19:30:00January 25, 202052 - 62
N/A
Recap
2020-01-28 19:30:00January 28, 202056 - 49
N/A
Recap
2020-02-01 23:01:51February 1, 202039 - 94
N/A
Recap
2020-02-04 19:30:00February 4, 202047 - 68
N/A
Recap
2020-02-08 19:30:00February 8, 202094 - 28
N/A
Recap
2020-02-11 19:30:00February 11, 202078 - 48
N/A
Recap
2020-02-13 16:30:00February 13, 202054 - 60
N/A
Recap
2020-02-14 19:30:00February 14, 202040 - 66
N/A
Recap
2020-02-22 10:06:04February 22, 202055 - 32
N/A
Recap
2020-03-01 15:45:46March 1, 202051 - 54
N/A
Recap

Wheelersburg

# Player PTS REB AST STL BLK
10Aaron Jolly30000
12Mathew Miller130000
13Eli Swords120000
21Carter McCorkle180000
22JJ Truitt110000
23Gage Adkins00000
35Kenny Sanderlin20000
 Total590000

Minford

# Player PTS REB AST STL BLK
0Hunter Davis20000
1Trenton Zimmerman90000
3Elijah Vogelsong-Lewis30000
5Skylar Knore70000
10Nathan McCormick160000
11Drew Skaggs10000
13Matthew Risner70000
21Adam Crank50000
 Total500000

Court

Wheelersburg

Details

Date Time League Season
January 3, 2020 7:30 pm SEO 2019-20

Jackson 67 Minford 57 a final

by Pfloyd

Results

TeamTOutcome
Jackson67Win
Minford57Loss

Jackson 67
Minford 57 a final

… Monday night hoops ! #21 Minford (5-2) @ #5 Jackson (7-2) … Jackson with its’ 3rd game in 4 days (b2b with Unioto & Wheelersburg) … Minford having not had a game since 12/20 … the Ironmen looked sluggish out of the gates while the Falcons looked like they had been off for 10 days which equaled 2 pretty even teams in the 1st quarter … Coach Morrow’s Ironmen went 3/7 from behind the arc while Coach Shoemaker’s Falcon’s 2/4 from downtown … JHS with 1 TO/MHS 6 TOs … Jackson was led by Boston Kuhn’s 7 points (2 treys), Drew Bragg added a triple, Braxton Hammond with 4 pts for the Ironmen … Minford was led by Nathan McCormick’s 5 pts/ triples from Elijah Vogelsong-Lewis & Skylar Knore (3 pts each) and deuce from Trent Zimmerman …

Jackson 16 Minford 13 end of 1 … … the best player on the court – PG Caleb Wallis for JHS – spent the 1st quarter penetrating, dishing, finding teammates, working hard to get everyone involved … What do you do if you are the leader on the TEAM and your TEAM seems a step or two slow? CW took matters into his own hands by turning up the D, pushing the ball in transition … with Wallis “pulling” the JHS TEAM in the right direction JHS scored the first 8 points of the 2nd qtr not allowing an MHS point until the 5:23 mark …TO Minford … the 8-3 run to open the qtr. was followed by a Jackson 10-0 run … an 18 point Jackson lead at the 2:45 mark of the period … Caleb Wallis led the way with 15 points in the quarter – 2 triples /5 for 5 from the FT line/ 2 transition buckets … the rout was on , right ? – nope – as the Falcons showed their stuff from beyond the arc in the final 2:45 on the clock the Falcons went on their own 11-2 run to close out the quarter led by Trent Zimmerman’s back to back treys along with a triple from Vogelson-Lewis …

Jackson 36 Minford 27 at the half… the 3rd period had Minford holding their own … outscoring Jackson 12-10 in the quarter going 1/6 from behind the three point line but getting quality minutes & 5 points from Nathan McCormick along with 4 bench points (2 each from Zimmerman and Adam Crank) … Jackson had Boston Kuhn tallying 5 points (a trey & 2 FTs) and 2 two pointers from Wallis …

Jackson 46 Minford 39 end of 3 … the final quarter was played fairly even with Jackson doing it’s damage from behind the arc and as the quarter wound down – from the FT line … Minford didn’t fold and go away in the face of 21 points in the quarter from the Ironmen … the Falcons ARE an excellent 3 point shooting TEAM as MHS drained 5 triples in the final period – 3 by McCormick (11 points in the quarter on his ball alone) with support from Vogelsong-Lewis & Andy Crank with 1 trey each in the period … in the end it was Jackson’s Defense (forcing 19 MHS turnovers in the game) and a heavy dose of Caleb Wallis – 7/7 from the FT line in the 4th … 28 points for the game – that was the difference in this one …

Jackson 67 Minford 57 a final

… Pfloyd’s official UN-official Napkin Stats – Minford …

Scoring … Nathan McCormich 23, Elijah Vogelsong-Lewis 13, Trent Zimmerman 10, Adam Crank 5, Andy Crank 3, Skylar Knore 3
3 Pointers … 11/24 … Elijah Vogelsong-Lewis 4, Nathan McCormick 3, Trent Zimmerman 2, Adam Crank 1, Andy Crank 1
FTs … 3/6
TOs … 19
PnP … 7 fgs/ 14 points in the paint
PnT … 0
Pbck …… 3 fgs/ 6 points on putbacks

