18 January – PORTSMOUTH – Similar to the Lockdown Rockfight of a small school non-league men’s basketball game, all South Webster’s energy needed was Eli Roberts to turn the tide in the second half.
That, and perhaps more importantly, is matching the “magic” numbers to the scoreboard and chalkboard.
That’s because Roberts, a standout 6-foot-7 sophomore, led the Jeep charge in the second half after scoring three fouls and two points in the first half.
Roberts flew two winged 3-pointers, fired himself first to set the Jeep’s bench on fire, and started the quarter with two free throws, leading to South Webster’s fourth-quarter defensive effort. fixed effort. .
The end result was a crucial 39-36 defensive win for the visiting Jeeps. These he-two were able to meet again around the time of the Southeast Division tournament in late February or early March, thus surpassing similar Division IV titans.
But at the mid-January social gathering on Saturday night, which was sold out at Notre Dame High School, South Webster’s defense did the job. – A quarter of a second left.
Up until that point, there had been three ties with the Titans leading by just a minute and a half and finally leading 19-11 just halfway through the second cant.
However, the Jeep finished the final four minutes of the first half with a 9-2 run, before finally taking the lead (32-31) with a split between a Conor Bender steal and a free throw to lead by a whopping 37-31. It rained on the three-pointer and roared with electricity.
Tyler Sommer stickback basket made it 39-36 with three and a half minutes remaining. The score remained the same as the Titans attempted a draw as the game ended in regulation.
Jeep missed a pair of front ends in a 1-on-1 bonus free-throw situation, leaving the Notre Dame doors ajar.
On the final possession of the game, the Titans attempted to run a set, but the ball veered off in a light scrambling at the top of the key, eventually ending up in the hands of senior right fielder Carter Campbell.
Campbell’s three-point attempt came online and hit the rim but bounced off. So the frustrated Titans, now 8-5, suffered his third straight loss, leaving him 11 points behind in total.
Conversely, the Jeep, who is currently 10-3, was happy to get such a resume-building victory.
SWHS coach Brenton Cole praised the Jeep defense for creating offense, especially after the first quarter.
In fact, the 36 points awarded to the Jeep matched the exact number on the board in the locker room at halftime.
“It’s crazy, because the numbers on the board were halved. If we keep it at 36, we could probably get a win from here. Just speed up the ball and try to move it faster, and you’ll get more.” It definitely paid off for us to get the steal and shoot the layup. “After the first three or four minutes into the first quarter, I was throwing it inside and standing there watching. rice field”
South Webster headed to his most important destination, the Titans’ last possession, and took it.
“There were three fouls in there, so I wanted to take some time off the clock and put them in a different position. The less time you have to make those passes and scramble them, the harder it will be. We (Cody) doubled to Metzler. At the top the ball came to Campbell and he pulled an iron,” Cole said. “From the angle I saw it, it looked like it was going in. It was a very nerve-wracking time at that point, but it edged.”
NDHS mentor Matt Mader praised his team for keeping Jeep under 40, but played poorly in the Notre Dame stretch.
Also, the Titans only stepped onto the free-throw line once.
That’s right — only Campbell’s split of that 19-11 ND lead came close to the charity stripe.
“South Webster has a great basketball team and I think they did a great job defensively to keep them under 40. If they said they were under 40, they definitely had a chance to win.” said Madder. “We talked about getting to the foul line. ), but the ball went loose and crossed to Carter (Campbell). rice field.
Speaking of rebounding, a second-half performance bounced back for Roberts, who scored a team-high 10 points.
“Eli thrived in the second half. When we got him out and he popped out, when he shot well, it’s hard to stop him.
So did senior Jalen Lower as the Jeeps made their comeback, including a second three-pointer that kept South Webster within 21-20 at half-time.
Bender bagged a triple for a 28-25 deficit with 3:45 to play as Roberts’ first tray tied it at 28-28 just 57 seconds later. It was tied 31-31.
Roberts then scored 5 points in the 4th quarter. Among them was a free throw just 27 seconds ahead of him on a three-point shot that lifted his spirits and ultimately made the difference.
In addition to Roberts, 6-3 senior forward Collins, who fielded Notre Dame’s 6-7 senior center Dominic Sparks, saw Bender tie the lowers at 6 and Christian White tied Sommer at 2, two fields in the first quarter. Scored 9 points for goals and free throws. per basket.
With both teams playing primarily in the zone and relying heavily on outside shots at times, Notre Dame held a 15–14 advantage in total field goals, while South Webster was 5/8 at the line. bottom.
“I tried to mix things up to make it look different, and it worked out about four-quarters of the time,” Madder says.
Notre Dame’s 6-2 junior Cody Metzler scored a game-high 16 points in two deuces and four trays. The Titans’ lead in the game.
However, the Titans added a total of 20 points in the final 23 minutes and 13 seconds to take a 16-9 lead.
“South Webster were a defensive team and in the second half they didn’t turn the ball over in the basket and didn’t get a chance. We tried to take advantage of our size on the underside and got[Eli]Roberts into foul trouble early on, which helped us build a lead, but he took a few shots in the second half to take the lead.” said Madder. “I was very proud of our kids’ efforts and our late response to make it a game, but it fell a little short. Our kids deserve kudos too.” They came to play tonight.”
So did the Jeep — winning the Lockdown Rockfight against the seeding jockeys of Southeast District 4.
Cole said he wouldn’t be surprised if South Webster and Notre Dame rematched in a postseason tournament.
“It’s a difficult place to play, but the atmosphere was great here tonight. It was packed. We were ready for the tournament,” he said. “This is a really good restart win against a good team at Notre Dame. They did a great job with the different schemes and definitely held off Eli in the first half. prize.”
* * *
South Webster 9 11 12 7 —39
Our Lady 14 7 10 5— 36
South Webster 39 (10-3)
Connor Bender 2 1-3 6, Christian White 2 0-1 4, Dylan Spurt 0 0-0 0, Owen Malt 0 0-0 0, Jalen Lower 2 0-0 6, Tyler Sommer 2 0-0 4, Eli Roberts 3 2-2 10, Will Collins 3 2-2 9; total 14 5-8 39; 3-point field goals: 6 (2 each for Jalen Lower and Eli Roberts, 1 each for Connor Bender and Will Collins)
Our Lady 36 (8-5)
Landon Barbaritz 1 0-0 2, Arlene Bradford 3 0-0 6, Cody Metzler 6 0-0 16, Carter Campbell 0 1-2 1, Miles Phillips 1 0-0 3, Dominique Sparks 4 0-0 8; 15 1-2 36; 3-point field goals: 5 (Cody Metzler 4, Myles Phillips 1)
Reach Paul Boggs at ext. (740) 353-3101. 1926, email to pboggs@aimmediamidwest.com or Twitter @paulboggssports © 2023 Portsmouth Daily Times, all rights reserved
This article was optimized by the SEO Team at Clickworks
SEO