John Bruce, Staff Writer
Southern Ohio Sports Authority is presented by OhioHealth.
CHILLICOTHE – Next man up.
Despite being without one of its leading scorers on Friday, Westfall (7-5, 5-1 SVC) did just enough to hold off a late charge and earn a 65-62 over Unioto in Scioto Valley Conference action.
CREDIT: Derrick Webb/SOSA
The Mustangs were without junior Brody Clark for all but a couple of possessions. The hard-fought victory keeps them within a game of Zane Trace for sole possession of first place in the league’s standings.
Replacing Clark was Brydan Gall, who scored six points, handed out three assists and played some outstanding defense down the stretch for Westfall.
“We’re not the deepest team in the world, but I believe that Brydan is a starter on most other teams,” Westfall coach Christian Meister said. “Typically, we play seven guys. But he’s a kid that shows up every day, never complains about his playing time and just puts the work in. He brings a different skill set to the team and has the ability to shoot as well. We know what he can do because we see it every day in practice, and I couldn’t be happier for him.”
Casey Cline buried a 3 from the top of the key to start the contest, and Gall hit a corner 3 on the following possession to put the Mustangs up 6-0 early.
That hot start continued as Wesfall attacked the inside, getting buckets at the rim to lead 16-9 after the first quarter.
The trio of Henry Barnes, Seth Gifford and Jerry Layton dominated the offensive glass, scoring on nearly every Mustang miss in the first 12 minutes of play. With Clark out, it forced Westfall to move Barnes onto the perimeter more than usual and the 6-foot-4 junior thrived in that situation.
Barnes finished his night with eight points and three assists, but did an outstanding job of helping alleviate pressure on the guards and setting teammates up in positive scoring positions.
“We could not have functioned tonight without Henry and everything he brought to the table,” Meister said. “He’s such a tough matchup because of his ability to blow by other players. He could have played varsity last season, but his strength and confidence needed one more year. He’s taken such a huge leap this season and continues to grow more and more by the game.”
The Shermans (6-5, 3-3 SVC) needed a spark. So they turned to the bench and called on Maddox Fox and Ashton Crace to create energy.
Fox scored six quick points for the Tanks, while also having a hand in forcing multiple turnovers.
Crace began hounding the Mustangs’ guards and forcing WF’s offense to start much higher than where it wanted to. Between those two and a triple from Newton Hoops, the Shermans closed the first half on an 8-2 run to make it a 24-17 game at halftime.
For the Mustangs, Blaec Bugher went scoreless throughout the first half and completely turned things around in the third quarter.
He scored three times on hard drives to the basket in the early minutes, the final of which coming as a three-point play to give the Mustangs a 33-21 lead.
Unioto answered as Zeke Schobelock scored on a driving layup, before back-to-back steals that led to baskets by Blake Fitch and Schobelock to cut the deficit to 33-27.
Both teams traded buckets before it was Cline’s show throughout the rest of the third as he scored the final ten Westfall points to put his team ahead 45-38 after three.
Unioto opened the final quarter going scoreless for the first three minutes as the Mustangs’ lead grew to double digits at 49-38.
Then Blake Hoops scored on a drive that finally got the Shermans going.
A steal and layup from Fitch, followed by back-to-back triples from Newton Hoops, cut the lead to 55-50.
The Mustangs appeared to put the game away at the line, taking a seven-point lead with a little over 20 seconds to play. However, Newton Hoops buried an extremely deep 3 before Fitch drove the length of the floor for a layup and a foul. After the foul shot was good, the Shermans had eroded a once 16-point lead to a single point at 63-62 with 6.1 seconds left.
Cline was quickly fouled and hit both free throws, and the Shermans had one last gasp But a tough 3 fell just short to seal the Mustangs’ victory.
“I think everyone knows that Casey is one of the better players in the conference, but for him to hit those free throws was big,” Meister said. “A lot of times, I don’t let him go do his thing because I want us to be such a detailed, organized team, and that’s a fault of my own. My assistant coach told me that I had to let him just go tonight, and trust the results. It won’t always be pretty, but I trust him and we as a team trust he’ll make the right decision. Couldn’t be more proud of him.”
Cline led all scorers on the night with 20 points while Bugher had 12 points. Layton finished with 11 points and nine rebounds.
The Shermans were led in scoring by Fitch with 15 points, while both Hoops brothers joined him in double-digit scoring figures — Newton had 14 and Blake added 11 points, respectively.
Unioto is back in action on Tuesday, hosting Huntington, while Westfall rebounds that same night at Piketon.
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