… Minford is an excellent shooting team – 5 different players had made three pointers … when Wallis for Jackson led the charge defensively it took the Falcons 5-6 minutes to get a feel for the JHS pressure on the perimeter … with their ability to trade 2 pointers for 3 pointers they have the ability to stay in most games while the fire power to knockoff front runners … Coach Shoemaker has put together a quality TEAM …

… Pfloyd’s official UN-official Napkin Stats – Jackson …

Scoring … Caleb Wallis 28, Boston Kuhn 15, Drew Bragg 8, Griffin Brown 8, Braxton Hammond 6, Caden Donaldson 2
3 pointers …. 9/19 … Boston Kuhn 3, Caleb Wallis 2, Drew Bragg 2, Griffin Brown 2
FTs ……. 14/17
TOs ….. 5
PnP …. 11 fgs/ 22 points in the paint
PnT ….. 7 fgs/ 14 points in transition
Pbck …. 0

… Coach Morrow’s Ironmen are fun to watch, they get after an opponent defensively especially on the perimeter, lots of help defense … good communication … the motor at both ends in Caleb Wallis – not a surprise … but lots excellent pieces to this Ironman squad – Caden Donaldson is outstanding on the defensive end helping down low , keeping the opposition bigs from getting shots in the paint … Donaldson & Co. in the paint match the perimeter pressure led by Wallis/Kuhn/Brown … off the bench – Bragg/Erwin/Spires get it done defensively with Bragg adding nice minutes and an outside 3 point threat as well that has to be respected by opponents … 8 deep … Caleb Wallis IS the best point guard Below the Lancaster-Dixon Line … Jackson solidifies itself as one of the best defensive TEAMs in SEO …

… got a chance to chat briefly with Dan Morrow of Jackson Radio fame and the Dad of Coach Morrow for Jackson – we both agreed that the Ironmen NEEDED a W tonight after coming off of a weekend b2b with 2 solid teams in beating Unioto Friday night and losing by 2 to Wheelersburg on Saturday … met Caden & Cooper Donaldson’s parents as my wife and I walked into the school tonight – thanks Mr. D for introducing yourself! you should be very proud of your boys! Caden being one of the best role players in SEO while tonight Cooper Donaldson was honored for scoring over 1000 points in his high school for the Ironmen – Cooper was recognized and will have his name added to the 1000 point plus banner in the gym … just as last season’s 17-8 District squad was honored as well with a banner to be displayed in the gym … great stuff ! always makes me smile no matter where I go to watch hoops in SEO to see the players honored for their contributions on the court for the schools they are playing for …

Jackson

# Player PTS REB AST STL BLK
2Boston Kuhn150000
3Caleb Wallis280000
5Drew Bragg80000
12Caden Donaldson20000
21Braxton Hammond60000
24Griffen Brown80000
 Total670000

Minford

# Player PTS REB AST STL BLK
1Trenton Zimmerman100000
3Elijah Vogelsong-Lewis130000
5Skylar Knore30000
10Nathan McCormick230000
21Adam Crank50000
23Andy Crank30000
 Total570000

Court

Jackson

Details

Date Time League Season
December 30, 2019 7:30 pm SEO 2019-20

Burg rallies for dramatic win at Oak Hill

Results

TeamTOutcome
Oak Hill47Loss
Wheelersburg50Win

Pirates pull through against Oaks

‘Burg rallies for dramatic win at Oak Hill

By Paul Boggs

 

 

OAK HILL — You can’t quite call it a Christmas miracle, but what the Wheelersburg Pirates pulled off on Tuesday night at Oak Hill had to come close.

As the Oaks attempted to steal the Pirates’ proverbial Christmas, and earn a leg up in the early-season Southern Ohio Conference Division II championship chase, the Pirates pulled off an impressive fourth-quarter comeback — and ultimately a key victory in their quest to go back-to-back atop the SOC II.

Trailing by nine entering the final quarter, and out of sorts at that juncture after adversity all throughout, Wheelersburg stunned Oak Hill by outscoring the Oaks 14-2 in the fourth — and escaped “The Nuthouse” with an improbable but gigantic 50-47 ‘W’.

That’s correct.

With the victory, Wheelersburg — the defending division champion after Oak Hill held the title for two years — raised its record to 3-0 both ways, while the Oaks (5-1, 3-1 SOC II) are no longer undefeated.

It was also the Pirates’ fourth consecutive win over Oak Hill — which has one of the top workhorse players in Southeastern Ohio in six-foot, four-inch senior center Chase Hammond and longtime legendary head coach Norm Persin, who ranks third all-time in career coaching victories in the Buckeye State with 753.

However, for the here and now, Wheelersburg and Waverly are tied for the SOC II lead at 3-0 — with the Oaks now a game back in the loss column.

