South Webster’s Eli Roberts, 22, made a reverse layup against Valley Jr. Jace Copley, 13, in Friday night’s Southern Ohio Conference Division II men’s basketball game at South Webster High School. .
Ed Literal | Daily Times
SOUTH WEBSTER — The Valley Indians had a double-digit advantage multiple times on Friday night.
Again and again, the host South Webster Jeep cut into that cushion, but eventually took the lead with less than two minutes remaining.
And finally, the Jeep’s persistence paid off in the end. Jeep shut out the Indians in his final four minutes and scored his final nine points of the game. 49 at the South Ohio Conference Division II Tilt at Jeep Country.
To be precise, the Jeep has lost the lead six times by 10 points.
The Indians scored eight points in the opening game, with South Webster trailing by one (18-17) in the opening 27:24.
But the Jeep didn’t lose, outscoring the Indians 34-24 in the second half, eventually going 45-44 (4:36) and 49-48 (2:56 replay).
Eli Roberts, a standout South Webster sophomore at 6-foot-7, led the Jeep (50-49) with 1 minute and 48 seconds remaining. A field goal and one of his game-high 13 rebounds.
56 seconds after that, the ultimate cancellation for the Indians occurred as senior Colt Buckle was whistled for an offensive foul, followed by fellow senior Carter Nickel being tagged for a technical 10 tick. .
Valley and second-year coach Craig Tuckett vehemently argued that the call was useless, and Tyler Sommer split the South Webster free-throw situation to make it 51-49 with 42 seconds remaining. rice field.
Roberts missed the first three foul shots of the fourth quarter, including a front-end pair in a 1-1 bonus situation…and after Buckle missed back-to-back 1-1s of his own.
All in all, a thrilling comeback win for the Jeeps (11-4, 6-4 SOC II) and a stunning loss for the Indians (10-4, 7-4 SOC II). On Friday night he lost four, all on his SOC II play.
South Webster led by only 108 seconds, but they took advantage when it mattered most, keeping their deficit to under 10 points during the game.
SWHS coach Brenton Cole commented on the comeback win and how it will help him as a resume builder for Division IV postseason tournaments.
The athletic and experienced Indian, who returned all but two of the regular rotations from last season’s Division IV district championship unit, is a Division III program with 10+ wins this season.
“A really good win in our conference and ahead of the tournament draw against a good team in Division III. It’s a big thing for us,” Cole said. “I’m really proud of how hard our players worked and fought back tonight.”
While trailing 14-10 at the first stop, 25-19 at halftime and 41-35 three frames later, South Webster never felt like he was out of touch with Chargeback. The Jeep had to play 4th quarter defensive. They stopped by limiting the Indians to just eight points in the fourth quarter.
Buckle, junior Jace Copley, and seniors George Arnett and Levi Stewart each had a basket in the first four minutes.
“In the fourth set, I did a good job of making sure I had defensive rebounds and limiting my shots. Along with making sure we helped them without letting them drive directly and giving up layups, that was the emphasis in the second half. because it gets better.”
Roberts grabbed 10 defensive boards and had an 8-of-13 shooting performance, including a 3-pointer in the second stanza, while Sommer overcame a 5-of-15 shooting night, giving Roberts eight runs, including six ons. Added rebound. defense.
But an aggressive fight back from the two, including Roberts leading 50-49, set the stage for a dramatic next minute.
Tuckett was questioned about Buckle’s offensive foul and Nickel’s technical foul.
“I thought we were fighting in contacts all night. It was very physical when Colt[Buckle]and Jace[Copley]were trying to get to the rim. So here’s what I said. Carter said he’s been talking to everyone (teammates), but he’s going to have a conversation to sort everything out. In terms of points, it was a problem not to do the little things,” the coach said. “We normally miss a lot of shots and give up too many offensive rebounds. Especially when the stars were shooting well and they were chasing it and challenging us on the board, we were crashing the board but the ball didn’t come to mind when we really needed it. The last few key moments were really tough for us.”
Conversely, it made the game easier for Roberts and Sommer — Roberts scored at least four points in every period.
He scored seven 2-point goals and sank 7 of 11 free throws.
“Eli is a big moment player. He always wants the ball at that point,” Cole said. “I was confident he would make the shot and the free throw.”
Of Sommer’s 14 points on a total of five field goals and 3/4 foul shots, 10 markers were recorded in the 4th quarter.
Will Collins chipped two buckets each in the 1st and 3rd quarters, Christian White had a 3 in the 3rd quarter, Dylan Spurt had a 2 in the 3rd quarter and Owen Malt had a deuce in the 4th. Rounded out the scoring for South Webster.
The Jeep overcame a 3/20 (15%) 3-point performance, shooting 17/32 (53%) from inside the arc.
“We had to make sure we were cutting and moving against their zone, not just standing there. They fixed it all in the second half,” Cole continued. “More opportunities to focus on the rim, more layups, more people crashing the grass for offensive rebounds and putbacks.”
The Indians again had four players in double figures — Buckle’s six field goals and 3-of-5 free throws for 15 points.
Levi Stewart had 12 points on 6 goals and had a double-double with 10 rebounds. Arnett (2-two and 2-3) and Copley (4 field goals) each scored his 10 points, much like Copley’s old-fashioned his 3-point play. With 12 1/2 minutes remaining, the Valley went up to 39-29.
The Valley went 21-56 shooting 37.5%, 41% of which came from 2-point range 18-44, but only 3-12 (25%) at range.
Tuckett said this indeed escaped his Indians.
“Congratulations to South Webster for putting together a last-ditch effort and playing hard all the way to the end. It’s hard to swallow for the simple fact that it’s a game you want to bounce back on a positive note after, against Minford (71-66) on Tuesday night. Really frustrating,” he said. . “This is something we want to bring back, but we have to use this as a learning opportunity. We have to squeeze in a full 32 minutes. Tonight he was three and a half quarters. We need all four.” am.
The momentum of Cole and the Jeep crew picked up momentum, and they blazed a trail to victory in the fourth by a 10-point margin.
“Some calls like that are always a change of momentum and that’s after coming back and taking the lead in the fourth quarter,” he said. “Even when we were 10 points behind, the crowd was still there and the players were encouraged by it. They never gave up tonight and we were strong on the ball and made good stops in the second half. This is a big one for us.”
* * *
Valley 14 11 16 8—49
South Webster 10 9 16 18— 53
Valley 49 (10-4, 7-4 SOC II)
George Arnett 4 0-1 10, Hunter Edwards 0 0-0 0, Colt Buckle 6 3-5 15, Parker Lute 0 0-0 0, Carter Nickel 1 0-0 2, Jace Copley 4 1 -1 10, Levi Stewart 6 0-0 12; total 21 4-7 49; 3-point field goals: 3 (George Arnett 2, Jace Copley 1)
South Webster 53 (11-4, 6-4 SOC II)
Connor Bender 0 0-0 0, Christian White 1 0-0 3, Dylan Spurt 1 0-0 2, Owen Malt 1 0-0 2, Jalen Lower 0 0-0 0, Tyler Sommer 5 3-4 14, Eli Roberts 8 7-11 24, Will Collins 4 0-2 8; total 20 10-17 53; 3-point field goals: 3 (Christian White, Tyler Sommer, Eli Roberts 1 each)
Reach Paul Boggs at ext. (740) 353-3101. 1926, by e-mail [email protected]or on twitter @paulboggssports © 2023 Portsmouth Daily Times, all rights reserved