seohiopreps basketball

. someone said tonight that the U was playing with house money – the Shermans had already beat ZT at UHS earlier in the season – a win would put the U in the drivers seat to win the SVC , a loss would move the Pioneers into a 2 way tie with Unioto going into the final 4 weeks of the regular season… full house, standing room only tonight … the doors opened an hour BEFORE the freshman contest … when I walked in at 4:15 or so a large portion of the visitor’s bleachers were filled … pfloyd went to the cheap seats – his natural habitat …

… one of the loudest games , if not THE loudest crowd noise I have witnessed this season ! great atmosphere for high school hoops – wow … the game really did not disappoint through 3 quarters of action … one of the best defensive battles I have seen this season by both teams … Unioto 10-7 after one , Unioto 22-20 at intermission … a deep triple at the buzzer put Zane Trace on top 33-31 heading into the final quarter … up to this point the game was no more than a 2 possession game through 3 … the BIGS for ZT were held to just 8 points combined thru 3 … Cam Evans/Colby Swain hit for 13 & 9 respectively thru 3 for ZT … the ZT defense held Unioto to 2 fgs/9 points in the 3rd – Defense … if the 9 points weren’t enough the Pioneers topped the 3rd quarter D by shutting down UHS to only 6 fourth quarter points … 16 points in the 2nd half of play … while the ZT defense put the clamps on the U’s offense Zane Trace put up 13 & 18 for a 31 – 15 2nd half of action scoring margin … leading all scorers was Cam Evans with 26 points/13 in the 4th alone … 7/8 from the FT line in the 4th – 14/16 for the game when on the line for Evans … the difference in the game in the 4th was Nick Nesser in the paint/ on the boards … Nesser battled down low on ZT misses in the 4th – the big man for Trace had the first 3 buckets of the 4th period for the Pioneers all on putback/ offensive boards … the U had no answer for ZT’s bigs in the paint … Zane Trace 51 Unioto 37 a final …

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

Scoring …..Isaac Little with 9, Cam Debord 7, Josh Lambert 7, Reece Wheeler 5, Nate Keiser 4, Carter Markko 3, Gunnar Greenwalt 2
3 Pointers … 1/10 … Cameron Debord 1
FTs … 12/18
TOs … 7
PnP … 9 fgs/18 points in the paint
PnT … 1 fg/2 points in transition
Pbk … 0 fgs/0 points off of putbacks

… the Unioto Shermans at 11-3 , 8-1 in SVC action have busted the preseason predictors who had Zane Trace running away from the league followed by Adena … the U was a middle of the pack player … I’ve seen the Shermans twice now – size, quickness, Defense, scorers of the ball from the perimeter, outstanding PG and coaching that brings it all together … EVEN with the loss @ ZT the U is a top 8 in SEO hoops … last night Isaac Little played on an ankle that had him missing 3 games/not practicing for over a week … played on a game time decision – gutsy performance by IL … for 3 quarters D was the answer for Unioto … in that 4th period ZT got too many chances at point blank range in the paint – 3 straight putback buckets by the bigs for ZT (getting 3-4 chances on the offensive boards on those 3 trips) ended the U’s chance of taking 2 from the Pioneers …

… Pfloyd’s official UN-official Napkin Stats – Zane Trace

Scoring … Cam Evans 26, Nick Nesser 11, Colby Swain 9, Luke Johnson 3, Triton Davidson 2
3 Pointers … 1/10 … Luke Johnson 1 (giving ZT the lead at the end of the 3rd quarter that they never relinquished )
FTs … 16/22 … 15/17 in the 4th/ Evans 14/16 on his own ball for the game/ Evans 7/8 in the 4th
TOs … 10
PnP … 14 fgs/28 points in the paint
PnT … 1 fg/2 points in transition
Pbk … 6 fgs/ 12 points on putback buckets – the game changer in the 4th …

… ZT is as good as Cam Evans takes them … last night Evans with 26 points doubled his output from the first meeting with Unioto in a losing effort … CE is most comfortable in the paint, back to the basket where he can back an opponent in then hit a little fadaway, or he takes the ball baseline for a 6-8 foot pullup jumper – he’s good ! limiting his touches, forcing Evans to give up the ball is the goal AND the challenge vs ZT … Coach Kellough & Co. won game #2 of the 2 best in the SVC earning a split and and tie at the top …