And, you have to consider this one an early Christmas present for the Pirates.

“We talk to our kids all the time about winning the moment. The moment tonight was winning each individual possession and getting each individual stop, and combine those up to that one moment to win the game. We did that,” said Wheelersburg coach Steven Ater. “In the fourth quarter, we put ourselves in position because we kept winning a few more little battles. We flipped to that 14-2 finish, and I really liked the way we came together tonight. We had a lot of great performances from a lot of different guys.”

The Pirates, prior to leading or being tied for the final two minutes and five seconds, had led only once at 14-12 at the five-and-a-half minute mark of the second quarter — after trailing 10-3 just four minutes and 53 seconds into the opening period.

In fact, Oak Hill had Wheelersburg down by nine on four occasions, including 28-19, 30-21, 43-34 and finally 45-36 at the end of the third frame — following Hammond’s first field goal of the second half after amassing 18 first-half points on a spectacular 9-of-10 shooting.

However, Hammond — and the Oaks — only amounted two more points the rest of the way, and those weren’t until only a minute and 40 seconds remained.

Meanwhile, the Pirates “pulled together” as Ater admitted — and put together a 14-point period that, truth be told, was really remarkable.

“I thought we saw a group come together after struggling to find our identity. We have a lot of new faces, mixing together for the first time. And that’s a whole lot of adversity we faced,” said the coach. “The ball started moving and we started trusting one another. I was really proud of how we came together like that, playing unselfish.”

Through the first three-and-a-half minutes, Eli Swords sank a three-pointer, J.J. Truitt split two free throws, and freshman Kenny Sanderlin scored off a Matthew Miller assist to get within 45-42.

Finally, a minute and 15 tics later, Truitt — the standout junior who had scored 18 points apiece in each of the Orange and Black’s opening two tilts — tagged the Oaks with arguably the shot of the night.

Truitt pulled up just inside the volleyball line, and from well outside the arc splashed the game-tying three-pointer.

Call it the shot heard ‘round Oak Hill, but you could hear the celebration all the way back in Wheelersburg.

“That’s just the confidence and the work J.J. has put in. He starts to step into that shot, and we all felt like it was going in,” said Ater. “For him to step through, and clear his mind and have the confidence to knock that down, just really proud of him.”

But, the Pirates weren’t done.

With 2:05 to play, the Pirates pushed in front 47-45 — only their second lead and first in 19 minutes and 25 seconds after initially leading for only 17 seconds.

Carter McCorkle made the go-ahead bucket — right underneath the rim and on a drop-off dump-off pass from Swords.

After Hammond had the game-tying basket 25 seconds later, which turned out to be the Oaks’ only points of the entire quarter, Sanderlin sank a pair of clutch free throws for a 49-47 Wheelersburg lead at the 1:06 mark.

Swords then made the Pirates’ primary defensive play — blocking the shot of Oak Hill’s Keaton Potter as he drove down the lane with 26 seconds to go.

Truitt then split a pair of free throws five seconds later, which gave the Oaks an opportunity for the tie and force overtime tied at 50 apiece.

After an Oak Hill timeout with 13.7 seconds showing, Drew Hanning had a great look for the tie off the left wing but missed, although Potter grabbed the rebound with the final seconds ticking away.

Potter raced right back to the other wing and attempted a contested three, but his trey try also didn’t fall — and Wheelersburg was the winner in unlikely fashion from just eight minutes earlier.

But while Wheelersburg’s offense produced 50 points, with Sanderlin scoring 14 on five field goals and 3-of-5 foul shots and Truitt tallying 13 on four field goals and 4-of-7 free throws, it was the Pirates’ second-half defense on Hammond that made the biggest difference.

Hammond, the Oaks’ excellent scorer and offensive rebounder, had a game-high 22 points on 11 field goals — including eight of the team’s 10 first-period points followed by 10 of the team’s 20 in the second stanza.

Hammond has a superior drop-step move when posted up, and executed it to perfection as the Pirates simply had no answer.

Ater explained that the 6-4 McCorkle started on Hammond, but he picked up a quick foul, and the Pirates played primarily Sanderlin on Hammond until the start of the second half.

With McCorkle manning Hammond, he only scored in the waning seconds of the third — followed by his and the Oaks’ only points of the fourth.

“We did a great job defensively in the second half. Carter (McCorkle) adjusted to how he was playing him (Hammond). We took Carter off him after he got that foul, saving him for the second half. I thought Kenny (Sanderlin) and Gage (Adkins) and J.J. (Truitt) all battled with him, but he got a lot of clean looks. That’s just how good of a player he can be. But Carter’s length, in the second half, certainly bothered him,” said Ater. “Give Carter credit, or we wouldn’t even have a chance in that ballgame.”

But Persin said Wheelersburg didn’t do anything different defensively in the second half as opposed to the first.

“Chase (Hammond) made the same moves he made all night, but in the fourth quarter he just doesn’t finish them. They kept switching men on him, but it was just about him not finishing. He made some good moves around the basket, but look how many shots rolled around the rim and wouldn’t fall for him. We get to the rim a couple of times, and we don’t make them,” he said. “We played the game hard for three quarters, and we played it hard for the fourth, we just didn’t finish things.”

Fouls and foul shooting also impacted the Oaks, which only go about seven-deep, as Oak Hill had foul trouble all throughout.

In the first half, Potter, Noah Donley and Landon Hines had three fouls apiece, as Potter — on a double-technical situation with Truitt that stemmed from a loose-ball battle with 2:26 remaining in the third quarter — played the final 10:26 with four personals.

Wheelersburg benefited from attempting 18 free throws and making 11, while Oak Hill had only eight attempts and connected on four.

Three of those misses, in fact, were crucial front ends of the one-and-one bonus situation — in the final three-and-a-half minutes.

Hammond missed his before Truitt tied it at 45-45, as Potter and Hanning had their misses on the possessions prior to the Pirates seizing the 47-45 lead.

“You have to make your free throws. Let’s say if we split those three free throws, that’s three points, and we probably win the game somewhere along the line,” said Persin.

Hanning, on four field goals and 4-of-6 free throws including three third-period baskets and 2-of-3 foul shots, had a dozen for the Oaks.

Luke Stewart sank two triples as part of the 20-point second stanza, while Potter posted five in the 15-point third on a deuce and a trey.

Donley dropped in a field goal in the second quarter.

Persin said the Oaks’ opportunity at a key conference victory simply got away, but that it is indeed a long season, especially in the SOC II.

Oak Hill has a chance to rebound on Friday night when it travels to Waverly.

“We go to Waverly on Friday and let’s see what we do there. We can bounce back and get one on the road. This is a long season in the league. There’s a lot of good teams in our league, so I don’t think anybody is going to walk through it undefeated,” said Persin. “So we shall see.”

Miller added eight Pirate points on two field goals and 4-of-6 first-half foul shots, which kept the Pirates within striking distance at halftime trailing 30-25.

Swords scored seven on three field goals, McCorkle mustered six on three baskets, and Gage Adkins added a bucket in the third frame.

Ater explained that every Pirate point of the 50 was necessary — in being able to pull off what was close to a Christmas miracle on Tuesday night.

“We traded punches with them for a half, but we were able to deliver the last one in the fourth. It was just our guys’ heart and resolve to simply not lose this game,” he said. “At different points throughout the night, we could have just folded it up, said good job by Oak Hill and gone on home. But our guys had a lot more spirit and fight in them tonight and I am really proud of them.”

Wheelersburg will return to the road, and will return to SOC II action, on Friday night at winless Northwest.

* * *

Wheelersburg 7 18 11 14— 50

Oak Hill 10 20 15 2— 47

WHEELERSBURG 50 (3-0, 3-0 SOC II)

Aaron Jolly 0 0-0 0, Matthew Miller 2 4-6 8, Eli Swords 3 0-0 7, Aaron Masters 0 0-0 0, Carter McCorkle 3 0-0 6, J.J. Truitt 4 4-7 13, Gage Adkins 1 0-0 2, Kenny Sanderlin 5 3-5 14; TOTALS 18 11-18 50; Three-point goals: 3 (Eli Swords, J.J. Truitt and Kenny Sanderlin 1 apiece)

OAK HILL 47 (5-1, 3-1 SOC II)

Keaton Potter 2 0-1 5, Drew Hanning 4 4-6 12, Luke Stewart 2 0-0 6, Noah Donley 1 0-0 2, Landon Hines 0 0-0 0 Chase Hammond 11 0-1 22, Jordan Morgan 0 0-0 0; TOTALS 20 4-8 47; Three-point goals: 3 (Luke Stewart 2, Keaton Potter 1)

Oak Hill

# Player PTS REB AST STL BLK
3Keaton Potter50000
10Drew Hanning120000
11Landon Hines00000
15Luke Stewart60000
21Noah Donley20000
24Chase Hammond220000
32Jordan Morgan00000
 Total470000

Wheelersburg

# Player PTS REB AST STL BLK
10Aaron Jolly00000
12Mathew Miller80000
13Eli Swords70000
14Aaron Masters00000
21Carter McCorkle60000
22JJ Truitt130000
23Gage Adkins20000
35Kenny Sanderlin140000
 Total500000

Court

Oak Hill

Details

Date Time League Season
December 17, 2019 7:30 pm SEO 2019-20

Burg pulls away from Indians in season opener

Results

TeamTOutcome
Valley35Loss
Wheelersburg63Win

Pirates get going

‘Burg pulls away from Indians in season opener

By Paul Boggs

LUCASVILLE — In more ways than one on Tuesday night, the Wheelersburg Pirates — finally — got things going.

Indeed, the Pirates — at long last — played their boys basketball season opener after everyone else except Ironton, as has become customary given Wheelersburg’s recent run of success throughout the state football playoffs.

In visiting the youthful Valley Indians in their Southern Ohio Conference Division II opener as well, the defending division champion Pirates — eventually — started shaking off the doldrums from last having played an official Ohio High School Athletic Association contest clear back in mid-March of last year.

The new-look Pirates pulled away from the Indians over the middle two quarters — erupting for 18 unanswered points over almost exactly eight minutes and capturing a 63-35 victory on Valley’s reservation.

Wheelersburg went 26-1 a season ago, including a perfect 14-0 in steamrolling through the SOC II — and advanced all the way to the Division III regional championship tilt.
So with some new faces, and only three players returning with any amount of varsity experience in juniors J.J. Truitt (6-3), Carter McCorkle (6-4) and Matthew Miller (6-0), the Pirates pieced together a win — which they performed much better as the game went along.

 

#
21
Name
Carter McCorkle
Class
2021
Height
6-04
Current Team
Wheelersburg
Leagues
SEO, SOC2
Seasons
2018-19, 2019-20

 

Matthew Miller, Wheelersburg, Ohio
#
12
Name
Mathew Miller
Class
2021
Height
6-00
Current Team
Wheelersburg
Leagues
SEO, SOC2
Seasons
2018-19, 2019-20

 

The Pirates led the Indians 7-5 following the opening quarter, then doubled their point total in the second to lead 21-10 at halftime.

While the Indians scored as many third-period points (10) as they combined for in the first half, so too did Wheelersburg — which went off for 21 in the quarter and eventually ballooned its advantage to 33-10 at the 5:15 mark on a steal, layup and old-fashioned three-point play by Truitt.

“We challenged our older guys at halftime. The third quarter, you can’t ask for a better start,” said Wheelersburg coach Steven Ater.

“We jumped out in the first three or four minutes and pushed the lead from 11 (21-10) to 23 (33-10) in a flash. Then we were able to press a little bit, get some turnovers off that, and I thought we did a pretty good job. It took them out of what they wanted to do offensively, and just disrupted their flow and rhythm.”

At that point, the Indians’ three primary freshmen were on the floor, while Wheelersburg only extended the lead from there — tallying 21 more markers in the fourth quarter and leading by as much 30 (57-27) on Truitt’s final points.

That was his third three-pointer, as he finished with a game-high 18 on six total field goals and 3-of-5 free throws.

While Wheelersburg’s offensive execution and sharpness are arguably behind its defense right now — effort, attitude and defense do indeed travel.
Those aspects joined the Pirates on their short trip up State Route 823 to Lucasville on Tuesday.

Head Coach Steven Ater

Current Team
Wheelersburg
“I was really happy with what we did defensively. I thought we guarded really well and our quickness and our length bothered them. We sped them up into some easy looks, but they weren’t clean looks. To hold a team like that to 10 first-half points, give our guys a lot of credit,” said Ater. “Offensively, obviously, we were not very smooth, but we knew early that it’s just going to be that way with first-game jitters and anxiety and all that bottled up. We also have a lot of new guys out there on varsity for the first time. It’s guys that have been in the program for a couple of years, but it’s their first real meaningful playing time. They’ve sat behind some seniors that have been pretty successful the last couple of years.”

One of those seniors was Tanner Holden, the Southeast District Division III Player of the Year last season — who is now at Wright State University.

#
22
Name
JJ Truitt
Class
2021
Height
6-03
Current Team
Wheelersburg
Leagues
SEO, SOC2
Seasons
2018-19, 2019-20
But Truitt was also an all-district performer, and overcame foul trouble to get his 18 points, including his second three-pointer with 6:20 remaining — which put the Pirates up 47-23.

His initial triple gave the Orange and Black its first lead at 3-2 just two-and-a-half minutes in, as Wheelersburg would lead for the final 25 minutes.

The Indians’ only advantages were 2-0 on a Dylan Ellis jumper just a minute and eight seconds in, followed by Ellis landing a three-pointer just two minutes and 40 seconds later.
However, Valley struggled shooting from that point on, missing many short-range shots and making young-player mistakes that frustrated second-year head coach Eric Horton.

The Indians didn’t score for the final 4:12 of the opening quarter, then didn’t score for the final 2:12 of the second — or the opening five minutes and 45 seconds of the third.
“We couldn’t make anything,” said Horton. “With about two minutes left to go in the first half, we were down five (15-10), and I thought we had a couple of shots to close it out. But we got going too fast, which is a freshman mistake, and we should have been coming in at halftime a two-possession game. Instead, we were down 11. We had more than enough opportunities to make easy shots around the basket. They just didn’t go in. If you have that happen against a team like Wheelersburg, they are going to do what they did tonight.”

The Indians’ only points of the second stanza were a George Arnett bucket, a Devin Stiltner split of free throws three minutes later at the 4:07 mark, and finally a driving layup by Kayden Mollette that made it 15-10 at the 2:12 point.

The Pirates then scored the next 18, only stopped when Mollete — who along with Arnett paced Valley with eight points —made his second of a team-high four field goals.
Trailing Truitt was Wheelersburg’s six-foot one-inch freshman Kenny Sanderlin, making his high school debut on Tuesday.

It was actually Sanderlin — and McCorkle — sparking the Pirates’ offense, as Sanderlin scored all 13 of his points in the middle two quarters on five field goals and 3-of-4 foul shots.
McCorkle chipped in a dozen points on four field goals and 4-of-8 first-half free throws, as his deuce with a minute remaining in the first quarter put the Pirates in front for good.
With 1:55 remaining before halftime, he scored off a Truitt assist to make it 17-10, as Sanderlin scored twice inside the final minute and 10 seconds — before McCorkle opened the second half with back-to-back baskets in the first 58 seconds.

#
35
Name
Kenny Sanderlin
Class
2023
Height
6-01
Current Team
Wheelersburg
Leagues
SEO, SOC2
Seasons
2019-20
Sanderlin sank two freebies for a 28-10 advantage, then got a rebound putback at the five-and-a-half minute mark before Truitt’s three-point play.
“We started getting some stops and running and getting transition baskets. I thought Kenny Sanderlin was really good in that run in the second and third quarters. He got some inside baskets. He is a mismatch for a lot of people,” said Ater. “He is a big strong young man and we have a high ceiling for him. A lot of improvement still to go, but he came out and gave us a lift right there.”
Ellis added seven points for Valley, scoring another basket just 33 seconds into the final period to make it 44-22 in favor of Wheelersburg.

The Indians also converted only 5-of-14 free throws, as freshmen Carter Nickel on two second-half field goals and Ty Perkins on Valley other’s three-ball were among the other Indian leaders.
But Horton hailed his young charges for playing hard against a good Pirate club all the way to the very end.

“Once they were able to pull ahead, they were able to relax and play a lot better than us. We started to push when we got behind. If we would have made our very high-percentage shots, I think it’s a different ballgame coming into halftime and in the second half,” said the coach. “Our kids played hard, regardless of what the scoreboard says. We just did not finish our possessions. We just have to keep competing and eventually some of those shots that we missed tonight are going to fall. Once that starts to happen for us, I think we will be a very good basketball team.”

Valley, which fell to 1-4 and 1-1 in the league, returns to SOC II action on Friday night — when it travels to Northwest.

Wheelersburg will play again on Friday night as well, and hosts Portsmouth West with its home opener.
But finally, the Pirates have got — and likely will continue to get — things going.

“A lot of improvement ahead of us, especially offensively, but this game was a good starting point,” said Ater.* * *

Wheelersburg 7 14 21 21 — 63
Valley 5 5 10 15 — 35

WHEELERSBURG 63 (1-0, 1-0 SOC II)
Aaron Jolly 1 0-0 2, Matthew Miller 2 1-2 5, Eli Swords 0 0-0 0, Aaron Masters 1 0-0 3, Jonah Lawson 0 0-0 0, Carter McCorkle 4 4-8 12, J.J. Truitt 6 3-5 18, Gage Adkins 2 0-0 4, Mason Montgomery 2 0-0 4, Brayden Wilson 1 0-0 2, Corey Maxie 0 0-0 0, Kenny Sanderlin 5 3-4 13; TOTALS 24 11-19 63; Three-point goals: 4 (J.J. Truitt 3, Aaron Masters 1)

VALLEY 35 (1-4, 1-1 SOC II)
George Arnett 3 2-2 8, Breckon Williams 0 0-0 0, Ty Perkins 1 0-2 3, Dylan Ellis 3 0-0 7, Carter Nickel 2 0-0 4, Kayden Mollette 4 0-4 8, Jared Gahm 1 0-0 2, Devon Stiltner 0 2-4 2, Bryce Stuart 0 1-2 1; TOTALS 14 5-14 35; Three-point goals: 2 (Ty Perkins and Dylan Ellis 1)

2019-20 Burg

#PlayerClassHeightPTSREBASTSTLBLK
10Aaron Jolly, Wheelersburg, OhioAaron Jolly20215-0850000
11Josh Clark20225-1000000
12Matthew Miller, Wheelersburg, OhioMathew Miller20216-00380000
13Eli Swords20225-11290000
14Aaron Masters20225-1030000
15Jonah Lawson20216-0300000
21Carter McCorkle20216-04480000
22JJ Truitt20216-03570000
23Gage Adkins20216-0160000
24Mason Montgomery, Wheelersburg, OhioMason Montgomery20215-1040000
25Brayden Wilson - Wheelersburg, OhioBrayden Wilson20216-0220000
33Corey Maxie, Wheelersburg, OhioCorey Maxie20216-0600000
35Kenny Sanderlin20236-01360000

Indians 2019-20

#PlayerClassHeightPTSREBASTSTLBLK
1George Arnett20236-00350000
2Brecken Williams20216-0140000
3Ty Perkins20236-03190000
4Dylan Ellis20215-08330000
10Carter Nickel20236-00210000
12Kayden Mollette20205-08670000
13Jared Gahm20215-0970000
21Jacob Greathouse20216-0000000
23Devin Stiltner20205-1170000
24Bryce Stuart20226-00200000
25Nick Mowery20215-1000000
32Mason Zaler20206-05500000

 

Valley

# Player PTS REB AST STL BLK
1George Arnett80000
2Brecken Williams00000
3Ty Perkins30000
4Dylan Ellis70000
10Carter Nickel40000
12Kayden Mollette80000
13Jared Gahm20000
23Devin Stiltner20000
24Bryce Stuart10000
 Total350000

Wheelersburg

# Player PTS REB AST STL BLK
10Aaron Jolly20000
12Mathew Miller50000
13Eli Swords00000
14Aaron Masters30000
15Jonah Lawson00000
21Carter McCorkle120000
22JJ Truitt180000
23Gage Adkins40000
24Mason Montgomery40000
25Brayden Wilson20000
33Corey Maxie00000
35Kenny Sanderlin130000
 Total630000

Court

Valley

Details

Date Time League Season
December 10, 2019 7:30 pm SEO 2019-20

Napkin Stats: Waverly 63 Warren 60 a final

Results

TeamTOutcome
Waverly63Win
Warren60Loss

Waverly 63
Warren 60 a final

Pfloyd’s official “UN-official” Napkin Stats – Warren

Scoring … Brandon Simoniette 21, Joel Chavalier 11, Kurt Taylor 9, Jake Baumgard 6, Evan Byrd 5, Isaac Colgrove 4, Dylan Place 2, Brayden Sallee 2

3 Pointers … 8/22 … Brandon Simoniette 3, Kurt Taylor 3, Joel Chavalier 1, Evan Byrd 1
FTs … 4/11
TOs … 14
PnP … 13 fgs/26 points in the paint
PnT … 1 fg/2 points in transition
PBck … 4 fgs/8 points on putbacks

Pfloyd’s official “UN-official” Napkin Stats – Waverly

Scoring … Trey Robertson 20, Tannor Smallwood 15, Will Futhey 8, Michael Goodman 7, Gabe Wheeler 7, Zeke Brown 4
3 Pointers … 3/12 … Gabe Wheeler 1, Trey Robertson 1, Michael Goodman 1
FTs ……….. 20/34
TOs ……….. 13
PnP ……….. 16 fgs/32 points in the paint
PnT ………. 2 fgs/ 4 points in transition
PBck …….. 2 fgs/4 points on putbacks

Waverly

# Player PTS REB AST STL BLK
4Trey Robertson200000
0Tanner Smallwood150000
20Will Futhey80000
23Michael Goodman70000
3Gage Wheeler70000
22Zeke Brown40000
 Total610000

Warren

# Player PTS REB AST STL BLK
Brandon Simoniette210000
Joel Chavalier110000
Kurt Taylor90000
Jake Baumgard60000
Evan Bryd40000
Isaac Colgrove30000
Dylan Place20000
Brayden Sallee20000
 Total580000

Court

Piketon

Details

Date Time League Season
November 30, 2019 6:15 pm SEO 2019-20

Jeeps have no trouble with young Tartans

Results

TeamTOutcome
South Webster71Win
Sciotoville22Loss

Jeeps have no trouble with young Tartans

By Paul Boggs

 

SOUTH WEBSTER — South Webster, while it was the season opener and against an over-matched East squad, was often in mid-season form.

That’s because the host Jeeps, in the non-league boys basketball lid-lifter on Friday night, never had a trouble spot against the visiting Tartans — cruising to a 71-22 victory in a matchup between neighboring Scioto County clubs.

It was South Webster’s first game since the graduation of standout and Division IV all-Ohioan Shiloah Blevins, who was responsible for most of the Jeeps’ scoring, rebounding and shot-blocking from their sectional championship team a season ago.

But Brenton Cole, the Jeeps’ third-year head coach, talked about “coming out and turning up the pressure” to turn the Tartans over.

They did just that.

“We knew the job we needed to do. It’s a varsity game, so get out there and get hands in passing lanes, look to get steals and shoot layups on fast breaks when we can get them,” said Cole. “We shot well tonight, and from three always helps, but we wanted to limit their possessions. When you don’t take breaks on defense, it can turn out bad for the other team. We forced a lot of turnovers, and when Devyn (Coriell) and Trae (Zimmerman) are out running and pushing the ball, it’s fun to watch when they are getting layups off those. It all starts with the defensive end and putting pressure on.”

Simply put, the Tartans struggled offensively as the Jeeps defended well.

“For the most part of the first half, we just didn’t do a good job of taking care of the basketball. We had a lot of turnovers early, and we let it frustrate us. When we were able to get a good look or a good shot, we weren’t able to knock them down,” said East head coach Adam Bailey. “It’s something, with us being so young, that we have to show up the next day at practice and work harder than what we’ve been working. The older we get, the harder we work, the less the struggle is going to be there. We want to become better at what we do.”

On Friday night, the Jeeps never trailed against a youthful and rebuilding Tartan team — as Devyn Coriell, in his return to the program after a year off, scored just a minute-and-a-half in.

East’s Austin Smith scored on the ensuing possession for the 2-2 tie, but the Jeeps scored the next dozen points over the next three minutes — and the anticipated blowout was on.

Bryson Ramirez and Chase Coyle canned three-pointers apiece to get the Tartans to within 14-5 and 16-8, but the Jeeps answered back with back-to-back threes by Andrew Smith and Brayden Bockway before the first quarter ended — and East never threatened again.

In fact, as South Webster won the second quarter 21-2 and the third frame 18-4, the only East points over those middle two periods were second-stanza free throws by Coyle and Smith — and third-quarter field goals by Landhen Pernell.

Both teams substituted liberally throughout the final three quarters, as East endured scoring droughts of at least four minutes three times.

The Jeeps, in fact, from the one-and-a-half minute mark of the second quarter until the 3:42 point of the third, scored 20 consecutive points to make it 56-10.

Jaren Lower, the freshman who tied the senior Bockway with three threes apiece, landed the final South Webster three-ball — and points — for the Jeeps’ largest lead at 71-20.

East ended up with four fourth-quarter field goals — one by Pernell, one by Coyle and the final two by Smith.

Cole, while instructing his Jeeps to work on sets and defenses during the second half, wanted his charges to maintain the intensity.

“We were able to only have two scrimmages with our entire team, so I had to get them in a little bit in the second half and execute and just keep the intensity up,” he said. “We worked our way into our bench, and everybody got in the game and was able to play a little bit.”

The Jeeps actually outscored the Tartans in total from behind the three-point line alone — as they nailed 10.

South Webster made four in the first — and two apiece in the final three quarters.

Bockway and Lower landed 13 points apiece on the strength of their three triples, as Bockway was also 4-of-5 at the foul line.

Bockway had all of his markers in the opening half, while Lower did the same in the second.

Trae Zimmerman, on eight total field goals, paced the Jeeps and all scorers with 17 points — almost outscoring Sciotoville by himself.

Andrew Smith scored 11 on five field goals, as Coriell collected eight points on three baskets — and Gabe Ruth recorded three buckets and 3-of-4 foul shots for seven.

Will Collins, with two second-stanza freebies, finished up the South Webster scoring.

Not only do the Tartans’ turnovers need to reduce, they need to improve their shooting — and even free throws.

East only made nine total field goals, and was just 2-of-8 at the stripe.

Bailey said the season is all about the Tartans improving.

“Our kids have shown up every day trying to get better. When we come back to practice, I expect them to have that exact same attitude. It’s a process and we’ve talked about it,” he said. “You mentally have to be tough through it, and at some point, hopefully the hard work will pay off for us.”

The Tartans travel to Eastern on Tuesday for another non-league tilt, while Webster goes to Green on Tuesday for another non-league bout itself.

* * *

East 8 2 4 8 — 22

South Webster 22 21 18 10 — 71

EAST 22 (0-1)

Hagen Metzler 0 0-0 0, Troy Comer 0 0-0 0, Austin Baughman 0 0-0 0, Chase Coyle 2 1-2 6, Leviticus Justice 0 0-0 0, Kyle Winston 0 0-0 0, Andrew Pyles 0 0-2 0, Landhen Pernell 3 0-0 6, Bryson Ramirez 1 0-0 3, Austin Smith 3 1-4 7, Noah Stiltner 0 0-0 0; TOTALS 9 2-8 22; Three-point goals: 2 (Chase Coyle and Bryson Ramirez 1 apiece)

SOUTH WEBSTER 71 (1-0)

Trae Zimmerman 8 -0 17, Gabe Ruth 2 3-4 7, Cam Carpenter 0 0-0 0, Andrew Smith 5 0-0 11, Jaren Lower 5 0-0 13, Devyn Coriell 3 0-0 8, Brayden Bockway 3 4-5 13, Brady Blizzard 0 0-0 0, Aiden Andrews 0 0-0 0, Will Collins 0 2-2 2; TOTALS 26 9-11 71; Three-point goals: 10 (Jaren Lower and Brayden Bockway 3 apiece, Devyn Coriell 2, Trae Zimmerman and Andrew Smith 1 apiece)

South Webster

# Player PTS REB AST STL BLK
2Trae Zimmerman170000
3Gabe Ruth70000
4Cam Carpenter00000
5Andrew Smith110000
10Jaren Lower130000
11Devyn Coriell80000
12Brayden Bockway130000
13Brady Blizzard00000
22Aidan Andrews00000
24Will Collins20000
 Total710000

Head Coach: Brenton Cole

Sciotoville

# Player PTS REB AST STL BLK
2Hagen Metzer00000
3Troy Comer00000
5Austin Baughman00000
10Chase Coyle60000
11Leviticus Justice00000
12Kyle Winston00000
15Andrew Pyles00000
21Landehn Pernell60000
22Bryson Ramirez30000
24Austin Smith70000
25Noah Stiltner00000
 Total220000

Details

Date Time League Season
November 29, 2019 7:30 pm SEO 2019-20